The best player alive deserves the MVP award. It’s time to quiet down about narrative. LeBron James was magnificent in Game 7. The numbers speak for themselves–37 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, with 5-10 shooting from beyond
the arc–but they can’t capture all that James accomplished in the game. He was the team’s emotional leader, the team’s offensive go-to man, the team’s defensive specialist. He was everything.
When they needed points, he got them points. James shot 50% from beyond the arc, finally burying the jumpers the Spurs dared him to take all series. He was aggressive, getting to the line eight times on a night the refs were happy to put the whistles away. He made those free throws too, going 8-8 from the stripe. The pull-up J to put the game away in the closing seconds is the shot that will stick in your memory, but James did it from the first quarter on.
When they needed a stop, he gave them stops. James defended everyone. Whether it was Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili or Kawhi Leonard or Danny Green or even, on occasion, Tim Duncan, James was willing to sacrifice his body on the defensive end whenever his team needed him. He helped his teammates often and doubled ferociously, snagging two steals to add to his box score.
The main question I have after all this is: how is he still standing? He played 95 minutes in Games 5 and 6 combined…a staggering number, especially when you consider that he was somehow the Heat’s main offensive weapon and main defensive stopper for all 95 of those minutes.
On top of all that, let’s just take a moment to consider his season. James lead the Heat through ups and downs, through a 27-game win streak, dragging them up when they were tired, forcing wins when they might not have been there. If anyone in the NBA deserves a week off, it’s this man.
Le Bron is preposterous. He’s stupefying. He’s all the other superlatives you can muster.
And I understand why it’s fun to root against James. I do. The man made mistakes. The Decision was tremendously ill-advised and crass to the people at Cleveland. He can also seem distant at times. He can seem to shy away from big moments. He isn’t as charismatic as Magic. He isn’t as humble as Bird. He isn’t as ruthless as Michael. He plays in a city where the fans are all impossibly tanned and fashionable and leave early from NBA Finals games to beat traffic.
On top of all that, it’s sort of fun to root against LeBron. It all seems too easy for the man. He’s too physically gifted. He had to go to Miami to win a crown. The reasons are there. I understand them.
Tonight, though, at least, it’s time to put it away. You can be mad about LeBron’s Decision. You can mock the Heat fans. But you can’t deny the game–and the series, and the season–that the MVP just put together. Give him his due.
Despite leading his team to back-to-back titles and winning his second straight Finals MVP, LeBron James still sucks, according to numerous people on Twitter.
Most of this is Internet hyperbole (I know, I was surprised hyperbole on the Internet exists too), but it was a popular sentiment on social media after LeBron and the Miami Heat won the NBA Finals on Thursday night.
After defeating the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 in Thursday’s Game 7 thriller, it was LeBron’s turn to respond to his critics.
“So what everybody says about me off the court don’t matter. I ain’t got no worries.”
“For me, I can’t worry about what everybody says about me. I’m LeBron James, from Akron, Ohio. From the inner city. I’m not even supposed to be here,”
For a guy who has won four MVP’s, two NBA Finals MVP’s, two NBA championship rings, and a Rookie of the Year award, LeBron James has received a staggering amount of criticism. But Thursday night was his redemption.
