The Best Passive-Aggressive Teenagers in the NBA

Happy Tuesday! I have another Scenario Mode Podcast ready to go!

This week I discuss the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are 44-18 after losing to the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies. I find their locker room drama to be annoying, particularly for a team that's first place in the Eastern Conference. LeBron says they aren't ready for the playoffs. With 20 games left in their season, what do they need to do? With legacies at stake, will they put their differences aside and become a threat to the Warriors and Spurs out west? Click the audio player below to find out!

NBA 2015-16 All-Axed-Coaches Team

Derek Fisher was fired by the New York Knicks on Monday, making him the fifth head coach to be fired during the 2015-16 season. Photo Courtesy AP Photo/Lynne Sladky.

In-season coaching firings are nothing new in the NBA. Since 1980-81, there has always been at least one coach to get the axe over the course of the season. 9 coaches were dropped during the 2004-05 season and 8 were fired during the 2008-09 campaign. This season, 5 head coaches were let go with a sixth coach holding on to his job for now. There's a few teams that may make changes at some point, but things look quiet on the coach-slashing front for now.

So with the dust having settled, let's take a look at the best players to play during these released coaches' tenures. There are going to be some substantial names on this list, which may be a testament to these coaches' inability to cultivate the talent they had in these go-arounds. Some of these guys may get chances somewhere else, but for now we bid them farewell and nothing but the best.

COACHING TENURES COVERED

Kevin McHale: Houston 2011-2015

Jeff Hornacek: Phoenix 2013-2016

Lionel Hollins: Brooklyn 2014-2016

David Blatt: Cleveland 2014-2016

Derek Fisher: New York 2014-2016

POINT GUARDS

Kyrie Irving (Cleveland, 2014-2016)

100 games, 20.9 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 4.9 APG

Eric Bledsoe (Phoenix, 2013-2016)

124 games, 17.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 5.9 APG

Goran Dragic (Houston, 2011-12; Phoenix 2013-2015)

194 games, 16.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 5.2 APG

Kyle Lowry (Houston, 2011-12)

47 games, 14.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 6.6 APG

SHOOTING GUARDS

James Harden (Houston, 2011-2015)

285 games, 26.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 6.4 APG

Brandon Knight (Phoenix, 2015-2016)

53 games, 18.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 4.9 APG

SMALL FORWARDS

LeBron James (Cleveland, 2014-2016)

119 games, 25.1 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 7.0 APG

Carmelo Anthony (New York, 2014-2016)

87 games, 22.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 3.7 APG

Chandler Parsons (Houston, 2011-2015)

213 games, 14.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 3.3 APG

POWER FORWARDS

Kevin Love (Cleveland, 2014-2016)

125 games, 16.2 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 2.3 APG

Thaddeus Young (Brooklyn, 2014-2016)

81 games, 14.7 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.6 APG

CENTERS

Dwight Howard (Houston, 2013-2015)

154 games, 16.5 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 1.6 APG

Brook Lopez (Brooklyn 2014-2016)

125 games, 18.4 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.1 APG

Looking Back at LeBron's 1st Game

LeBron dunk's during the first quarter of his 2003 NBA regular season debut. Photo courtesy Washington Post

Times are scressful in Cleveland. The team is underperforming despite sitting atop the Eastern Conference at 31-12, and the front office fired the head coach in favor of the assistant that was more popular among the players. The Cavs are trying to find some cohesion so that they can make a title run and compete against the likes of the Warriors and Spurs.

The other night I was thinking about the current state of the Cavaliers and eventually started getting nostalgic. With all of the controversy happening right now, have you taken time out recently to remember where it all started?

October 29, 2003, Sacramento, California. I still remember this commercial coming out ahead of his regular season debut. I got a good laugh out of it back then, but I also noticed at the time that he's standing there for more than 24 seconds. I don't care if it is just an advert: that's a shot clock violation, refs! You gotta call that!

But yes, Sacramento, against the Kings. The Cavs weren't all that great, winning only 17 games the previous season. The Kings were all that great, winning a Pacific Division championship in '03.

With all the hype that came with LeBron since high school, he lived up to it in his first game: 25 points on 12 of 20 shooting, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, and 4 steals in a 92-106 loss. He lived up to the hype that season: 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists and Rookie of the Year honors on a not-so-great team that went 35-47 and missed the playoffs. And LeBron has lived up to the hype ever since.

Video is courtesy of SCGoal. Enjoy!