So, what did the mainstream media, as well as the social media, focus on after Game 6 (you know, the game where LeBron made that shot1, Kawhi missed 1 of 2 free throws, Ray Allen made that other shot, and the Heat won in overtime to force a Game 7)? They focused on Coach Greg Popovich, a man who is not usually subjected to widespread nitpicking, keeping Duncan out of the game when Bosh grabbed that crucial offensive rebound to give Miami a second chance to tie the game at 95. They focused on the referees two no-calls late in OT.2 And they focused on the all mighty Spurs' out of character "choke."3 Now, save the foul calls, these are perfectly acceptable things to focus on. Pop does deserve some questioning for keeping Duncan off the court. I know Popovich wanted to cover the shooters but with Bosh on the court, the Spurs could've used an elite big to clean up the boards. On the other hand, in the past few months Bosh has been shooting threes at a much higher rate than he's been accustomed to in his career. With Duncan on the court, Bosh may have gotten a better three look than LeBron did or even than Allen did. Consequently, Pop really does not deserve as much criticism as he's received.4 The massive criticism shows how we, as a society, are prisoners of the moment. We are programmed to react to what has happened rather than what may have happened. But, let's forget about this for now. I want to talk about what is not going to be talked about. I want to talk about what almost would have been talked about up until the season resumes in October.
Clearly, the hypothetical being used as a prerequisite for this exercise is that "LeBrick" did in fact miss that second shot down 94-89, the Spurs went on to win, Chris Bosh cried, Boris Diaw, Nando de Colo and Tony Parker shrieked in French, Coach Pop flashed a smile, and Ray Allen spontaneously attacked Danny Green. Like I said, the public's reaction would be to indict James but on what charges? I mean, did anyone watch the 4th quarter? LeBron personified a bulldozer. He attacked the basket at will. He took the ball to the cup. He drove to the tin. However you want to slice it, the man dominated for 11 straight minutes.5 You have to imagine that LeBron completely revamped his mindset after that 3rd quarter. He needed to play the way he's played all year. Free. Easy. Relaxed. Carefree but not careless. He needed to rework his attitude so that he wasn't thinking, "Oh man, I need to make this shot or my team will lose, we will lose the series, and my legacy will be 'that guy who couldn't come through in the clutch.'" You see, Kobe thrives on that type of thinking. Always has. He thrives on pressure. But, that's not LeBron. Never has been and never will be. He thrives on freedom. And, hell, didn't last years championship earn him the right to play with freedom of mind? I mean, did anyone watch the regular season?
So if James misses that second triple attempt, or even if he makes the shot but Ray Allen then fails to connect on his game saving 3 even later in the contest, the 4 time NBA MVP would've been subjected to scrutiny that rivaled "The Decision" scrutiny. Why is that? The man played about as well as any man could play in the 4th to get the Heat back in the game. He showcased his phenomenal, God-given athletic ability throughout the quarter. He even "messed around and got a triple double"6 but this would all be lost in translation if the Heat didn't tie the game in regulation. One made shot literally erased an entire offseason's worth of crap that would've been unloaded on the 6 foot 8 man's appropriately proportioned gigantic shoulders. Why is society so preoccupied with how a player performs in the last minute of the game? Doesn't every minute that compiles the first 47 minutes count just as much?7 Am I a budding mathematician or is arithmetic just a lost art nowadays? I really doubt that fans were ready to unload on LeBron because a Heat loss would've "deprived" fans of a riveting Game 7. That would be the epitome of selfishness. That can't be it.
Maybe it's simpler than this. Maybe fans just want LeBron to succeed. Yeah, maybe that's it. They feel bad for how poorly he was treated after the airing of The Decision and just want the "kid from Akron, Ohio" to be happy. Let's use an analogy to explore this. Your best friend is a supremely talented juggler8 and his goal is to make it big as a circus act. He's been juggling competitively for years but could never pencil a deal on his own. Eventually, he grew tired of his one man operation. He believed that teaming up with other elite members of the juggling scene could benefit him professionally. So, even though you gave him immense shit for joining a juggling group (what squids, right?), your boy made it to the show. He made it to the European Juggling Convention (EJC).
