LeBron James’s quest of surpassing Michael Jordan as the greatest basketball player ever might have ended Wednesday night after the Cleveland Cavaliers lost a tough contest to the Golden States Warriors, 118 -113, in Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Q Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
No team in NBA Finals and postseason history has managed to overcome a 0-3 series hole, making another comeback bid for James and company a bit impossible.
The pursuit is over
Despite putting up another monster performance (39 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists), LeBron was still unable to save the Cavs from losing their third straight game at the hands of the Warriors.
Game 3 was supposed to be an epic moment for King James. Now, the game has a different meaning for the Cavs star, as it probably marks the end of his long journey to become the greatest baller ever.
In his appearance on ESPN’s First Take, ESPN analyst Will Cain stressed that Game 3 is going the biggest game in LeBron’s career because his goal of becoming the best in basketball was on the line. Cain added that another Cavs’ loss to the Warriors would mean the end of the end of the pursuit for James as nobody in the history of NBA has ever staged a comeback from a 0-3 hole.
During the offseason, LeBron admitted that he’s now chasing the ghost that played in Chicago and that goes by the name of Michael Jordan, widely heralded as the best to play the game with six championship rings and five regular-season MVPs.
“My motivation,” James said in an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins last August, “is this ghost I’m chasing. The ghost played in Chicago.”
However, LeBron said just before the finals that he never meant to topple Jordan for his status as the G.O.A.T. He stressed that it’s mainly a personal motivation to be great at what he does.
Miracle in Cleveland 2.0
Again, no team has ever come back from a 0-3 hole to win the NBA championship. Last year, the Cavaliers were just the fourth team in NBA Finals history to overcome a 0-2 series deficit and capture the championship. If there’s a silver lining in the Cavs’ Game 3 loss, it would be the Cavaliers managed to keep within the striking distance for the full 48-minute game.
Unfortunately, Durant was just too clutch in the endgame, as he sank a go-ahead trey to put the Warriors up 114-113 with 45 minutes left on the clock. Klay Thompson added 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting while Steph Curry added 26 points. The Warriors can close out the series with another win on Friday at Q Arena.
