Maturing LeBron justifies the hype
It didn’t go down too well three summers ago when LeBron James promised “not one, not two, not three...” NBA titles to the fans of the Miami Heat.
His relief was palpable in the early hours of Friday morning after he and his team made good on the second part of that promise with an exhilarating Game Seven 95-88 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
“The vision that I had when I came here is all coming true,” James said. “It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
A cause of intense debate since he made the decision to move from Cleveland to Miami in 2010, the winning podium was his platform on live TV to send a message to all his detractors.
“I’m LeBron James from Akron, Ohio, from the inner city. I’m not even supposed to be here… It doesn’t matter what anybody else says about me. I ain’t got no worries.”
Now the greatest basketball player in the world can begin to build a solid case to be considered the greatest of all time.
A trophy in each arm, James stood at the centre of the American Airlines Arena as the confetti fell around him and he revelled in the retention of the NBA title.
Awarded finals MVP for the second year in a row, he finished the game with 37 points and shared a total of 60 with his team-mate Dwyane Wade, who now has three rings from his time in South Florida.
Wade is firmly ensconced as a Miami legend but the entire sport belongs to James, who was drafted straight out of high school 10 years ago this week. He was dominant at the right times throughout this series but especially in Games Six and Seven when it was win or bust for the reigning champions.
“No matter how bad you’re hurting,” said James, “you’ve got 48 minutes of all out ball and I was blessed to pull off some shots.”
Two nights previously, Miami were down 10 in the fourth quarter and San Antonio had one hand on the Larry O’Brien Trophy. That’s when James took control, finishing with a triple-double in a 103-100 overtime victory.
“You need a little bit of luck to win an NBA Championship and that’s exactly what we had,” said James about the previous game. “I’ve never been in a situation where nine months is going down the drain until we get an extra life.
“I work on my game a lot, throughout the off-season. I put a lot of work into it and to be able to come out here and (have) the results happen out on the floor is the ultimate. The ultimate. I’m at a loss for words.”
None of this has come easy to the 28-year-old. He brought all the pressure on his own shoulders and endured a bitter season of basketball in 2010-11 which culminated in a thrilling defeat to the Dallas Mavericks at the finals two years ago.
But Miami brushed up on their PR for last season and romped home, ultimately dispensing with the Oklahoma City Thunder a year ago. This seven-game victory over the Spurs though will be one for the ages.
And although there was a little room for comfort on Thursday night and no need for overtime, neither team ever opened a lead of more than seven while the scores were level 11 times making for a gripping contest.
“This is the sweetest one because of everything we’ve been through, everything I’ve been through personally,” said Wade. “To get here to this moment … it’s special, so special.
“Credit to the San Antonio Spurs, they’re an unbelievable team, an unbelievable franchise. This is the hardest series we ever had to play. But we’re a resilient team and did whatever it took.”
The Spurs had never lost at this stage and Tim Duncan, who was appearing in his fifth finals, admitted that his chance to draw his team level with 50 seconds remaining would live long with him, saying he felt lower than he did after the previous game slipped through their fingers.
“Missing a lay-up to tie the game. Making a bad decision down the stretch… Game Seven is always going to haunt me.”
Kawhi Leonard with 19 points and 16 rebounds was superb once again for the Spurs and looks like a future star with every passing game but the other members of their past success were less involved: Manu Ginobili, in what was possibly his last game for the Texas team, scored 18 but made some terrible errors in the dying minutes while Tony Parker was negated by James before being benched towards the end.
For Miami, the question is what’s next for a team which is as full of holes as a championship-winning outfit can ever be?
Their leading light has learned his lesson though. When asked about his goals, James was a little more circumspect than three years ago, avoiding talk of titles.
But his overall resolve remains steadfast: “I want to be — if not the greatest — then one of the greatest to ever play this game.”
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