The guy’s money in LeBank
Astounding Game 7 adds weight to notion of L.J. before M.J.
Look, I don’t know that LeBron James is greater than Michael Jordan, or if it’s the other way around. Neither do you and neither, whatever either of them believes, do they. It’s a question that can’t be answered with science or debate. It’s a question, is all.
Which by itself should be enough. Sunday night, LeBron James played 48 minutes in Game 7 against the Boston Celtics, in his 100th game in the 15th season of his mountainous career. And LeBron dragged a band of vagabonds and fugitives, relics and spare parts, to the final. It’s not the first time; it’s more like the third. It’s his eighth straight shot at a title.
But this one … Boston was young, missing two all-star players, yeah, yeah. They hadn’t lost at home in the playoffs and are full of talent, and the 33-yearold LeBron was down to … what? No Kevin Love, out with a concussion. J.R. Smith? George Hill? Jeff Green? Tristan Thompson? Even Kyle Korver was missing open threes. The first five times LeBron found teammates for open threes, all of them missed.
So yes, there were moments that he could have cracked. That’s what the Toronto Raptors were aiming for, way back when; the idea was, LeBron’s a free agent and he is said to be tired of owner Dan Gilbert, tired of dragging around a team that blew the Kyrie Irving trade. He played 82 games this year for the first time, led the league in minutes. If you could apply enough pressure, and if you could keep him from breathing life into his teammates — well, even people close to the Cavaliers organization figured there was a point at which LeBron could be made to start thinking about whatever the hell is next. A breaking point.
The Celtics thought the same thing, and they came a hell of a lot closer than the Raptors did, and as Boston coach Brad Stevens said, “he still had 35. It’s a joke.” Green was Cleveland’s secondbest player in Game 7; he’s an old 31, the kind of No. 5 pick who was traded at age 24 and has played on six different teams. Tough deal.
But LeBron doesn’t break anymore. Kevin Durant has stumbled at times in these playoffs, trying to find the balance between isolation and team; James Harden has spent time going stone cold; Steph Curry, coming back from injury, isn’t always magical. Anthony Davis didn’t have enough help.
Neither did Giannis Antetokounmpo, or Russell Westbrook, or Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Soon, probably, neither will LeBron.
But what a thing. In the playoffs he is averaging 34 points, 9.2 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.1 blocks. .542 shooting, .344 from three. It’s in line with what he’s done since the allstar break, when as he told ABC’s Doris Burke he decided, “Let’s get the most out of this season (as) I can. I’m determined to get the most.” We forget the Raptors were a very good team, before LeBron shattered them.
Most of all, Game 7 was a demonstration of that sheer will, after all this time. After Celtics phenom Jayson Tatum dunked on him and then hit a sidestep three off a James turnover, LeBron simply forced the game to bend, play after play. He used everything: his strength, his intelligence, his stamina, his vision. It was an accumulation of his work since he was 16 and dubbed the next great one. How little can LeBron James have to work with and still win? Good lord, it was something to watch.
Every star falters. If you are good enough to get enough chances on the biggest stages, it’s inevitable. Jordan is the closest thing to an exception; it’s part of why his myth is so strong.
But it’s hard to imagine anyone else carrying this much weight. Since 1983, there have been nine playoff games where a player at least matched LeBron’s Game 7 totals of 35 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. Five players have done it once, including Jordan. LeBron has the other four.
“You see a little bit of (Larry) Bird in him, you see some Magic (Johnson), you see some Oscar (Robertson),” said longtime teammate James Jones a few years ago. “A lot of Big O. He’ll tell you he sees a lot of Big Oin himself.”
Nobody else has ever been able to control more parts of a game, to score like this and still trust his teammates, no matter what. Synergy Sports said LeBron created, assisted on, or scored 64 of Cleveland’s 87 points. What did he tell Doris after the game?
“Every possession is its own challenge. As much as I was passing in the first half and my guys weren’t knocking them down, I believed in the second half they would.”
Does all this make him the greatest? Maybe, maybe not, and he still has arguments to make anyway. But at this point it’s simple: You cannot tear down LeBron James. You can try, but you’ll just look stupid or mendacious. You can simplify the arguments — “3-6 in the final, lol” — but if you actually pay attention, there has never been anything like him. LeBron let go of the rope in 2010, in the second round against Boston, whatever anyone says. He exaggerated an elbow injury and let his teammates fail. I asked then-Celtics coach Doc Rivers about it, years later. He said he saw someone who realized they couldn’t win and stopped trying. Then, LeBron cracked.
He hasn’t since.