Cavs' Lue, James say LeBron's minutes not an issue

Nov 21, 2017 - 3:35 PM Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue has been questioned throughout the season about the playing time of superstar LeBron James.

After James logged a season-low 27 minutes in Cleveland's 116-88 rout of the Detroit Pistons on Monday, Lue was questioned again -- and he didn't seem to like it.

"I hear about that all the time," Lue said. "I played with Michael Jordan when he was 39; he played 37 minutes a night. Karl Malone was 37, played 38 minutes a night, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Kobe (Bryant). Everybody's built different. If you're one of the greats, sometimes you've got to play, sometimes you get rest like tonight."

James, who turns 33 next month, leads the NBA in both total minutes played and minutes per game.

James supplied 18 points and eight rebounds in Monday's blowout for Cleveland (10-7), which did not have a player log more than 28 minutes -- a welcome development for one of the league's oldest teams.

"It's not a huge issue," James said of his minutes. "But at the end of the day, when we can get a win like this, everybody benefits from it, not just me."