LeBron’s Undisputed GOAT Moment: The 2018 NBA Finals
By Jay Patel
With the 2018 NBA Finals tipping off, LeBron James has the opportunity to cement himself as the greatest basketball player of all-time
We’ve analyzed, picked-nit, and given every hot take – many of which are unfair – on LeBron James ever since he graced the cover of Sports Illustrated at the young age of 13.
He brought some of scrutiny onto himself with self-proclaimed monikers like “The Chosen One” or “King James.” But truth be told, he has lived up to and surpassed all the hype – culminating in his 2016 comeback from 3-1 championship over the 73-9 Golden State Warrior .
At worst, he his now considered by the masses to be the second or third best player of all-time and at best he is regarded as 1A to Michael Jordan’s 1B. But that is not enough to the boy who at 15 years of age told the world that he wanted to be the greatest player of all-time and who, on record, as a fully fledged man is now chasing the “ghost” from Chicago.
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As a historian of the game, James knows how he wants to be remembered in NBA lore and how his championships will impact his legacy. In terms of talent, body of work, and statistical measures, LeBron is right at the top with Jordan. LeBron is bigger, stronger, faster, more versatile, and more of team player than Jordan ever was. The thing that separates the two in the eye of fans and media is the championship count.
However, LeBron now he has a chance to render all criticism mute and snatch the GOAT title once in for all, not by stacking up championships but by winning the most significant championship in NBA history – perhaps sports history.
After the Spurs dismantled the Heat in 2014, James realized: 1) he had a very slim chance of matching or eclipsing Jordan’s six titles and 2) the only way to best Jordan is to write his own story – the prodigal son returning home to end the greatest championship drought in modern American sports history and introduce an era of Cleveland dominance by mentoring a young star in Kyrie Irving and eventually turning over the keys to the kingdom to him.
This was the ultimate legacy ploy for LeBron.
Prior to the summer of 2014, the Cavaliers traded away draft picks to clear salary-cap space without so much as a promise that James would make his return. Privately, front-office executives wondered: If James doesn’t come back – and we made these moves for nothing – will we be laughed out of our jobs? Out of the league?
The Cavaliers gambled everything and waited on James to leave Miami. According to Yahoo Sports, over five years ago, owner Dan Gilbert started to wonder to his staff: If James wants to return, we have to bring him back, right? The staff told him, yes, of course, but the question was rhetorical. He knew the answer. They all did. The owner, the GM, the coach – it didn’t matter: LeBron James didn’t return for them. He wanted control of a franchise, wanted control of his story, and, yes, he wanted to come home again.
This had been the master plan for LeBron all along. Come home and win a title – and he delivered in the most awe-inspiring of ways. No team in NBA history had gone up against a 73-9, no team in NBA history had come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals, and no team in over 30 years had won a Game 7 on road in the NBA Finals.
None of that mattered, LeBron James still delivered and at age 32, flanked with a roster suited for his prodigious talents coupled with a fully arrived superstar in Kyrie Irving, seemed destined to reel of a decade of utter dominance. Everything was falling into place.
Then July 4th happened.
Never in LeBron’s wildest dreams could he have imagined that the Warriors would go from 67 wins to a record-breaking 73-wins, to adding Kevin Durant. The team now had the greatest shooter in history in Steph Curry, arguably the second-best shooter in Klay Thompson, perennial DPOY candidate Draymond Green, FMVP Andre Iguodala, and now arguably the greatest scorer of the modern day era and consensus second best player in the league in Kevin Durant. Stacked is an understatement, this was perhaps the greatest collection of talent in sports history – the team boasted four All-Stars that were among the top 20 players in the league, of two who are among the top 4.
