At a glance
in sports and should. A career isn’t a static idea. Even the greatest careers.
‘‘You guys always talk to me, ‘What’s your ceiling?’ ‘‘LeBron said yesterday. ‘‘I said I never had a ceiling. I just want to maximise what I can do and be as good as I can be. At one of the post-game interviews after one of our games this year [a reporter] asked me, ‘How do you feel and how are you able to do this?’
‘‘I told her, it was the best I’ve ever felt in years. I don’t know if she believed me. I don’t know if you guys believed me. I felt that. I continued to play at an all-time level and standard and, hopefully, I can continue. That’s what I take pride in.’’
It’s good that everyone has come around on LeBron from his Heat days when he was public enemy No 1. It’s revealing this NBA spring, too, because this isn’t even yet his best accomplishment when you stack them up.
That’s not to be dismissive. Look at his top feats:
❚1. Bringing Cleveland back from 3-1 deficit against Golden State for the title in 2016. Speaks for itself.
❚2. Beating championship-era Boston in Game 6 of the 2012 playoffs with 45 points, 15 rebounds and 45 minutes en route to first title with Heat. ❚3. Taking the 2007 Cavaliers to the Final. The starting lineup: LeBron, Drew Gooden, Sasha Pavlovic, Larry Hughes, Zydrunas Ilgauskas. That’s worse than the Kevin Love-aided lineup this time.
❚4. Losing the 2015 NBA Finals. Love was hurt. Irving was lost in Game 1. Sound familiar? He averaged 35.8 points and 13.3 rebounds in a six-game series loss to this Golden State team. ❚5. This run to the Finals. He has seven 40-point-plus games. Two of those 40-plus games, against Indiana and Cleveland, came in Game 7s.
Of course, if he somehow beats Golden State, one-on-five, this becomes his top accomplishment. But even the old and improved LeBron can’t do that. Can he? NBA finals, Golden State Warriors v Cleveland Cavaliers
What:
The schedule:
❚ Game 1: Oakland, 1pm today
❚ Game 2: Oakland, 1pm June 4
❚ Game 3: Cleveland, 1pm June 7 ❚ Game 4: Cleveland, 1pm June 9
TAB odds:
❚ Today’s game: Warriors $1.09, Cavs $6.50
❚ Series: Warriors $1.10, Caves $6