LeBron James: Doing The Impossible

LeBron James is doing the impossible.

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It’s always been said, and has always been true, that the best team wins over the best individual every single time. This isn’t the first time James has been in this situation. He managed to yank a weak Cleveland Cavaliers team in 2007 all the way to The Finals.

Subsequently, they were swept by San Antonio.

Last season, he put forth a similar effort in dragging the Miami Heat to a fourth straight Finals against (who else?) Tim Duncan’s squad. And again, although he played great, his team couldn’t hold up to the offensive intensity of the Spurs and were throttled by record margins.

That series ended in five games.

Every superstar needs help. That’s how basketball works. There are five guys on the floor and a bench that comes in to provide a boost. To win an NBA title, the highest level in basketball, the entire team needs to be very good and on the same page.

Often there is a sidekick player, or even a few players who are a cut above the rest that help push the team over the edge. While in Miami, LeBron had Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, where they took home two titles.

Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. Larry Bird had Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. Magic Johnson had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy. Wilt Chamberlain had Jerry West and Elgin Baylor.

There is one superstar who won a title who didn’t also have another Hall of Famer on the team: Hakeem Olajuwon. He did it in 1994 before the Houston Rockets added Clyde Drexler in 1995.

To me, that’s one of the most incredible feats in basketball. It’s why I hold him in such high regard. But Olajuwon did have a very good team of role players around him and, of course, a full roster ready to charge into battle.

That’s what makes what LeBron is doing impossible.

LeBron, like Olajuwon, doesn’t have any other Hall of Famers on the roster. Both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love are still too early into their careers to say. But neither of them are able to play in The Finals anyway, so it doesn’t matter.

LeBron James has won the last two Finals games with role players, yes, like Olajuwon. But some are banged up (Iman Shumpert), some just too old (Mike Miller, James Jones) and some are being called potentially the worst player to have major minutes in a Finals ever.

Already, it is apparent that Olajuwon had the more complete roster. Now, throw in the fact that LeBron is actually missing players from his roster.

The team’s second and third best players are gone. Just gone. James isn’t just winning with a bunch of scrappy role players, he’s doing it with a bunch of role players who are expected to do less than your average role player because there is usually a Big 3 to rely upon.

None of these guys were expected to carry any sort of scoring load. The points from them were just a bonus to whatever James, Love and Irving dished out. Yet here you have Game 3, where Matthew Dellavedova dropped 20 while simultaneously guarding Stephen Curry.

This sort of thing is only possible because of LeBron’s leadership style. He’s getting the most out of what he’s got, even though all he’s got are spare parts. He’s like Dom Toretto–put him in a ferrari or a corolla, he’s going to be the superior driver.

It’s also important to remember that this Golden State team is the toughest foe LeBron has ever faced in The Finals by far.

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So let me reiterate: this is complete insanity. This shouldn’t be happening. No way, no how. LeBron James is putting on the single most impressive Finals performance in NBA history and it isn’t close.

That was all without mentioning his numbers. Here’s some fun Finals stats for you:

• Per Synergy, he has scored, created or assisted on 200 of the Cavs’ 291 points through the first three games.
• His usage rate is 42.4 percent.
• He’s averaging 41.0ppg, 12.0rpg, 8.3apg, 1.6spg, 1.0bpg.
• He’s playing 47 minutes per game.

Oh, and let’s not forget his overall playoff performance. He’s averaging a line right now (29/10/8) that only Oscar Robertson matched back in 1963, except that Oscar’s playoff run lasted only 12 games and LeBron’s is now up to 17.

It’s understandable that the Warriors are rattled. LeBron is doing everything in his power to eke out win after win against a superior club. So far, he’s done it twice. He’s halfway there.

LeBron James is doing the impossible. He’s done the impossible. Now he just needs to do it twice more.

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