Miami Heat forward LeBron James has finally earned his first
championship in The National Basketball Association. James’ detractors
can no longer criticize him for not getting his elusive first NBA Title,
but for him to take his legacy to another lever he cannot become
content. James is not on the level of a player such as Dallas Mavericks
forward Dirk Nowitzki who is a one-time NBA Champion; he is on the level
of players such as Hall of Fame players Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson,
and current Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant who have all won
multiple championships. James is now charged with the task of being a
multi-time champ like these greats.
Since he walked across the stage at Madison Square Garden in June
2003 to shake NBA commissioner David Stern’s hand as the first overall
pick of The NBA Draft to The Cleveland Cavaliers, James has been a team
player. James played on under talented teams in Cleveland where he
helped The Cavs reach The NBA Finals in 2007 for the first time in
franchise history. James had a famous divorce from Cleveland that landed
him in Miami as a member of The Heat after “The Decision” in 2010.
After his first year with The Heat and losing to The Mavericks in The
Finals, James learned what many before him had to endure which was
humility.
Last season most people outside of South Florida wanted to see
LeBron and The Heat fail after he and forward Chris Bosh decided to go
to South Beach and team with guard Dwayne Wade. The Heat stumbled out of
the gates with a sub .500 record which was highlighted by the infamous
“bump” of Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra by James during a regular
season loss to The Mavs. The incident sent shock waves around the league
as LeBron was portrayed as the immature villain. Miami would go on to
make The NBA Finals last season, but James came up short averaging only
17 points per game in the series loss to Dallas. The Mavericks were the
better team in every shape of the word as they held up The Larry O’Brien
Trophy at American Airlines Arena in Miami.
Jordan and his Chicago Bulls had to suffer defeat to The Detroit
Pistons before finally breaking through to a championship. Julius Erving
and The Philadelphia 76ers lost in The Finals three times in a six-year
span before the acquisition of Moses Malone from The Houston Rockets
helped The Sixers reach The Promised Land in 1983. Bryant and his
tag-team partner Shaquille O’Neal could not get past veteran teams in
The Western Conference such as The Utah Jazz and The San Antonio Spurs.
Phil Jackson became The Lakers head coach prior to the 1999-2000 season
and Bryant and O’Neal won a championship immediately.
One of the best things that happened to LeBron and The Heat was The
NBA Lockout that delayed the start of The NBA season. After his
whirlwind first season in Miami, James needed to avoid the limelight and
avoid the questions about him not winning a NBA Title. James proceeded
to come back more focused this year as he averaged 27 points per game in
the regular season en route to earning his third NBA Most Valuable
Player Award and his first as a member of The Heat. James then took his
play to another level in the postseason which helped to further solidify
his legacy.
The Heat used their first round series against The New York Knicks
as a glorified scrimmage as they disposed of The Knickerbockers in five
games. Miami then found themselves in the second round against The
Indiana Pacers. With Bosh suffering an abdominal injury in the first
game and Wade being plagued by a bad knee, it was on James to carry the
load and public enemy number one in Cleveland was up for the challenge.
With Miami trailing The Pacers two games to one, James played center the
same way that Magic Johnson did for an injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in
1980. James scored 40 points, 18 rebounds, and 9 assists in game four as
The Heat regained their swagger and won the series in six games. In The
Eastern Conference Finals, The Heat had to go toe-to-toe with The
Boston Celtics. After winning the first two in Miami, The Heat lost the
next three and they had to win game six in Boston to stave off
elimination. James had another defining moment by dropping in 45 points
on 19 of 26 shooting. The Celtics ran out of gas in game seven and
LeBron and crew were back in The NBA Finals. After The Heat dropped the
first game to The Oklahoma City Thunder, they won the next four games to
win the series which even saw James play through cramps in game four
and the championship pressure was finally off of LeBron.
Some critics will give praise to the referees for a Miami win, but The
Heat won because they were mentally tougher than The Thunder which was
helped by them losing in The Finals last year.
James, Bosh, and Wade made the threesome on the sole purpose of winning
NBA Championships. The title wasn’t handed to them last season as many
expected it to be. It took blood, sweat, and tears as Spoelstra famously
talked about players crying in the locker room after a regular season
loss last season to The Bulls. James now has the taste of a championship
in his mouth and he appears to be going back to the title buffet for
another serving.
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