LeBron James Comments on Cavaliers' Underdog Status in 2016 NBA Finals

The Cleveland Cavaliers will get another crack at the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals after losing to the Dubs in six games last year, and LeBron James isn't at all concerned with outside expectations for the series. 

According to ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin, King James is ignoring the notion that Golden State is favored to claim its second consecutive NBA title:

The Warriors are 5-11 favorites to win the series, per Odds Shark, while the Cavs sit at 9-5 underdogs.

Golden State won an NBA-record 73 games during the regular season, but it fell behind, 3-1, to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals and needed a huge comeback to avoid elimination. Conversely, the Cavs have lost just two games throughout the playoffs thus far.

They are also at full health after Kevin Love missed all of last year's NBA Finals, and Kyrie Irving appeared in only one game in that series.

With both Love and Irving in the fold, James is seemingly more positive about the Cavaliers' positioning this year, according to ESPN.com's Ohm Youngmisuk:

"

There's definitely a different feeling. I didn't appreciate last year myself personally on getting to the Finals. Just so much was going on in my mind, knowing that Kev was out for the rest of the season and knowing that Ky was dealing with injuries all the way from the first round. I just didn't appreciate it.

It's definitely a different feeling. Having these guys right here at full strength, having our team at full strength, and the way I feel personally, I appreciate this moment, to be able to be a part of it and to be there once again.

"

As a four-time NBA MVP and two-time NBA champion, LeBron isn't accustomed to being considered an underdog.

That has changed over the past two seasons, however, thanks to the rise of the Warriors and two-time reigning MVP Stephen Curry alongside Klay Thompson, who both received praise from James, via AJ Neuharth-Keusch of USA Today:

"

They shoot the ball extremely well. Klay and Steph are probably the two greatest shooters that we've probably ever seen. Obviously in today's game they are. Some of the shots, there's nothing that you can do about it. Better offense beats great defense any day.

It's hard to contain them. We all know that, the whole league knows that, our team knows that. But we have a game plan and we have to follow it and be true to it.

"

The underdog role didn't play in James' favor last year, but a team with LeBron, Love and Irving hardly feels like an underdog on paper. So the Cavs may not need bulletin-board material in order to view themselves on the same level as the defending champs.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.