The Real NBA Season Is Set To Begin For LeBron James

James spent the first seven years of his NBA career with the Cleveland Cavaliers where he came up short of his quest to become an NBA Champion. While playing in a city that wasn’t particularly attractive to pending free agents and with a suspect supporting cast around him, James left the Cavaliers in the summer of 2010 to sign with the Miami Heat. James took some flack in joining the Heat as some deemed it as a cop out in order for him to win an NBA Championship, but it was the right basketball move for him.

During his seven seasons with the Cavs, James was a six-time NBA All-Star, two-time NBA MVP, and he carried Cleveland to their only NBA Finals appearance in franchise history in 2007. But he did not have a ring to show for it. James was going all out to win for the Cavaliers and it became mundane. Now with the Heat, James doesn’t have to spend all of his energy during the regular season as he can save some of it for the postseason.

James came to the Heat to be a part of championship teams and he has accomplished that as Miami has won the last two NBA Championships and they are in the running for a third consecutive title. The Heat recently missed out on the chance to secure home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference Playoffs as the honor went to the Indiana Pacers, but that is something that shouldn’t slow James and his teammates down. 

At 29-years of age James is in the prime of his athletic career, but he is also an 11-year NBA vet. For him it doesn’t matter if the Heat win 45 games in the regular season or 60 because Miami will solely be remembered for what they are able to do in May or June. The past three years have been busy for James as the Heat have played in the NBA Finals each season. James was also a member of the United States Men’s Basketball Team that took home gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In the effort to keep James fresh for the postseason, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra gave his star player the night off in Miami’s Monday night loss to the Washington Wizards. Keeping James fresh is a priority as he wants to be remembered as one of the best players in NBA history and he also wants to be remembered as one of the greatest champions in league history. 

Since joining the Heat, James and his teammates have had a bullseye on their backs, but they have been up for the challenge. Every single Heat loss is magnified as is every missed shot by James, but he appears to remain unfazed by it all. 

The last three NBA teams to win three consecutive league championships were the 1991-1993 Chicago Bulls, the Bulls once again from 1996-1998 and the Los Angeles Lakers from 1999-2002. Each of those teams faced added adversity in their quest for their third straight title. In 1993, the Bulls found themselves down 0-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals before they rallied to win the next four games against the New York Knicks in the series. The Bulls would then go on to defeat the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals. In 1998, the Bulls were pushed to the Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals before they prevailed against the Pacers which set up an NBA Finals rematch with the Utah Jazz whom they were able to defeat for the second consecutive year in six games. In 2002, the Lakers won 58 games in the regular season, but they found themselves down 3-2 in the Western Conference Finals against the Sacramento Kings. The Lakers rallied to defeat the Kings in seven games before they swept the New Jersey Nets to win their third consecutive NBA Championship.

All season long James and the Heat have had to hear about the Pacers who took them to seven games in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat have also had to hear about all of the tough teams in the Western Conference. James has seen and heard it all this season including him suffering a broken nose in February, but he is still standing. James lives for this moment and he lives for the adversity that comes with being a champion.