The Cleveland Cavaliers have struggled this season. They just defeated the New York Knicks. Humans are allowed to have fun.
All of these things are true. But what made several players — and the team itself — decide to share pictures of a children’s character?
Following the team’s victory over the Knicks, injured guard Isaiah Thomas, guard Dwyane Wade, forward Channing Frye, forward Jeff Green and guard Iman Shumpert all shared images of Arthur being happy.
Yes, it’s in response to LeBron James’ initial post on Instagram of Arthur making a fist. LeBron shared the picture following Cleveland’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks, who entered that matchup at 1-8 and dropped the Cavaliers to 4-6 on the year.
Now that the Cavs have recorded victories in three of the last four games, the good times have apparently returned to the locker room.
And really, we’re more interested in how this happened rather than why. Did Wade, a close friend of LeBron’s, decide to play a joke on his buddy and get several teammates in on the plan? Was this scheme concocted over a group text?
Is this a ploy to move attention away from Cleveland’s 7-7 record and instead steer the focus to non-basketball things? Is that being too cynical about a joke?
Regardless, while humorous, it feels strangely high school-ish. One clique is enjoying themselves while making things a little weird for the rest of us. But it’s all good.