At the Convention, your buddy froze up. Nerves got the best of him; his performance was out of character as he dropped a few batons late in one of his acts. He was determined to make it back to the EJC next year. Two years later, most of the juggler's critics have been quieted as the year before marked one of the most spectacular performances by a juggler in recent history. Stunning the crowd with his 12-ball patterned juggling routine, your friend finally felt at peace with his career achievements. This year, though, your buddy makes a few key mistakes at the end of his routine and ruins what would've been considered another all-time juggling performance. As a friend, what do you do? Do you scream at him? Taunt him? Humiliate him? OF COURSE NOT. Yes you enjoy watching the juggling act, but he messed up. So what. You tell him to keep practicing and you reassure him of his greatness. One day he'll make it to the Juggling Hall of Fame. He'll be up there with Enrico Rastelli, Paul Cinquevalli, and Bobby May.9 You tell him to relax.
So it's been established that our obsession with LeBron's Finals performances does not stem from our desire to see him succeed. If this were the case, we wouldn't ridicule him for failing. We would try to lift his spirits. Try to ease the pain.
We scrutinize LeBron because we wish we had his talent. We wish we had his size, speed, and athleticism. We feel that if we were blessed with LeBron's God-given gifts, we would win the title every year. Admit it or not we are jealous of the position he is in. It's the same reason widespread reaction to the Aaron Hernandez murder case has been that the former Pats TE has thrown away his fame, fortune and comfortable life. Instead of reacting with grief and sadness that a life has been lost, the first thing people think of is Hernandez's lost status and wealth. Five year, 40 million dollar deal down the drain, people declare. We claim that if we had that same status and wealth, we would never do anything that could come close to jeopardizing it all. Probably wouldn't even commit a misdemeanor. Just in case. Getting back to James though, either we're giving ourselves too much credit or we're discrediting the other athletes, coaches, and teams around the league. It's got to be the former.
Let's leave the fantasy world where LeBron is unfairly ridiculed all offseason for the Heat's Game 6 loss and re-enter the realm of reality. What's up with all the unnecessary comparison to Michael Jordan? LeBron still has a good 10 years left in the league. We can discuss his legacy later but in response to all the MJ vs LBJ debators, Bron Bron's on par, or even ahead, of MJ so far. A big knock on LeBron in the "At this point in LeBron's career, is he better or worse than Michael was at the same point in his career," debate is that MJ was 2/2 in titles at this point and LBJ is 2/4. For clarification purposes, a few talking heads have claimed that this stat gives Jordan the leg up. Apparently losing two titles (2007 to San Antonio and 2011 to Dallas) weakens LeBron's case against Jordan because Michael never lost in the Finals.
Excuse me? Last time I checked losing in the NBA Finals is a greater accomplishment than losing in the Eastern Conference Finals. Therefore, being 2/4 in the NBA Finals should be looked at as superior than being 2/2 in the NBA Finals, if the players are being judged off their achievements and not being judged off the "eye test." Of course, Jordan only had eight seasons under his belt at age 28 and LeBron already has 10 (since he went from high school to the pros) but this point goes uncounted for in the MJ/LBJ debate probably because we can't speculate on what Michael would have done with with two seasons at age 19 and 20. We just don't know. What we do know, though, is that James has reached 2 more Finals than Jordan at the same age.
To conclude, James will be celebrated all offseason for the Heat's win even though one missed shot by him, one defensive rebound hauled in by the Spurs, one free throw made by San Antonio, or one missed shot by Ray Allen would've caused his legacy to be heavily tarnished. But, the shot went in so we watch videos of LeBron almost getting decapitated at the Heat victory parade while obsessing over if he will complete the three-peat next year or not. And going back to Popovich for a minute, none of his coaching decisions changed my opinion of him at all. He's one of the best coaches in NBA history; numerous other coaches would have made the same decisions. However, I did lose some respect for Pop in viewing his mannerisms after the final buzzer of Game 7. From Pop's body language, one would assume he was the coach of the Heat. Giving hugs and kisses to Wade, LeBron and crew with a wide grin spread across his face, Popovich appeared unfazed by his team's loss.10 The man generally seemed happy for Miami while feeling indifferent to his team's defeat. I mean, did you see how Duncan reacted to his first NBA Finals lost?
