On the backs of LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers have brought a championship to the city for the first time in 52 years; all hail to King James
His team went down 3-1. He was struggling with his shot. He even hurt his hand with 10 seconds left in Game 7.
When everything was going the other way around, LeBron James stuck around. After landing on his hand upon getting fouled on a missed dunk attempt, the King made 1 of 2 free throws to put his Cleveland Cavaliers up by 4 points with roughly 10 seconds remaining in Game 7.
And silently, the Cavs prayed to the basketball gods to make sharpshooting Steph Curry miss on the next possession and that was it. The best season for the Golden State Warriors ended with the greatest comeback in the history of the NBA Finals, as the King James and the rest of the Cavaliers defeated the Warriors, 93-89, in Game 7 at Oracle Arena to give the city of Cleveland its first championship in a major sporting event in 52 years.
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LeBron James, who vowed to win a championship for the city which drafted him, went down, crying as the final buzzer sounded. Tears of joy. Finally, he was able to deliver. Achieving it wasn’t easy any way you look at it. Facing a Warriors team that won 73 regular season games and was heavily favoured to win the title, again. That doesn’t happen.
Somehow, the Cavs made it.
The King didn’t disappoint, either. He led the Cavs with 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in Game 7. That, by the way, was the third time a player produced a triple double performance during a Game 7 of the Finals. The last player to do: James Worthy of the Lakers in the late 80’s.
The King also blocked three shots, last one on Andre Iguodala‘s lay-up with under 2 minutes left. And, we’re not yet done. Aside from his triple-double performance in Game 7 and another Finals MVP award, the King finished the entire playoffs by leading everybody – both teams – in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
Whether you are a fan of the Cavs or not, LeBron James deserves something from you: respect.
Yes, LeBron James only made 9 of his 24 shot attempts including 1 of 5 from downtown. Yes, LeBron James turned the ball over five times. And yes, LeBron James is never a reliable jump shooter, which was showcased late in Game 7 when he missed a handful of potential game-changing jumpers before Kyrie Irving‘s killer 3.
But the beauty of sports is that LeBron James didn’t need to do everything for the Cavs on his own. He had plenty of reinforcements. Starting with the aforementioned Kyrie Irving. Irving out-dueled 2-time MVP Steph Curry with his 26 points. His 3-point shot with under a minute to play put his team up by 3; it also turned out to be the game-winner.
Kevin Love didn’t have his usual scoring numbers, but when needed most he played good defense in transition against Curry late in the game. He finished with nine points and 14 rebounds.
On the other side, you could mention that Draymond Green‘s suspension in Game 5 might’ve tilted the series back up for grabs. Or that the loss of Andrew Bogut was bigger than we all were willing to admit.
The bottom line is that LeBron James prevented a 73-win Golden State Warriors from capping the best NBA season in league history.
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Cleveland also achieved that feat of the while capping the greatest comeback in NBA Final history. All thanks to the King.
LeBron Raymone James.