On Sunday, June 19, 2016, Andre Iguodala coasted in for an easy layup with three minutes left in the game to break an 89-89 tie and give the Golden State Warriors the lead. Then, while Iguodala jumped from the three-point line, LeBron James sprinted from the top of the three point line in a seemingly futile effort to contest the shot. Then, King James did the impossible: he ferociously blocked Iggy's layup, pinning the ball against the backboard with the ball only inches away from a goaltend. Warriors fans, Cavs fans, and everyone who clung to hope that the Warriors would lose all went crazy. We just witnessed the greatest defensive play in history.
A couple words can describe LeBron's career: dominant, excellent, fascinating. But the one word everyone can agree on is unfair. He is the Standard Oil of basketball. At 6'8" and 250 lbs and one of the fastest players in the NBA, James is simply too much to handle for many defenders when he drives to the basket. In transition, many defenders try to foul him, only to fail when their best efforts result in LeBron magically getting the basket. And the foul. He has the basketball IQ and passing ability of the best point guards in the NBA, playing with an unselfishness at 18 that most players only gain in their 30s. He is a menace on defense, with almost nightly highlight reel blocks such as the legendary one on Iguodala. The only criticism of LeBron as a player is that he's not a great three-point shooter. He's only average.
Even more unfair is LeBron's value to a team. In 2010, the year he left the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team won a meager 19 games, 42 less than they won the previous season. When he returned, the Cavs won 53 games and made it to the NBA Finals, bringing the Warriors to a six-game series only after his co-stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love got injured, with statistically one of the worst supporting casts in NBA history. In last year's Finals against the Warriors, LeBron crowned himself as "King", being the first team to win a championship after being down 3-1. He unbelievably led both teams in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks, an astonishing feat.
However, for as long as I could remember, what no NBA fan outside of Cleveland wanted more was for LeBron to lose. We cheered every time he airballed a free throw or missed a buzzer beater, calling him LeBrick. We threw fits every time LeBron flopped (which is a lot), calling him LeFlop (you can tell sports fans are creative). We reveled when LeBron lost, to the Magic, Celtics, Mavericks, and Spurs. Since he couldn't win a title, we called him LeChoke. Above all, we called him a traitor when he left the Cavs the first time (even though very few actually cared about the Cavs).
Although there is merit to some of these labels, most of them arise from LeBron suffering from Tom Brady's "Too Good Syndrome". People look for reasons to hate them because how talented and dominant they are, so much so that they can make the game boring. Everyone knows how valuable he is, but we don't see LeBron win MVP every year because it would be so boring. However, in the past two years, Steph and the Warriors have taken the "Too Good" torch, and have taken the bulls-eye off LeBron's back. For the first time in his career, LeBron became the underdog, overlooked and underestimated against a team that had the best regular season record in NBA record. He showed everyone why that was a mistake.
Sports fans also have a tendency to get too involved in athletes' personal lives that they have no business judging. But there is no place to criticize LeBron's personal life. He married his high school sweetheart, Savannah Brinson, and has largely stayed out of the legal drama of many of his colleagues.He is the son of a single mother, Gloria James, who was pregnant at 16. As a result, he takes her last name as his own. With every monumental success, the first person he credited was his mom, displaying an unselfishness in character that parallels his unselfishness as a player. "You think LeBron James is a champion? Gloria James is a champion too. She’s my champion."
At 32 years old, I fear that LeBron could be exiting the prime of his NBA career as his physical prowess declines. I fear that he might not be the best player in the world anymore. This season, the Cavaliers mightily struggled after the New Year, posting a 7-8 record in January. Behind Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors, he is playing the most minutes per game in the NBAat 37.5 mpg. With co-star Kevin Love out six weeks after knee surgery, James might soon overtake Lowry and be overworked even more.
Going into the playoffs this season, people are writing off LeBron and the Cavs again. Most threw in the towel once Kevin Durant signed with the Warriors. LeBron and the Cavs did the impossible last year in dethroning, Steph, Klay, and Draymond. Now, they need a miracle. But LeBron is the one that can do it. He is the one that can prove everyone wrong, yet again.
As LeBron soon exits his prime, I realize we have taken the best basketball player in the world for granted. Fans still regard Michael Jordan as the best player in NBA history, writing off LeBron because LeBron still doesn't have as many rings. But I argue LeBron has exceeded him as maybe not the most accomplished, but the best player in history.
In the words of Colin Cowherd, an ESPN radio show host: "After LeBron leaves, teams plummet because they have to replace five things he does better than anybody on the team. Michael wasn't the Bulls' best ball-handler. He wasn't the Bulls' best shooter. He wasn't always the best teammate. He often didn't engage everybody. He wasn't the best rebounder."
We are witnessing the greatest players in all of sports right now, and we're taking him for granted.
