LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. —
After nine years or chasing an NBA title, Lebron James can now legitimately be called “King.”
The Miami Heat captured the title Thursday night over the Oklahoma City Thunder, 4 games to 1. Now maybe the naysayers (and I have been one in the past) will let 2010’s “The Decision” rest in piece.
James was vilified for his televised decision to move from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach for what he proclaimed would be the first of “Not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven” titles. Even former NBA stars like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson criticized James for not staying in Cleveland and for contacting rivals to join the same team. Of course Jordan and Johnson are very old school, from a time where you didn’t want to play with your rivals, you wanted to beat them.
During his stint in Cleveland he never quite performed up to standards during the playoffs in the eyes on many. And this was probably true. He seemed to choke at key times.
But during these playoffs, he didn’t. He played like, well, a King. In game four, he suffered from cramps late in the game, but nailed a three-pointer that key the Heat onto victory. Some are wondering if “The Cramp Game,” as it is now being called, can rank up there with Jordan’s performance against the Utah Jazz when he was suffering with the flu, or Willis Reed playing on basically one leg in game seven of the 1970 finals, when the New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers.
No.
Not even close.
Had James been in at the end of game, then maybe. But he was on the bench. So, no, it’s nowhere near those other two inspirational performances.
I for one am glad that James has finally won a title. I didn’t like the way he made his move to Miami, but he did what he felt was his best chance to win a title. And now, I guess he was right.
Now we will see if the Heat will be able to keep this team together, or will it be broken up due to free agency.
Defending a title is a lot harder than winning one.
sports@sentinel-echo.com
Opinion
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June 25, 2012
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