Jake Fox is a junior journalism major and writes 'What the Fox Says' for The Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper or The Daily. Write to Jake at jkfox@bsu.edu.
He told us before the season started.
LeBron James told us all his Cleveland Cavaliers wouldn’t be ready to win a championship yet.
So why, after a 4-2 loss in the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors, is LeBron taking the blame again?
It’s simple. LeBron is the easiest athlete in to hate, because he’s the greatest basketball player in the world — and he knows it.
But one man can’t do it all, which led to LeBron’s 2-4 career Finals record. That shouldn’t define him.
In the NBA, unlike other professional sports, championships define a player’s legacy. Rather than an overall body of work, more attention is paid to the jewelry on one’s fingers — and toes in Phil Jackson or Bill Russell’s case.
Michael Jordan, the greatest player ever, has six championship rings. Kobe Bryant has five, and Larry Bird has three.
LeBron James, “The Chosen One” from Akron, Ohio, was supposed to match the success of the legends, so getting drafted to the Cavaliers was fate. He would be the savior of Cleveland, a city that hasn’t had a pro sports title since 1964.
It was a story that I found easy to root for in central Indiana.
LeBron’s first run to the Finals came in 2007. He led a starting five that included Sasha Pavlovic and Drew Gooden into a matchup with the seasoned San Antonio Spurs.
The Cavaliers were swept. The Spurs were just a better team.
Later came the moment that changed LeBron’s persona: “The Decision” and the subsequent boos that followed the league’s most hated man to every NBA arena.
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After falling to a hot Mavericks team his first year in Miami, LeBron got his two rings. The Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games and the San Antonio Spurs in seven, with a big shot from Ray Allen.
He came to Miami to learn how to win, and he did.
But with a banged up Dwyane Wade and an inconsistent Chris Bosh, LeBron made it to a fourth straight Finals in a trying year. Many compared it to his first stint in Cleveland.
The Spurs hammered the Heat in Lebron’s third Finals loss — the closest loss for Miami was 15 points.
We know how it ended. LeBron decided to come play for the Cavaliers, with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, and to win a championship for Cleveland.
It even brought back some of my teenage fandom to see LeBron throwing up the chalk at Quicken Loans Arena again.
You’re getting closer, Cleveland. Against a much better team, you held a 2-1 advantage after three games, when many people predicted a sweep after Irving’s injury.
LeBron brought together a team of misfits to make a run against a team that finished with the third-most wins in NBA history.
Tristan Thompson was the only one in the Cavaliers’ rotation good enough for a solid contract, although it was funny to pretend that Matthew Dellavedova could guard Stephen Curry for a few games.
J.R. Smith was the lone guy on the bench with any scoring capability.
It was a lot like 2007, but this time LeBron was good enough to make the series interesting.
He averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game in the Finals — video game numbers. I’m not worried about the missed shots, either. He has to take those shots, and was controlling the pace before the Warriors adjusted.
He became the first player in Finals history to lead both teams in points, assists and rebounds for the series.
LeBron’s greatness is taken for granted. He’s gifted physically at 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, he’s arguably the best point guard in the league although he’s not a point guard and he can get into the lane at any time and get to the line.
But people assume the things he does should be easy. With the cast behind him, he couldn’t beat the Warriors, no matter how great he played.
Maybe we should consider the overall body of work in addition to titles, because LeBron’s resume is too impressive to ignore.
I hear people say they wish they could’ve lived in the era of Michael Jordan. Well, I think it’s pretty great to live in the era of LeBron James, one of the best players to ever play the game — and he’s only 30.
I have no doubt that he’ll be back to the Finals, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him carry a team — with some help — to a couple more titles.
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