For those of us NBA fans who love to watch great players do special things, there have been many players over the year who have brought us joy. Some of these include Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, LeBron James, and many more. Among these players are multiple MVP's, championships, all-star games, etc. With LeBron’s accomplishments over the last 15 years and heroics in this year's playoffs, the ongoing debate over whether LeBron James or Michael Jordan deserve to be considered the greatest player of all-time has become louder. Although this is fun to consider, after witnessing LeBron’s greatness for the past 15 years, it's time to put aside the talk and simply acknowledge greatness.
Surviving adversity
The Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James, have had what many might consider a tumultuous 2017-2018 season. Beginning with the trade of Kyrie Irving that was, by all accounts, awful, continuing with a roster overhaul at the trade deadline, and finishing the regular season with the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference, LeBron knew he had to squeeze everything out of this team. As LeBron stated last night after the game on ESPN, "I'm determined to get the most, I'm trying to squeeze this orange until there's no more juice left and this is a heck of an accomplishment for our ball club, without our All-Star power forward [Kevin Love] for basically two games." With LeBron now reaching his eighth consecutive NBA Finals, it's clear that he has reached his goal thus far.
LeBron's playoff greatness
With a team surrounding him that is, by all accounts, subpar, LeBron has managed to lead his team, while maintaining a high level of trust in his teammates, even when they've given him reason to doubt. Having fallen behind in their opening series against Indiana, LeBron reiterated that there was no concern in the locker room, and, as proven by their play, they let their play do the talking.
The tall task of the Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Raptors then stood in their path and as LeBron has become accustomed to doing, he led his team to a relatively routine series victory against Toronto. Then, after falling behind two games to zero against a Boston team with a world of young talent and confidence, he led his team back, and ultimately, led them to a Game 7 in enemy territory.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, LeBron led his team to a Game 7 victory, and by all accounts, was the difference maker in each of their wins. In Game 7, LeBron scored 35 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and had 9 assists. For any other player, this performance is heroic. For LeBron, this performance almost seemed subpar compared to his other performances in this year's playoffs.
Appreciating greatness
Without looking even deeper into LeBron's statistics during this season and playoffs, as well as the rest of his career, lets make an effort to acknowledge greatness. For a player who has been under the microscope his entire career, been scrutinized every step of the way, compared to Michael Jordan even before he put on an NBA uniform, and had his ability to come up "clutch" challenged, LeBron James has not disappointed.
He has taken a Cleveland team and put them on his back and there are not many other players who can accomplish what he has. Whether LeBron remains a Cavalier or not after this season, an objective person can see that LeBron has combined a tireless work ethic with an immense level of talent to become a thrilling, star player who has the ability to captivate any basketball fan.
