The Life of LeBron James is not one of lilies and unicorns. Being the best player in the NBA takes hard, incessant work…Just ask him.
LeBron James collapsed to the floor after the final buzzer sounded. No doubt his shoulders had finally relented to the burden of carrying an injury-plagued team to the brink of the NBA Finals. Minutes later, after he conjured up the energy to do a post-game interview or two, teammates showed him some love that would easily be compared to kissing the ring of the king. It was all done at center court for the world to see, just as he would want. One more victory would send James to his 5th straight Finals appearance. Better than Magic, Larry and Michael.
Welcome to the NBAL. The National Basketball Association of LeBron.
Sometime in between prep superstar and NBA All-Star, James became some sort of cross between Chuck Norris and The Most Interesting Man in the World.
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They say the spotlight shines brightest on the game’s biggest stage, but the spotlight has never left James’ side since the day he picked up a basketball as a little tyke in Akron, Ohio 30-some-odd years ago. Slam Magazine featured him as a 16-year-old. Sports Illustrated dubbed him The Chosen One a year later. LeBron started his own television network 5 years before he was even born, and now ESPN follows his every move, making him a real life Truman Show.
Last night, James’ 37 points 18 rebounds and 13 assists were just enough to squeak by the Atlanta Hawks, giving them a decisive three-nothing advantage in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals. Playing 46 minutes out of a possible 53, it’s easy to see why James crumpled to the floor as if Tonya Harding had called out another hit. Maybe it’s true that seven other players logged over 4o minutes, but that 46th minute; if you’ve never been there, you’ll never know.
Maybe there’s something to be said about Matthew Dellavedova playing 45 minutes; 25 minutes over his regular season average. But he’s Australian, he probably went walkabout in the Outback every summer for training. That’s the only reason he didn’t collapse on the floor. Had he been American, he would have stayed in at halftime, unable to get up for the second half.
Lucky for all of us, James was blessed with the mindset of a Samurai warrior. The pains and limitations of mere mortals do not affect him in a game of this magnitude.
“I felt like I couldn’t give more, but then it was mind over matter,” James said.
That, however, is just the tip of the iceberg.
This year, James has decided he needs to have a bigger role if Cleveland was going to hoist its first championship in 51 years.
Late in the year, the Cavs made a trade with the New York Knicks for Iman Shumpert and JR Smith, orchestrated by Lebron himself.
“Get him here, and I’ll take care of it,” said James.
“For me, as a leader of a team, you always just want to try to give someone an opportunity. With the talent this guy presents, I knew the man he was, and I didn’t really care about what everybody else thought about him. Obviously, our front office, they have the last say so, and for me, they have the last say so, but when they made it and said they were going to do it, I was definitely all for it. I felt like, for me, we were getting a great piece, not only on the floor, but off the floor, as well, because I’d known him before he even got to this point.”
In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, James decided to take on the mantle of player/coach, harkening back to the days of Bill Russell and the Celtics.
“To be honest, the play that was drawn up, I scratched it. I just told coach, ‘Give me the ball.’ We’re either going to go to overtime or I’m going to win it for us. It was that simple.”“I was supposed to take the ball out. I told coach, ‘There’s no way I’m taking the ball out, unless I can shoot it over the backboard and it goes in.’ I told him, ‘Have somebody else take the ball out, give me the ball, and everybody else get out of the way.”
Player/Coach/GM, is there anything he can’t do?
Apparently, not.
“What a year,” said Cavs Forward Tristan Thompson. “The previous three years, we’re thinking about the lottery and who we’re going to draft. Now just being part of the playoffs and having the opportunity to play with this great father over here. It’s definitely special. What a ride.”
That’s right, this year James has taken on the role of Team Mom as well.
If you are unaware of the sacrifices James has had to make for this run at a Cleveland Championship, you can ask him. In January, James had the wherewithal to impose a 2-week rest and recovery period. Technically it was in the middle of the season, but that’s what leaders do, they make the tough decisions.
Sometime in between prep superstar and NBA All-Star, James became some sort of cross between Chuck Norris and The Most Interesting Man in the World.
13 years of a national spotlight can skew anyone’s image of the world as well as their own self-image. Tales of above-the-law behavior in his first go with the Cavs were consistent with a player given the world in a heart-shaped box with no life-altering consequences. With LeBron’s Decision we saw before a national television audience how impervious he thought he was, and the aftermath ruined his game on the court for two years.
More recently, a selfie instagram post went viral for all the wrong reasons. A sullen James looking in the mirror wanting everyone to feel his pain, and feel sorry for him at the same time conjures up a mixture of emotions best described by writer Britt Robson.
Lebron James is a phenomenal player and one of my favorites all time. But this weird mixture of martyrdom and false modesty is off-putting.
— brittrobson (@brittrobson) May 25, 2015
There’s no denying James is a transcendent athlete who could play all five positions on the court. There is not a more dominating player in the NBA. As good as Steph Curry is, James is eons better than him—and is a well-rounded player. He has overcome an image shattering Decision and come out the other side with the state of Ohio wholeheartedly behind him. When he finally decides to hang it up, he will go down as one of the greatest basketball players ever.
In the end however, it may not be another player who takes away his kingdom.
LeBron will probably do that himself as well.
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Photo Credit: Ron Schwane/AP
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