Shaquille O’Neal played his penultimate NBA season alongside LeBron James in Cleveland. They weren’t able to ‘win the King a ring’, as Shaq had professed, because of a multitude of reasons. One of these was Mike Brown’s differential treatment of his MVP and superstar.
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LeBron James has always been looked upon as a coach’s dream. He’s got the best IQ in the modern game, is a willing passer, and is able to exert his will in all areas of the game.
Despite being the epitome of greatness, however, even King James isn’t perfect. He made mistakes on his best days in his prime, and he deserved to get chewed out by his coach for them. According to O’Neal, however, James’ errors were being pushed into the background.
According to Shaquille O’Neal in Shaq Uncut, Mike Brown Went Easy on LeBron James in 2009-10
O’Neal detailed memoirs of his playing days in a book called Shaq Uncut, written after his retirement. He bared a lot of secrets about the three-ring circus in Los Angeles in this book.
The book also contained a chapter dedicated to his sole season spent in Cleveland. Shaq said that the Cavs were fearful of offending LeBron James in any way that year, considering that he was due to be a free agent in the summer of 2010. According to him, this bled into Mike Brown’s coaching tactics:
Our coach, Mike Brown, was a nice guy, but he had to live on the edge because nobody was supposed to be confrontational with LeBron. Nobody wanted him to leave Cleveland, so he was allowed to do whatever he wanted to do.
He didn’t really abuse it much because he was a team player, and if you were open LeBron was going to throw the ball to you. It wasn’t like he was out there being a prima donna or anything, but Mike Brown kind of tiptoed around him, and sometimes that was a problem.
I remember one day in a film session LeBron didn’t get back on defense after a missed shot. Mike Brown didn’t say anything about it. He went to the next clip and there was Mo Williams not getting back and Mike was saying, “Yo, Mo, we can’t have that. You’ve got to hustle a little more.”
So Delonte West is sitting there and he’s seen enough and he stands up and says, “Hold up, now. You can’t be pussyfooting around like that. Everyone has to be accountable for what they do, not just some of us.” Mike Brown said, “I know, Delonte. I know.”
The talent disparity between the Cavaliers and Celtics had already made things tough for James’ team to advance to the Finals. However, being hamstrung by their top player’s lack of defensive effort and not being held accountable was the final nail in Clevleand’s coffin.
How did that fateful Cavs season go?
By 2009-10, it was vividly clear that Shaq was well past his best. His NBA expiration date seemed to be at the doorstep, but a resurgent season in Phoenix sowed hope in the Cavs’ front office that they’d be able to extract some use out of him.
The two did combine well and played well enough to help the Cavs finish the regular season with 61 wins and the best record in the NBA. However, O’Neal got injured just weeks before the playoffs, returning with significantly reduced effectiveness.
LeBron’s final series during his first Cleveland tenure ended in a 4-2 defeat to the Boston Celtics. He’d be taking his talents to South Beach on national television within the next 2 months. O’Neal, meanwhile, signed with Boston on a vet minimum deal as a free agent.
