LeBron James Comments on Warriors, Cavaliers' Roster and More

For the last six years, the Eastern Conference has largely been decided by one question: Does your team have LeBron James? 

In an interview with Cleveland.com's Joe Vardon, James acknowledged how he has cast a massive shadow over the rest of the NBA:

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I know teams switch and pick up new coaches or new players, and their whole goal is kind of they want to beat me. It's never just about me, but I always hear them saying, 'We gotta beat LeBron.' It's not just me on the court, but I understand that teams get together in this conference and across the league to try to beat me.

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The four-time MVP said he understood why the Golden State Warriors added Kevin Durant to a team that won an NBA-record 73 games:

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I think every team is put together for one reason and one reason only, and that's to try and win a championship. That's what Golden State wants to do. For me, I'm the same way. I don't like being stagnant, and we've got great guys in here, but I want to continue to get better in this league each and every year and have the opportunity to win a championship. That's what it comes down to.

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According to Vardon, James takes the same approach with the Cavaliers. He would expect general manager David Griffin to shake things up a bit in the event the gulf between Cleveland and Golden State grows.

The 31-year-old accomplished his goal of ending Cleveland's title drought, and his legacy on the court is pretty much cemented. Still, LeBron doesn't appear to be satisfied with winning just one championship with the Cavs.

Cleveland's core is still relatively young. Kyrie Irving is 24, Tristan Thompson is 25, and Kevin Love is 28. The team's championship window should be open for at least a few more seasons.

It's easy to forget how many questions swirled around the Cavs before they beat the Warriors in the NBA Finals.

One defensive stop against Stephen Curry in Game 7 completely changed the narrative around Love and his long-term viability in Cleveland. Prior to averaging 25.2 points per game in the playoffs, Irving had shot a career-worst 32.1 percent from three-point range and averaged a career-low 4.7 assists per game.

Without that title, it's easy to see a future in which Love is no longer with the Cavaliers and many are second-guessing Irving as the ideal partner for James in Cleveland.

There's little reason to expect the Cavs to take a step back in 2016-17—barring an injury to a key player. The team should be more cohesive with coach Tyronn Lue for a full season, and winning a championship takes a lot of the pressure off during the regular season. Lue can rest James, Irving and Love more frequently in order to keep them fresh for the playoffs.

If the Cavaliers are unable to repeat as champions, then it won't be a failure after the Warriors reloaded, but it would be interesting to see how Cleveland reshapes the roster next summer in order to keep up with Golden State.