No team that Jordan ever faced was near as good as any of the Warriors team that James has faced, let alone the last two iterations of the Warriors. This is unprecedented. In last year’s Finals, the Cavaliers watched James and Irving take it these Warriors for five games – the best team, best talent, in the best conference – armed with a punchers shot. In the end, these Cavaliers understood the truth of the matter: Keep it close, and let James deliver. Keep it close, and let James drag those Cavaliers one step nearer to another improbable championship
In the end, James and his cast was unable to bridge the talent gap and ultimately ran out of gas as they fell to the Warriors in five game. They almost played the most talented team in history to a 2-2 stalemate but the Game 3 fourth quarter collapse did them in. But they couldn’t help but feel confident that the results would be far different in a potential rematch and were eager to get another crack at this historic Warrior juggernaut.
Just one problem; Kyrie Irving demanded a trade and the Cavs not only obliged but got much worse as a team through a series of bad moves.
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Let’s face it, the 2018 Warriors are quite possibly the greatest team this league has ever seen. From top to bottom, they are the deepest, most talented, and most well balanced team to have ever graced the hardwood. They have had the greatest four year stretch in league history – going for 265 wins and only 63 loses.
The talent that they possess is unmatched, they have no weakness, and are going for a third title in four years. They’ve torn through the playoffs the past few years – the only hiccup being this years series vs. the Rockets but even when they were down 2-3, it was never in doubt. They were going to win.
As Coach Kerr says “our talent took over”, and boy do they have a lot of it. Three MVP’s, four All-Stars, and plethora of high IQ players, they head into these Finals as the largest Vegas favorites in 16 years, and rightfully so.
Yet, these Finals are still only about LeBron James. It’s always about him. Make no mistake about it, these NBA Finals, is nothing less than greatest opportunity of LeBron James’s career. Kyrie Irving isn’t here anymore. Kevin Love is his second option and he is averaging 13 points per game in the playoffs – and against the Warriors he is unplayable. A 37 year old Kyle Korver is his third best teammate.
J.R. Smith averaged two points on the road in the Eastern Conference Finals. No player on this roster aside from LeBron has averaged more than 13 points per game in the playoffs. Career journey man Jeff Green was his second best teammate in Game 7 vs Boston. Yet, in the East, none of that has mattered. LeBron is in the midst of the greatest individual playoff run in the modern day history. He is averaging 35 points, nine assists and 10 rebounds, on 55 percent shooting in 41 minutes per game in his 15th year in the league.
Capped off with seven 40 point games, two game-winning buzzer beaters, and historic Game 7 performances, LeBron is on a tear for the ages. He has dragged this undermanned Cavs team – kicking and screaming, to yet another Finals. LeBron and his team have gone into the Finals as the underdog seven times, Jordan and his team has never gone into a Finals as underdog . Every team that LeBron has faced in the Finals has a higher net rating than any team that Jordan ever faced. Think about that for a second.
As far as the FMVP goes, Kevin Durant has the trophy, but LeBron has the title—deep down they both know that to be true. LeBron is the greatest in the game, perhaps ever, and these Warriors will need to continue to find a way to exploit the talent gap between these two teams. This is the chance for James to separate himself with a fourth championship, a chance to capture the most impressive title in league history.
The Cavaliers’ Big Three has been reduced to just LeBron, reduced to the prodigiousness of his talent and the limitations of a roster forced to compete with the greatest roster in the history of the sport. Nothing has ever come easy for LeBron James on the game’s biggest stage. Everything has been earned, nothing given. This is his shot at basketball immortality. This is his opportunity to end all debate about. We, the masses, have been clamoring for him to play like the GOAT and that is exactly what will be required of him if the Warriors are to be beaten.
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The ball is in your court, LeBron. The Warriors know what you are capable of, we know what you are capable of, and you, sure as hell, know what you are capable of. You are the King, but win in these Finals and you’ll elevate to a god. Never before has your throne been challenged as it now is with the arrival of these dynastic Warriors. You hear the warranted hype surrounding these Warriors – everything is set up for you to quiet the noise like you have so many times throughout your career.
No doubt this will be the toughest challenge you’ve ever faced. It is akin to scaling Mt. Everest, but it’s a challenge fit for a King.
It is time to embrace the moniker that is King James and protect your throne because the vultures are coming. It is time to fulfill your destiny because the clock is ticking. It is time to deliver the goods because we are starving to crown you as the Undisputed Greatest Player Of All-Time.