Durant has altered LeBron’s second act in Cleveland
CLEVELAND — When LeBron James chose to return to Ohio four years ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers looked ready to contend for the rest of the decade, at least.
Two years ago, the Golden State Warriors added Kevin Durant, and everything changed.
“You guys asked me this last year,” James said early Thursday morning. “What was the difference between the Warriors the previous year and this year, and what was my answer? Kevin Durant was my answer.
“He’s one of the best players that I’ve ever played against, that this league has seen. His ability to handle the ball, shoot the ball, make plays at his length, his size, his speed.”
That neatly summarizes the difference between the Cavaliers of two years ago and the Cavaliers of today. If James winds up leaving Cleveland a second time as a free agent next month, that difference will be the reason.
“It’s a big difference,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said.
This isn’t how things were supposed to go in James’ second act here. In announcing his decision to return to northeast Ohio in a letter to Sports Illustrated, James was returning as a twotime National Basketball Association champion at the peak of his powers after four years in Miami.
Waiting for him in Cleveland was Kyrie Irving, a dynamic scoring guard who was perfectly suited to play Robin to his Batman. Soon to join them was Kevin Love, one of the league’s most versatile scoring big men.
It was a team with a core that could grow together, and could last through James’ prime and beyond. It seemed destined to place James in position to win multiple championships and complete the circle of his legendary career.
Before Durant joined the Golden State Warriors, the plan appeared on schedule. Cleveland reached the finals in James’ first season, and lost in six games after losing both Irving and Love to injury during the playoffs.
James then delivered Cleveland the title he promised in the most dramatic way possible, escaping from a 3-1 deficit to beat a 73-win Warriors team and give Cleveland its first championship in more than 50 years.
But then the Warriors added Durant without sacrificing any of their stars in the process. And, in an instant, the Cavaliers went from being a contender to hopelessly outgunned.
The impact of Durant’s decision has been felt across the league. But nowhere has it been felt more acutely than here.
Now, Golden State can win a game like Game 3 when Stephen Curry went three for 16 from the field. Why? Because Durant scored a career playoff high 43 points on 15 for 23 shooting.
“That’s the challenge right there,” James said. “That’s the challenge. You know, that’s why they’ve retooled this team, went out and got K.D. to where there’s really not much pressure on ... I won’t say any of them to score, but if one of them has a bad game, they have three or four guys that can actually pick up the load.”
When the Warriors won the title in five games a year ago, Kyrie Irving demanded a trade. The resulting pre-season trade with Boston left Cleveland with two players — Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder — who were gone by the trade deadline, and a third — the eighth pick in the
2018 NBA draft — who didn’t become the top-three pick the Cavaliers had hoped.
James was left to carry the carcass of what remained of the Cavaliers roster to the NBA finals for a fourth straight year — a feat that ranks among the most impressive of his career.
This series, though, has shown how large the gap has grown between these two championship rivals. James has been left to pick up the slack. And throughout these playoffs, that is what he’s done. But even for the greatest player of his generation — and possibly the greatest in the history of the sport — there are some burdens that are too great for even him to carry.
Beating these Warriors, with this roster, is one of them.