LeBron called team meeting in preseason to dispel 'loose atmosphere'

LeBron James called a team meeting in the preseason to keep his Cleveland Cavaliers focused.

As Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group writes, James was unhappy with his team's lax demeanor throughout training camp and called a team meeting on Oct. 17 to right the ship.

James, along with some players, did not appreciate an "increasingly loose, frolicsome atmosphere" that had settled in, Haynes reports.

As center Sasha Kaun explained, James wanted everyone on the same page.

"(We were) just making sure everybody is doing the right thing and having the right goals in their heads," Kaun said.

The meeting, however, didn't stop Cleveland from losing their regular season opener against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. James had two chances to tie the game in the dying seconds, but was denied first by Pau Gasol, then Jimmy Butler.

Injuries marred James' performance, as a balky back likely played into James going up "very small" against Gasol. Having Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert sidelined, along with Timofey Mozgov, Anderson Varejao, Kevin Love, and Tristan Thompson slowly working their way into game shape, couldn't have helped, either.

But injuries don't excuse an unfocused atmosphere, and that leaves James in the role of tone-setter both on and off the court.

"Yeah, you can see it," James said. "You can also tell if guys are messing around a little too much. Me as a leader, I'm able to gauge that and see where our minds are at."

James added, "All I care about is raising banners. ... Nothing else. That's what I'm here for."