Veteran forward Luol Deng was acquired by the Cleveland Cavaliers from the Chicago Bulls on January 7 with the team hoping his professionalism will rub off with his younger teammates, aside from giving them a major upgrade in the small forward position. In less than a month that he has been in Cleveland, however, Deng has reportedly seen enough of the mess in the Cavaliers locker room.
Mitch Lawrence of NY Daily News is reporting that Deng is disappointed with how the Cavs have been handling its young star players, who have been very unprofessional yet have not been disciplined by the coaching staff or the front office.
"In Chicago, where Deng broke in and played nine-plus seasons, there is a winning culture where players are expected to act like professionals and understand that they will suffer the consequences if they step out of line," wrote Lawrence.
Deng was said to have told a close confidant that: "the stuff going on in practice would never be tolerated by the coaching staff or the front office back in Chicago. It's a mess."
Getting into specifics, Lawrence said the Cavs players have been thrown out of practice, have threatened not to play, and get into head coach Mike Brown's face like spoiled brats. Yet the players have not been disciplined at all by the coaching staff. There was an instance when guard Dion Waiters was thrown out of practice yet got his usual minutes the following game against the New York Knicks.
Lawrence also reported that several Cavs players were seen partying in New York with other athletes like 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and even Knicks players like J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert.
The Cavs are one of the most disappointing teams this season. Instead of fighting for a playoff spot, the Cavs seemed headed to the draft lottery again with a 16-31 record and a four-game losing streak.
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