At times in the NBA Finals, the Spurs made Lebron James the Heat’s offensive weakness. But with Game 7 on the line it was he who pushed his team to back-to-back championships because that’s what a player of his caliber does. By Jesse Dougherty.
A win for the Heat is a bigger win for Lebron James in the long run
Jesse Dougherty-
Any attempt to describe the 2013 NBA Finals in a word comes off as incredibly cliche. I’ve already panned through a paperback Thesaurus (yes, they exist), plugged countless words into the sentence “The 2013 NBA Finals were (fill in the blank), and struck out each time.
From that, it’s easy to deduce that the 2013 NBA Finals cannot be defined by a single word. Instead, it was a pack of seven games that ended a run, re-energized another, and scribed a tale like no writer ever could. The series’ contents were exquisitely crafted by the athletes on the court, the coaches on the sidelines, and the patrons in the stands, each having a hand in what will be remembered as one of best NBA Finals in basketball history.
The Heat’s second straight championship is all about Lebron James. It’s an unprecedented team feat that, oddly enough, falls into the lap of one, unprecedented athlete. Ever since Sports Illustrated catapulted James onto the scene by dubbing him the “Chosen One,” the basketball world has closely watched his every step. Along the way he has given many basketball fans reasons to root against him. Leaving Cleveland, announcing his decision to align with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami on the “Decision Show,” and now capturing two straight titles is the makings of an NBA villain. But villain or not, there is no longer a reason to believe that James can be stopped or even slowed down. The Spurs pushed the Heat to the brink yet when the dust settled, it was “King James” fending off the threat and claiming his throne for the second straight year.
James finished Game 7 with 37 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists, while shooting 12-23 from the floor and 5-10 from three. Before last night, the series was characterized by James’s shooting struggles. He shot great during the regular season but Gregg Popovich still saw his jump shot as the the one weak point of his game that the Spurs could try and expose. So that’s what they did. They used the Heat’s greatest asset and attempted to make it their achilles heel. If James was shooting mid-to-long range jump shots that meant he wasn’t going to the rim, giving himself the opportunity for easy points, or getting his teammates open by forcing the defense to collapse into an amoebic blob.
Until last night, it worked. An odd combination of Kawhi Leonard and Boris Diaw were bothering James on the drive and giving him no other option but to test his jump shot that had succumbed to inconsistency on the series. Making James, the best basketball player in the world, carry the torch offensively was as incredulous as it was unlikely, and maybe that’s why it worked for as long as it did. But with the Spurs daring James to shoot one last time, he graciously took the invitation and discredited the game plan entirely. Games one through six can be inserted into NBA history as the rare stretch where a defensive scheme dawdled an invincible athlete. But in Game 7, James punctuated the series by finding his stroke.
There are countless events in the series that will never be forgotten. Ray Allen’s three to force overtime in Game 6 that eventually led to Game 7. Tim Duncan’s 25 first half points in the same game. Danny Green’s record-setting shooting display. Mike Miller’s clutch three with one shoe. The improbability of Boris Diaw succeeding as a facilitator and key component of Popovich’s defense. The Spurs’ commanding Game 3 win that seemed to put them in the driver’s seat. Wade channeling his former self in an unforgettable Game 4. Manu Ginobili’s split personalities of Game 5 and Game 6 that fueled and wrecked San Antonio, all at the same time.
Then there will always be James. Because it was James’s three the possession before that made Allen’s Game 6 heroics possible. It was James’s commanding block of Duncan in the second half of the same game that erased his 25-point first half and gave Miami the jolt of energy it badly needed. It was James’s offensive prowess that allowed Diaw to make his imprint on the series, Wade to find himself, and in the end, the Heat to outlast a gallant effort by one of the most majestic teams of the game’s modern era. At one of the quintessential moments of James’s career when his legacy and future with Miami dangled in mid-air, his smooth 18-foot jump shot willed the team to victory. It wasn’t an improbable moment by means, it will just have an immeasurable effect on how he will be defined as an athlete from here on forward.
It’s not that James was the lone component of the Heat’s repeat, but that he facilitated the most entertaining event in the recent history of sport. The greatest of all-time debates can come later and you can bet that I will be in the thick of them. Jordan or James, James or Chamberlain, Chamberlain or Jordan, Jordan or Magic, and so on. We have time for that, we’ll always have time for that. For now, we should all be thanking James for what we witnessed this season. Not only a Heat championship and his second straight Finals MVP award, but his third straight regular season MVP award, his team’s 27-game win streak, and the skill and grace that he blessed the court with every night.
There’s a reason why the cameras exclusively followed James around the court after the Heat won last night. They’re all wondering what he’ll do next and whether you love him or hate him, you are too. It’s time we all accept that what James has done, and will continue to do is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. If you’re not yet convinced that’s okay, his work is far from over.
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