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LeBron James wanted to set the tone for his first year back in Cleveland even before he hit the court with his fellow Cavs teammates. He would do just that with a surprise players-only meeting.
Here's Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports with the scoop:
Prior to the Cleveland Cavaliers' first practice of the preseason, LeBron James surprised his teammates by telling them to join him in a meeting room. New coach David Blatt was anxious to get practice started, but gave James his blessing to have the players-only meeting before a ball was bounced. For about the next 30 minutes, James told every player from fellow All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to the guys just hoping to make the team what was expected during the upcoming season.
Dion Waiters, for one, was very impressed.
"I was looking like, 'Wow.' That's crazy that he broke down every individual thing he wants guys to do," Cavs guard Dion Waiters told Yahoo. "He wrote down every player from the guy in training camp who may be here or may not be here. …It was unbelievable. It was great."
Anderson Varejao, who played with LeBron during his first stint in Cleveland, said this talk was a bit more intense than he was used to out of James.
"He used to talk individually to the players before, but not like that," Varejao said.
LeBron's leadership qualities have blown away everyone around the Cavs, including new coach David Blatt.
"From Day One, LeBron has taken it upon himself to lead the team in voice and example," Blatt said. "LeBron talks the talk, but he walks the walk"
"That's what you want from your leader."
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