Cavaliers' Wade: Nobody's afraid of us
You'd think a team that's made three straight trips to the NBA Finals would instill some measure of fear in opponents.
That hasn't been the case for the Cleveland Cavaliers so far this season, according to one of their newest members.
"Ain't nobody afraid," Dwyane Wade said, as quoted by ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "Teams come in here to whip our butt and they're whipping our butt."
The veteran shooting guard then compared the situation to that of his former team, the Miami Heat, during their run as the league's villains from 2010-14.
"One thing I did notice at Miami, teams were afraid of us a little bit. Ain't nobody afraid. Maybe at some point it will get there, but not right now. Everyone's playing free, it's early in the year, and everything's going right for everybody but us. And we've got to figure it out."
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Coming off a Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors, the Cavs have opened the campaign in pitiful fashion, as their 29th-ranked defense has seen them get blown out by teams that didn't even qualify for the playoffs last year. Dwelling at the bottom of the East standings at 3-5, the 2016 NBA champions are trying to work-in eight new players and overcome injuries to key contributors.
Related - LeBron on Cavs' struggles: 'We can't sustain effort for 48 minutes'
They'll look to end their four-game losing streak Friday against the Washington Wizards.