Intro:

Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt and Cavs forward Shawn Marion spoke on Friday about the loss of LeBron James to injury ahead of the club's game against the Charlotte Hornets later on Friday.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (English) David Blatt, Cavaliers head coach

"He hasn't felt 100 per cent for some time. He's been toughing it out and he's been giving us everything he has despite some discomfort - not overwhelming discomfort, but discomfort. It was exacerbated during the Miami game and from that point forward, obviously we looked at this thing in a different way and decided together with him that the best thing for us to do was to attack this problem straight on and allow him to heal completely - even at the expense of him being down for more than a few days. And get him back to where he feels 100 per cent and go from there."

SOUNDBITE: (English) David Blatt, Cavaliers head coach

"Hell I can barely get out of bed after playing professionally for 12-13 years. You're going to have aches and pains, but this became an issue where he really couldn't play comfortably."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Shawn Marion, Cavaliers forward

"There's going to be ups and downs throughout the season regardless if he's playing or not. And we've had them. So I think we've just got to come together more. Hope that he has a speedy recovery, but take his time to do what he's got to do and we can hold the fort down."