CLEVELAND — LeBron James had already admitted he that “didn’t like the mood” he was in Tuesday, as he stewed over an 0-2 Finals deficit for the third straight season. The four-time MVP had just dismissed the president of the United States as “laughable,” and he had just relived Cleveland’s excruciating Game 1 loss. Now he was being quizzed about his body language and leadership following J.R. Smith’s notorious blunder, and his patience was running thin.
Video footage had captured a stunned James sitting silently on the bench for minutes before overtime of Game 1, then losing his composure when coach Tyronn Lue confirmed that Cleveland had possessed an unused timeout.