Nothing changes for narrative on King James LeBron James has two titles, two Finals MVPs and is going after a three-peat next season. His life is so different now that he’s not in Cleveland, right? The interesting thing about the narrative surrounding a player like LeBron (a guy who appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated before he was old enough to go to Rated-R movies) is that the storyline is always the same, no matter what the scenario is. Sure, LeBron got a nice change of scenery by going to Miami and ditching the frozen winters of Cleveland, but how much has really changed for the Chosen One? We demanded that to be considered one of the best he had to win a championship, or rather multiple championships. He’s already gotten two and been to four NBA Finals in his career and has plenty of time and energy left to get more. We demanded that he play better late in games and hit clutch shots when it matters most. He knocked down a huge 3-pointer in Game 6 against the Spurs to help get his team to overtime and then hit the biggest shot of all in Game 7 to put his team on the cusp of their second consecutive title with little time left on the clock. We demanded that he become the leader of the team and not ride the coattails of other stars like Dwyane Wade. We demanded he put up triple-doubles nearly every night, lest we scoff at his box scores when he only puts up 19 points in a game. We’ve demanded everything from LeBron and now he has a resume to prove that he’s one of the best. And has anything changed? People still doubted him during the Miami-Indiana series, when LeBron and company had to take the Pacers to seven games. LeBron averaged 41.7 minutes per game during the playoffs. Only four guys averaged more minutes and none of them played on teams that made it past the second round. Isn’t that absurd that a team featuring two other supposed All-Stars in Wade and Chris Bosh should have to play their MVP for over 86 percent of the game? He averaged 25.9 points per game, 8.4 rebounds per game and 6.6 assists per game during the playoffs. You know who’s never put up numbers like that? Five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant. Granted, Kobe has averaged as many as 32.8 points per game in the playoffs, but that’s easy to do when you never pass the ball to your teammates (for the record, Bryant has averaged over six assists per game once in the playoffs in his 17-year career, while LeBron has done that five times already in only 10 years). When Game 6 of the NBA Finals was coming to Miami, everyone was talking about how the Spurs were going to take down LeBron for the second time in his career. They were just 30 seconds away from doing that when he and Ray Allen hit two huge shots to alter the course of NBA history. LeBron seems like a different player. He has the hardware to make him a first ballot of Hall of Famer. So, why do I feel like nothing has changed with LeBron? He’ll always have his detractors for the way he left Cleveland. He made the right decision, but “The Decision” was the wrong way to go about it. Anybody who thinks he should have stayed with the Cavs for some reason is either certifiably insane or Charles Barkley, although those two things are exactly different. NBA veterans like Barkley love to rip LeBron for jumping ship and teaming up with Bosh and Wade. Aren’t guys like Barkley, Karl Malone and Patrick Ewing the reason LeBron took his talents to South Beach in the first place? He knew the talent around him in Cleveland wasn’t good enough to win a championship. So he headed to Florida for some sun, no state income tax and titles. Check, check and check. It still feels like its James and the rest of the Heat trying to keep up with him, just like with the Cavaliers. It still feels like many LeBron haters are waiting for him to screw up in the postseason again (like in 2011 against Dallas) so they can pounce. It still feels like LeBron is going through the same narrative and nothing has really changed. Maybe that’s a good thing for the NBA, which has seen a huge rise in popularity over the last several years. Maybe LeBron has to carry this burden for his industry to thrive. Then again, what do I know? On May 22, I wrote how Miami was going through one of the most boring playoff runs ever. Then I watched LeBron and his team climb all the way back from the brink of death against San Antonio. Being wrong had never before been so exhilarating.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 13:21:32 +0000
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