LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love

Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love are willing to help LeBron James win a title for the city of Cleveland but it's going to take action, not talk, writes Chris Haynes.

(Mark Duncan, AP)

LOS ANGELES - If you have lived in Cleveland for a little over a half-century, you have not experienced a professional championship season.

The city is yearning to know such a feeling. It's been 52 years of heartbreak and wasted opportunities. LeBron James resurfacing in 2014 renewed hope. To some, he's made amends for the announcement he was leaving for South Beach in 2010.

But for others he won't truly be forgiven until he brings a title to Northeast Ohio. At times this season, James has been irritable with the Cleveland Cavaliers' inconsistent play. Some say the pressure is mounting, that he's saying the window is closing given how the Golden State Warriors are tearing up the league.

It appears the Cavaliers will have to eventually take down the defending champions in order to reach the promised land. And if not, what then? Would it be James' most definitive failure? The perception is the weight of the city's desire for a title are resting only on the shoulders of James.

Yet James doesn't view the spotlight of 2016 as nearly as blinding as what he faced five seasons ago.

"Winning in Miami was away more pressure than this," James said.

"For me, I understand the history of Cleveland sports, but I'm not a part of the whole history. I'm a part of nine seasons. I'm not a part of 58 seasons, or whatever the hell it is. I don't think the expectations for 50-plus years had been to win a championship.

"In Miami if you didn't win you bust, straight up, while we were there those four years. I think that was just the pressure around us and we handled it very well. We were a group that really didn't let the pressure get to us too much. We were a veteran group and we actually liked it that. We liked a little conflict, a little pressure."

Although the Cavaliers are sitting atop the Eastern Conference with seemingly little threat on their path to The Finals, their spotty performances and iffy effort have been a cause for concern. There hasn't been a steady sense of urgency.

"I think it's definitely urgent to win with the team we have now," Kevin Love told cleveland.com. "There's definitely a sense of urgency, but I think that's a good thing."

If the players feel that, it's not showing. They could just be bored, and that happens. The regular season is tiring and can wear on you. It takes complete mental focus and proper preparation to perform at a high level for 82 games.

That's been part of the frustration James has been dealing with. Constantly he stresses that it's not all about wins and losses, but how they prepare as professionals each contest. A few weeks back he said if this team faltered, he would absorb the brunt of the blame. But if other players aren't living up to their end of the bargain, is that fair?

"'Bron's the best player in the world, man. I guess in some ways it comes with the territory," Love said. "But I think it's on all of us because he brings it every single day so we have to make sure we're up to par with what we're trying to accomplish."

Kyrie Irving is 23. Love is 27. Some wonder if they really want this badly enough. Are they of the mindset that they'll have plenty of time to capture a Larry O'Brien Trophy?

"I know that I want to win based on for my legacy, but also when you have a great player like that, such as LeBron, you want to win for him as well," Irving said to cleveland.com. "You definitely want to have an impact on what the success is for a championship run. I don't want him to ever feel that he has to shoulder as much of the load because as a leader of this team, I want to reflect some of that off of him and that goes back to our relationship in general.

"You never want it to feel like he's out there alone. I tell him almost every single time out, 'I got your back, I'm here for you and I'm going to ride with you.'"

There are 18 regular-season games to put words into action. The Cavaliers seem to be in a good space right now. They still unquestionably possess the confidence in their abilities to get the job done. When asked about the potential blame game should the Cavaliers come up empty, Irving cut off the interview.

"We're not falling short," Irving said adamantly. "There's no reason to talk about it."

Only time will tell. As long as No. 23 is on the roster, there's always a chance.

"For me, I'm going to go out and do my job here, like I've always done, like I've always said," James said. "I'm going to get these guys and lead these guys the best I know how and I'll live with the results."