Cavaliers coach David Blatt confides that LeBron James’ usual minutes allotment is ‘a lot’

Whether it was the fault of the air conditioning unit in San Antonio’s AT&T Center, a product of life as a point guard in Karl Malone’s body, or the culmination of a series of fatigue-inducing events, LeBron James cramped up on a national stage in Game 1 of the 2014 NBA Finals. The league’s best player, playing the most important game of his life, was unable to perform and had to leave the court when his team needed him most as the Spurs pulled away from his Miami Heat. James could not walk, much less run and dominate the court in the fourth quarter, and even his toughest critics had to give him a break considering the diligent ways in which he played deep into June for four consecutive years, while tossing in one Olympics appearance along the way.

Not even Michael Jordan had done that before. Not to compare the two in the slightest, it’s a different game and a different transportation era and these two are different players, but by the same age that James had finished his fourth year with his first NBA Finals trip, Jordan had recently finished his rookie season with a first round defeat at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks. Wearied by three straight Finals trips and an Olympics appearance of his own in 1993, Jordan retired.

James is as sprightly as ever, especially with a new cast of younger Cleveland Cavalier teammates alongside him, but he also has quite a few miles on those 29-year old legs. Charged with not only bringing a championship home to northern Ohio, but also establishing a dynasty that runs on for twice as long as LeBron’s time in Miami (remember, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love are young), LeBron has some minutes to mind.

Luckily, his coach is aware of as much. From Joe Vardon at Northeast Ohio Media Group:

Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt suggested the 39.5 minutes per game LeBron James is averaging for his career would be too many for his superstar this season, at least in the early going.

“I don’t have a number but I am cognizant of the fact and we are conscious of the fact that, certainly early on 39 minutes a game is a lot,” Blatt said following practice Sunday. “We gotta keep our wits about us in terms of thinking long term with LeBron.”

James is the league’s active leader in minutes per game and ranks sixth all time. He averaged about 38 minutes in his four seasons with the Miami Heat and last year logged 37.7 minutes – sixth in the league.

LeBron, and contemporaries like Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng are right up there in terms of working way older than their birthdates, but even Deng (one year) and Wade (three) had a few seasons of a relatively light NCAA workload. James’ closest contemporaries in terms of preps-to-pros stars would include Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and the retired Tracy McGrady, but Kobe (for the first two and a half seasons), McGrady (three seasons, mostly) and Garnett (half a season) came off the bench to start their careers.

James was handed the key to the franchise, and then another one, right away, and he’s embraced the role. Now, even with so much to figure out in Cleveland in the early going, the Cavs have to be thinking about 2019 as much as they are this December.

There are genuine concerns about this year’s Cleveland model, even after it enjoyed the Greatest Offseason Ever over the summer. James’ first season in Miami with Wade and Chris Bosh saw his team struggle its way toward a 9-8 start. The group righted its record and made the Finals, but there was never a sense of offensive continuity during that first campaign, and James looked absolutely baffled at times against a wicked Dallas Mavericks defense in the 2011 Finals.

James is older now, in a good way. Kyrie Irving isn’t exactly a pass-first point guard, but that’s not what the Cavaliers want out of him, and Kevin Love should be straight out of central casting if used properly.

Better yet? The East still stinks.

It won’t be as bad as it was last season, but while Toronto and Washington fans should be looking forward to an exciting season with developing teams, they’re not knocking Cleveland off in the second round this year unless something has gone terribly wrong with the Cavaliers. The Chicago Bulls look like a fearsome, aesthetically-pleasing unit, but they’re no sure thing as knee injuries, 34-year old signees, and rookies abound. There are respectable units below that, but by and large the Cavaliers can use this entire regular season as a proving ground.

If the team falls to a second seed and has to play the Bulls in Chicago for a pivotal Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals? So what? Sic a rested James on any number of Bulls players (Derrick Rose, a hot Nikola Mirotic, the passing lanes that Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol toss dimes through) and see what happens.

LeBron James works with top shelf medical units, employed by his various teams. He travels by charter jet, sleeps in five star hotels, and NBA teams rarely practice throughout the season because there is so little time to. That doesn’t mean he isn’t beat to hell, though, and that doesn’t mean the Cavs can’t take the long view with their re-established franchise player.

It’s a nice luxury to have. Because even LeBron James at 35 minutes a night, taking the temperature of a regular season and picking his spots, should still lead the Cavaliers to the NBA’s best record. This team can be that great.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops