Keidel: LeBron's NBA Immortality Can Never Be Questioned
By Jason Keidel
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As pro basketball markets its star players, the NBA Finals became a gripping referendum on the verities of the preeminent player versus the best team.
While Stephen Curry is the titular MVP of the league, it's no secret that LeBron James was the complete player nonpareil who not only carried the Cavaliers to Game 7, but also led both teams in every salient statistic. Curry, meanwhile, has a more complete supporting cast.
Magic Johnson, to whom LeBron is most often compared, led the Lakers to the NBA title his rookie season, with a clinching game for the ages. So it was with King James on Sunday night -- a triple-double in the clinching game.
More than a few stars dotted the basketball skies Sunday night, but LeBron, the brightest of them all, eclipsed the rest.
The Warriors are a team of clones, a conveyer belt of selfless, team-first players of high skill and great will. They buy what Steve Kerr is selling. And more often than not, the team trumps the star.
But not this time, this team, or this town.
LeBron James came home and carried the weight of history on his back. No athlete on the planet has been picked, parsed, or pummeled like Cleveland's singular star. And he delivered a performance for the ages, making him a player for the ages.
The nation seemed to lean toward LeBron, whose heartwarming return to Ohio made him America's darling while he tried to bring a forlorn franchise its first NBA title, and a forgotten city on the corroding edge of the Rust Belt its first title, of any kind, since Jim Brown bulled the Browns to an NFL championship in 1964.
After six games, both teams had scored 610 points. After seven games, just four points separated them. While Kerr was modest enough to say the better team won, it's hard to make that assertion with any conviction.
What we may be able to say is the hungrier team won it. And the needier town won it.
This on the heels of an ESPN 30 For 30 documentary detailing the ancient and rampant heartache Cleveland has suffered since the '60s, a city defined by cold teams, colder weather, and a river that literally caught fire.
The Browns had "The Fumble," and "The Drive." Then they left Cleveland altogether and became the Baltimore Ravens. The Indians were leading in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1997 World Series. And lost.
The Cavaliers had been largely a basketball punchline. A few good teams sprouted from the hardwood weeds, led by Mark Price, Brad Dougherty and Larry Nance, and coached by Lenny Wilkens. But they bumped into Michael Jordan.
Then the Cavaliers were losing 60 games a season. Then came the Chosen One, who, in the most agonizing irony, got them to the NBA Finals, then left for palm trees, Pat Riley, and two rings.
Then LeBron made it right. As sickening as The Decision was, his sense of self, his modesty and maturity brought him back to Ohio while there still was epic spring in those blessed legs.
And when the Cavs lost to the Warriors last year, and went down 3-1 this year, it felt like the Warriors were a special brand of LeBron Kryptonite. No one had an answer for the Splash Brothers, Draymond Green, and the conga line of slashing swingmen at Golden State's disposal.
Then Green got suspended for Game 5, giving the Cavs a window to slip through and win the next two games. And thus by the time Game 7 rolled around, the Cavs had the mojo and momentum to hang around for 47 minutes, and win the 48th.
If you need some data, consider LeBron is only the second player to win NBA Finals MVP with two franchises. (The other is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.) James is only the fourth player to win at least four league MVP awards and three NBA titles. The others are Bill Russell, Abdul-Jabbar, and Michael Jordan. He's the third player to record a triple-double in Game 7 of the Finals, joining the logo, Jerry West, and James Worthy. He's the first to lead a team to the title after trailing three games to one.
And, perhaps the proudest number of all, is one -- the number of players to win NBA Finals MVP representing the team from his native soil. Jordan isn't from Chicago. Bird isn't from Boston. Magic isn't from California. LeBron is all Ohio.
And no one can say he backed into this one. His latest was also his greatest, vanquishing a team that won 73 regular-season games, and many would have called the greatest ever had they won Sunday night. James led both teams in points (208), rebounds (79), assists (62), steals (18), and blocks (16).
No one can rightly question, doubt, or disrespect LeBron James, the basketball player, ever again. Six straight trips to the NBA Finals, winning half of them.
The Cavaliers were an abject, 60-loss mess without him, and NBA champions with him. Him. The Chosen One. The King. LBJ. Whatever you call LeBron, now you must call him an immortal.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel