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Maybe it's simpler than this. Maybe fans just want LeBron to succeed. Yeah, maybe that's it. They feel bad for how poorly he was treated after the airing of The Decision and just want the "kid from Akron, Ohio" to be happy. Let's use an analogy to explore this. Your best friend is a supremely talented juggler8 and his goal is to make it big as a circus act. He's been juggling competitively for years but could never pencil a deal on his own. Eventually, he grew tired of his one man operation. He believed that teaming up with other elite members of the juggling scene could benefit him professionally. So, even though you gave him immense shit for joining a juggling group (what squids, right?), your boy made it to the show. He made it to the European Juggling Convention (EJC).
At the Convention, your buddy froze up. Nerves got the best of him; his performance was out of character as he dropped a few batons late in one of his acts. He was determined to make it back to the EJC next year. Two years later, most of the juggler's critics have been quieted as the year before marked one of the most spectacular performances by a juggler in recent history. Stunning the crowd with his 12-ball patterned juggling routine, your friend finally felt at peace with his career achievements. This year, though, your buddy makes a few key mistakes at the end of his routine and ruins what would've been considered another all-time juggling performance. As a friend, what do you do? Do you scream at him? Taunt him? Humiliate him? OF COURSE NOT. Yes you enjoy watching the juggling act, but he messed up. So what. You tell him to keep practicing and you reassure him of his greatness. One day he'll make it to the Juggling Hall of Fame. He'll be up there with Enrico Rastelli, Paul Cinquevalli, and Bobby May.9 You tell him to relax.
So it's been established that our obsession with LeBron's Finals performances does not stem from our desire to see him succeed. If this were the case, we wouldn't ridicule him for failing. We would try to lift his spirits. Try to ease the pain.
We scrutinize LeBron because we wish we had his talent. We wish we had his size, speed, and athleticism. We feel that if we were blessed with LeBron's God-given gifts, we would win the title every year. Admit it or not we are jealous of the position he is in. It's the same reason widespread reaction to the Aaron Hernandez murder case has been that the former Pats TE has thrown away his fame, fortune and comfortable life. Instead of reacting with grief and sadness that a life has been lost, the first thing people think of is Hernandez's lost status and wealth. Five year, 40 million dollar deal down the drain, people declare. We claim that if we had that same status and wealth, we would never do anything that could come close to jeopardizing it all. Probably wouldn't even commit a misdemeanor. Just in case. Getting back to James though, either we're giving ourselves too much credit or we're discrediting the other athletes, coaches, and teams around the league. It's got to be the former.
Let's leave the fantasy world where LeBron is unfairly ridiculed all offseason for the Heat's Game 6 loss and re-enter the realm of reality. What's up with all the unnecessary comparison to Michael Jordan? LeBron still has a good 10 years left in the league. We can discuss his legacy later but in response to all the MJ vs LBJ debators, Bron Bron's on par, or even ahead, of MJ so far. A big knock on LeBron in the "At this point in LeBron's career, is he better or worse than Michael was at the same point in his career," debate is that MJ was 2/2 in titles at this point and LBJ is 2/4. For clarification purposes, a few talking heads have claimed that this stat gives Jordan the leg up. Apparently losing two titles (2007 to San Antonio and 2011 to Dallas) weakens LeBron's case against Jordan because Michael never lost in the Finals.
Excuse me? Last time I checked losing in the NBA Finals is a greater accomplishment than losing in the Eastern Conference Finals. Therefore, being 2/4 in the NBA Finals should be looked at as superior than being 2/2 in the NBA Finals, if the players are being judged off their achievements and not being judged off the "eye test." Of course, Jordan only had eight seasons under his belt at age 28 and LeBron already has 10 (since he went from high school to the pros) but this point goes uncounted for in the MJ/LBJ debate probably because we can't speculate on what Michael would have done with with two seasons at age 19 and 20. We just don't know. What we do know, though, is that James has reached 2 more Finals than Jordan at the same age.
