LeBron James: You The Real King

Mar 1, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives the ball to the basket during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

We have to talk about this. I know, I’m sorry. I don’t really want to talk about it either, mainly because it shouldn’t have to be talked about. But after the Houston Rockets posted this photo to Twitter following the Rox’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers back on March 1st, controversy broke out about who is the “real” King James.

No, seriously. This is a thing some people think. And for those of you that belong in that group, you’ll want to stop reading here, because I’m about to drop a Michael Bay-sized truth bomb on you that’s going to blow away your petty insistence that the clear troll-job by the Rockets Twitter account is actually valid.

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First off, let’s get a couple things out of the way via a trip down memory lane. Here are some achievements that LeBron James made by the age of 25 that James Harden (currently 25) has not:

Sports Illustrated NBA All-Decade First Team (2000-2009)
Olympic Bronze (2004) AND Gold Medalist (2008)
2X NBA MVP (2009; 2010)
NBA Rookie of the Year (2004)
NBA Scoring Champion (2008)
6X NBA All-Star
2X NBA All-Star Game MVP
4X All-NBA First Team
2X All-NBA Defensive Team
Scored a total of 15,251 points (Harden sits at 8,266)

Those are just a few things. A tidbit from LeBron’s illustrious resumé. That’s leaving out things like single season records, playoff records, etc.

As you can see, it’s pretty obvious that Harden is not anywhere close to the player LeBron was at the same age. He came off the bench his first three seasons with Oklahoma City, forced to share the limelight with two players arguably better than him.

At the age of 22, Harden and the Thunder went to the NBA Finals where they lost to (would you look at that) LeBron and the Miami Heat in five games. Harden had a poor series, but his play went somewhat unnoticed because he also had two star players leading the charge.

At the same age, James took his 2006-07 Cavaliers team to The Finals as well; they lost in four games to the Spurs. That team featured Larry Hughes, Zydrunas Ilgauskas in his twilight years, Daniel “Boobie” Gibson and (Holy muffins!!!) Eric Snow.

Do kings lead the charge even when their group is doomed to fail? Or do they play third fiddle and win one more game with a far superior roster?

But enough, enough, right? That’s not what the Rockets were saying when they posted that photo. They simply meant that Harden is just now the new King.

Ah, yes. Duh. How could I be so silly? I mean, the Rockets won a single game that LeBron admittedly helped hand to them on a silver platter and this fact must force the logical conclusion that in a span of 48 minutes, Harden suddenly eclipsed him as the superior player.

Hang on, I’m going to grab one of those stress balls so I can squeeze the living sand out of it. … OK, I’m back. … And typing with one hand.

Look, I’m not trying to take anything away from James Harden. No, really! I’m not. He may very well end up being the MVP this season. He’s been carrying an OK offensive team (12th in the league) and has turned into the central figure with Dwight Howard sidelined with injury.

But we’re keeping things 100: Jalen Rose-style.

Harden’s entire season has been fairly consistent. He’s done the same thing over and over, and this is why he has a great shot at the MVP.

Meanwhile, LeBron was hurt early in the season and continued to play anyway, prompting those watching to begin the “Is LeBron done?”, “LeBron’s old” and “Why the hell isn’t LeBron dunking anymore?!” narratives. Combine that with the rocky start for the Cavs as a club, and people quickly (as is our “gimme, gimme!” culture) began to dismiss James as the league’s best player.

Then LeBron took two weeks off. He got healthy. And since then the Cavs are 19-6 with the league’s best record since that time. LeBron’s play looks reenergized and revamped, and he’s playing again like we’re used to seeing.

Look at the numbers:

Harden (full season): 27.1ppg, 5.8rpg, 6.9apg, 1.9spg, 44.7 FG%, 38.1 3FG%, 36.6 minutes
James (since return): 27.6ppg, 6.4rpg, 6.6apg, 1.9spg, 49.2 FG%, 29.8 3FG%, 34.4 minutes

Harden’s got him in the three-point shooting category (as well as free throws), but otherwise those stats look pretty close to me. In fact, you could say James’ are a little better. Not bad for a guy who’s five years older, huh?

And of course, there’s the playoffs issue as well. If Harden’s better than James now, he sure as heck better be ready to show it on the big stage.

He’s never gotten out of the first round while part of the Rockets. Comparatively, LeBron holds the first place all-time scoring average in elimination games (31.7).

That’s for the future though. Maybe Harden will finally step up his game and diminish those concerns. Besides, I believe playoff failure should only be seen as a single dent in a player’s career. Especially when you’re speaking about the individual alone. It’s a team game, after all.

Now we arrive at the infamous game itself. The culprit with red hands thrust out for all to see. The entire reason that the Rockets Twitter account felt the need to post that blasphemous picture.

With 4.2 seconds left in overtime, LeBron missed two key free throws that probably would’ve sealed the game for the Cavs.

That was one missed opportunity.

But there were more: the Cavs back court struggled mightily, scoring 21 combined points on 25.9 percent shooting from the field; Kyrie Irving did not play; LeBron shot a total of 3-of-11 from the charity stripe.

Yet, with all of those bad things happening for Cleveland, they still had the game in their hands. LeBron just missed. It happens. It shouldn’t, in that situation, but sometimes it does.

It’s not like the Rockets were running away with the game and pounding the Cavs. It’s not like Harden was out-dueling LeBron so far as to make him look foolish. In fact, James had a slightly better looking line at the end of the night, even with all of those missed free throws. Had he hit more of them, it wouldn’t have even been close.

In short, if any of those things had been different, we might not even be talking about this right now. But again, this is how things work in today’s culture: stuff is blown up to the extreme and people buzz to it like flies to honey.

I guess what I’m saying at the end of all this is just be smart. Especially you, Rockets fans. Don’t act like that post by the team Twitter is now law and that what they say must be so. Maybe someday Harden will become the best player in the league, but that day isn’t today.

Long live the One True King.

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