INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) — LeBron James has 28.6 million followers on Twitter. Lately, he seems interested in connecting with only a few of them.
James has spent part of the past week sending cryptic messages on the social media platform, leading to speculation he's unhappy with a teammate or plotting another move. The Cavaliers star won't divulge the meanings of his tweets or their intended targets and explained Monday that he's simply exercising his brain.
"It's just my mind working, that's all," James said following shootaround as the Cavs prepared to host the Memphis Grizzlies. "I don't know if anything started it. Just my mind working. I got a beautiful mind and I want to use it sometimes in a social manner."
The recent rash of tweets, which have included hashtags like #TheDC, have caused a stir because James has been relatively quiet on Twitter this year and because virtually everything the four-time NBA MVP does is scrutinized.
James could be toying with everyone, and he'll likely swear off social media completely in the postseason, a concession that has become a ritual for him in recent seasons.
However, James understands the impact of his posts, which is why he continues to send them. It's possible he could be reaching out to motivate one of his Cleveland teammates since he's done that in the past. Whatever the case, James said deciphering the messages is easy for some.
"If you have an educated mind, they hit home for you," he said. "Last night I tweeted that consistency and structure breeds perfection and if you take a short cut, or if you don't handle business then you come up short. I think everybody should understand that. It's nothing between the lines, it's just, life. You can't shortcut being perfect or trying to be as perfect as you can, or trying to get to a point where you just feel like you can succeed. So, for educated minds, it should be fine."
James, who also raised some eyebrows by traveling to Florida last week to work out with former Miami teammate Dwyane Wade, knows his Twitter teases will bring him more criticism.
He doesn't care.
James said during his second season playing with the Heat that he stopped agonizing about what others think about him.
"I just stopped, it became too much where I was worried about what other people think instead of just making the main thing the main thing, and that's just playing the game of basketball that I love and being happy about being in this situation," he said. "I'm a blessed kid from, you guys know the story, 40 miles south of here. I've got a beautiful family, beautiful teammates and this game of basketball has brought me so much. So the outside noises just really don't affect me."
James is expected to sit out some upcoming games. Coach Tyronn Lue wants to rest him and other starters before the postseason. James said he and Lue have not yet plotted out when he'll sit.
"We've discussed a few things, but it's still day to day though," he said. "We want to go day by day and not try to plan too much."