To conclude, James will be celebrated all offseason for the Heat's win even though one missed shot by him, one defensive rebound hauled in by the Spurs, one free throw made by San Antonio, or one missed shot by Ray Allen would've caused his legacy to be heavily tarnished. But, the shot went in so we watch videos of LeBron almost getting decapitated at the Heat victory parade while obsessing over if he will complete the three-peat next year or not. And going back to Popovich for a minute, none of his coaching decisions changed my opinion of him at all. He's one of the best coaches in NBA history; numerous other coaches would have made the same decisions. However, I did lose some respect for Pop in viewing his mannerisms after the final buzzer of Game 7. From Pop's body language, one would assume he was the coach of the Heat. Giving hugs and kisses to Wade, LeBron and crew with a wide grin spread across his face, Popovich appeared unfazed by his team's loss.10 The man generally seemed happy for Miami while feeling indifferent to his team's defeat. I mean, did you see how Duncan reacted to his first NBA Finals lost?
I'm heartbroken for Timmy. I'm heartbroken for Kawhi. I'm heartbroken for Parker, Green, Manu, all of them really. But, I'm also happy for LeBron. Just know that I was 22 seconds away from being heartbroken for LeBron and happy for Timmy, Kawhi, Parker, Green, Manu, and the rest of them. There was no way I could have been satisfied with the outcome of the Finals; I had a rooting interest with players on each team. A Catch-22, indeed.
1Albeit, on his second attempt. One would assume LeBron will be spotting D-Wade a dinner or two for that tremendous effort in securing Miami the offensive board.
2These "egregious" no-calls sparked conspiracists to assert that David Stern fixed the game. These "geniuses" believe the refs, at the order of Stern, ensured a Heat victory by keeping their whistles around their necks. Because, of course, an NBA Finals Game Seven leads to more revenue for the league, more attention on the spectacular product, and, oh yeah, more revenue for the league. Listen, the damn Championship Trophy was being rolled out late in the 4th. Security filed onto the floor to maintain order for the trophy ceremony. Clearly Stern did not decide this game, folks. Moreover, only two NBA Finals have even gone to a Game 7 since 1993-1994. Just two series'. If Stern is so savvy, why wouldn't he pull this stunt every year? Oh, wait, now the conspiracists are claiming that Stern doesn't want to make it obvious that he metaphorically pulls the refs strings to ensure mammoth Game Seven's, sometimes? Damn conspiracists. They never lose.
3This loss was not a choke job by San Antonio. Yes, they "gave the game away" but choking is a whole different animal. Giving up an offensive rebound, missing a free throw, and then giving up a three ball to the greatest long distance shooter of all time does not qualify as a choke. If you would like an adequate choking reference, re-watch the last five minutes of Game 1 of the Warriors/Spurs recent playoff series.
4Don't even get me started on the first offensive rebound by Wade. Pop was also criticized for keeping Duncan on the bench for this play. But, Bosh wasn't in the game either! Do your homework before you bellyache, complainers.
5Two costly turnovers in the last minute disallow me to credit him with 12 dominating minutes. Still, 11 minutes of domination to erase a double digit deficit undoubtedly deserves kudos.
6This phrase got lost in the shuffle with all the other post-game 6 babble out there in the sports world. Still, the man racked up 32 points, 10 boards and 11 assists. The line must not be forgotten. Although nothing in James' 4th quarter demeanor illustrated the act of "messing around."
7To demonstrate this on a slightly smaller scale, just take a look at the reaction to Kawhi Leonard's first missed free throw with the Spurs up 94-92. For Pete's Sake, it was half way down! He's played like a grizzled vet all postseason and even locked down LeBron in several Finals games. The man is also only 21 years old! Give Kawhi a break. He was only shooting slightly over 63 percent from the charity stripe this postseason anyway. But nobody mentions that statistic until he missed one clutch free throw. IT WAS HALF WAY DOWN!
8You're probably wondering why I'm using juggling as a metaphor. Could be because it's the first thing that popped into my mind. Or it could be because my juggling game is on point. You be the judge.
9Real juggling greats. I don't mess around.
10I cannot come up with an explanation for Pop's post Game 7 demeanor. Has he lost his competitive edge? Did Game 6 wear him out emotionally? Is he satisfied with the 4 titles? Is he going to retire? Too many questions to consider. All I know is that he didn't look too upset. It didn't seem like he was hiding frustration or sadness. Some media members have called it a great display of sportsmanship. I call it perplexing.
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