ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Cleveland Cavaliers' pregame locker room is noisier this season than it was last season.
LeBron James has taken to turning on his portable speakers from Beats by Dre, a company he endorses, and playing tunes as he and his teammates stretch out and put on their uniforms.
Only it’s not the music that’s the noisy part. It’s the debates that the music sparks. The ribbing usually centers between two people: James and Jared Cunningham. While James picks the songs, Cunningham picks on the songs.
"My position is: I’m from the West Coast. So I listen to all the West Coast artists. And I’m into the new music," Cunningham explained to ESPN.com before getting his third start of the season Friday against the Orlando Magic. "Just some up-tempo club music. Music like that."
James’ playlist features artists such as Kanye West, Jay-Z, OutKast, Jadakiss, Lupe Fiasco and sometimes even Cleveland’s own Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Cunningham, meanwhile, prefers performers such as Ty Dolla $ign, Migos, Young Thug and Yo Gotti.
The thing is, since James controls the speakers, James always wins the argument, often times with teammates like James Jones and Iman Shumpert chiming in to take his side. James went as far as to take the debate to Twitter, inviting his 25.8 million followers to join him in chastising Cunningham
"They’re into that lyric-for-lyric (style of) Jay-Z, Outkast and all that old music that I’m not really in tune to," Cunningham explained. "That’s what we go back and forth with. But he says he’s not going to talk to me ever again about music. He says that my music selection is terrible. That’s all right. I had him listen to some Ty Dolla $ign (Thursday) night, he liked it."
The banter turned to bonding, as James extended Cunningham an invite to join him and Jones for a pre-shootaround shooting session of their own before the rest of the team on Friday morning.
"I didn’t really know that they went that early," Cunningham said. "LeBron told me (Thursday) night, 'Be ready at 8:30.' So I was ready to go in there, get some shots up and just get better."
The 45 minutes of extra work Cunningham got with James was apt considering the sudden surge in playing time he’s seeing in the Cavs’ rotation. Cunningham has played 90 minutes over the past three games for Cleveland. Before this season, Cunningham played for four different teams in his three years in the league. The most minutes he played for any of those franchises in the entire time he was there was 89 (spread over 19 games with the Los Angeles Clippers last season).
"That’s part of the NBA, really. You never can control it. That’s always out of your control," Cunningham said of his fluctuating position in Cavs coach David Blatt’s rotation. "The only thing you can control is your effort and your hard work off the court and on the court at the same time. I guess in the situation, it happens so fast, where you got to be ready."
The timing of Cunningham’s extended burn is fortuitous. In less than a month (Jan. 10), his contract becomes fully guaranteed unless the Cavs choose to cut him before then. When Cunningham made the Cavs’ 15-man roster out of training camp, he was filling a void in terms of guard depth with Kyrie Irving and Shumpert out with injuries. Now that Shumpert is back and Irving’s return is imminent, the real test begins. Is Cunningham valuable enough for the Cavs to invest the nearly $5 million all told his $980,000 contract will turn out to be when it’s combined with the luxury tax hit it will cause?
"I don’t think we’re at that point where we’re talking about it," Blatt said of Cunningham’s contract status. "We probably will going down the line. I just hope Jared continues to play the way he’s been playing."
He did just that against the Magic. His final line of six points, three rebounds and two assists won’t wow you, but his wing defense allowed teammates like James (four steals) and Kevin Love (two steals) to benefit from the poor passes Orlando was throwing as a result of his on-ball pressure.
And he continues to make connections in the locker room, truly integrating himself into the team culture that James values so much. Be it getting in extra workouts with fellow Bay Area-native Phil Handy, the Cavs’ player development coach who Cunningham has put in sweat equity with for years; going clothes shopping in New York City with Cavs liaison and James confidant Randy Mims; comparing kicks with fellow sneakerheads Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov; or just trying to learn from 15-year veteran Richard Jefferson ("I guess he took a liking to me," Cunningham said.)
"He’s done nothing to disappoint us in terms of his willingness to take the minutes that he gets and to contribute, to compete and to play as a part of this team," Blatt said. "And he’s only acquitted himself well in his time here and on the floor. I hope that continues."
Cunningham doesn’t want the ride to end, understandably. At the same time, he isn’t squeezing the dream too tight. He has about as much control over what happens to his contract a month from now as he does over the pregame music being bumped in the Cavs’ locker room.
"I’m having fun and I’m enjoying the situation I’m in right now," Cunningham said. "So, I can’t really say I’m really thinking about it. But, it’s something that’s going to happen and we’ll see when that day comes."