As a sweat and drink-covered LeBron James left the Boston Garden last night, he must have felt relief. For the next 48 hours, the doubters would be silent and James will temporarily be praised on the mountaintop. For the first time in months, he will be able to breathe without the critics riding his back. LeBron James went out to the floor for Game 6 and did something that everybody knew he could, but wholly chose to not believe it. James eviscerated the Celtics last night to the tune of 45 points on 19 of 26 shooting, including 30 (12-14 FG) in the first half to give his team the chance to go to the NBA Finals again.
It was truly a remarkable performance that is very well one of his top 3 games of his postseason career. From the start, James was locked in. His Kobe-esque stone face expressions showed that he didn’t care for all the buddy-buddy stuff that usually dominates his personality. LeBron continued his surprising quiet playoff run where he is averaging an unreal 30.8 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 5.3 APG with 51 FG%. Along with his spectacular Game 4 against the Pacers, this is most memorable game of these playoffs.
James has been (rightly) blasted on every single platform for proclaiming that he and the Big 3 would become the next Ming Dynasty of the NBA and having a celebration that was previously only reserved for Greek gods to commend their not-yet-earned accomplishments. But now that it has been 23 months since that event has happened, it is time for the hate to subside. While it is impossible for everyone to begin to come around on LeBron, enough time has passed since The Decision for people to start rationally thinking about LeBron James and what he has to go through everyday.
There is a quote from Shane Battier that explains LeBron James’ life to a tee. If you are too lazy to read the quote, I’ll sum it up for you: Battier said that LeBron is under such an intense microscope that the littlest things are dissected relentlessly on Twitter and how the spotlight is so great on him that superstars from other eras would have difficulty being able to handle it. The media cycle spins so fast and moves so quickly that superstars like LeBron are unfairly put in unfortunate situations and have unrightful judgements placed on them. This is the sad way the world works. James has become the foremost athlete of the modern age of technology, where storylines are used and thrown away faster than a condom from an embarrassing one-night stand.
Regardless of how these playoffs turn out, LeBron James will always be an unsympathetic figure to the public’s eye. There has been so much backlash (some warranted and some not), that by the time LeBron retires, he will underrated.
But right now, he is back on the positive side of the spin. With the weight of his brand, his reputation, his critics, and the pressure of the moment on his shoulders he finally succeeded. Even if it was just for the next 24 hours.
It was truly a remarkable performance that is very well one of his top 3 games of his postseason career. From the start, James was locked in. His Kobe-esque stone face expressions showed that he didn’t care for all the buddy-buddy stuff that usually dominates his personality. LeBron continued his surprising quiet playoff run where he is averaging an unreal 30.8 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 5.3 APG with 51 FG%. Along with his spectacular Game 4 against the Pacers, this is most memorable game of these playoffs.
James has been (rightly) blasted on every single platform for proclaiming that he and the Big 3 would become the next Ming Dynasty of the NBA and having a celebration that was previously only reserved for Greek gods to commend their not-yet-earned accomplishments. But now that it has been 23 months since that event has happened, it is time for the hate to subside. While it is impossible for everyone to begin to come around on LeBron, enough time has passed since The Decision for people to start rationally thinking about LeBron James and what he has to go through everyday.
There is a quote from Shane Battier that explains LeBron James’ life to a tee. If you are too lazy to read the quote, I’ll sum it up for you: Battier said that LeBron is under such an intense microscope that the littlest things are dissected relentlessly on Twitter and how the spotlight is so great on him that superstars from other eras would have difficulty being able to handle it. The media cycle spins so fast and moves so quickly that superstars like LeBron are unfairly put in unfortunate situations and have unrightful judgements placed on them. This is the sad way the world works. James has become the foremost athlete of the modern age of technology, where storylines are used and thrown away faster than a condom from an embarrassing one-night stand.
Regardless of how these playoffs turn out, LeBron James will always be an unsympathetic figure to the public’s eye. There has been so much backlash (some warranted and some not), that by the time LeBron retires, he will underrated.
But right now, he is back on the positive side of the spin. With the weight of his brand, his reputation, his critics, and the pressure of the moment on his shoulders he finally succeeded. Even if it was just for the next 24 hours.