Fair or Not, The Pressure Is On LeBron James In The 2015 NBA Finals

The 2015 NBA Finals are upon us at long last, serving as the highly anticipated final chapter of the NBA season. The Golden State Warriors versus the Cleveland Cavaliers looks to be a worthy entry.

The matchup features the newly anointed MVP Stephen Curry and four-time MVP LeBron James; a clash of NBA titans and two of the most impactful players in today’s game.

Curry’s Warriors are favored to win the series in Vegas, and contributors at many major media outlets (ESPN, Sports Illustrated, CBS) seem to side with Golden State as well. The 2014-15 Warriors are one of ten teams to win at least 67 regular season games, and are one of eight teams to have at least a 10-point average margin of victory.

So, why is LeBron James – the unquestioned leader of the underdog team — the one under the most pressure to win in the 2015 NBA Finals?

The best answer is the simplest one: LeBron James is constantly competing against greatness. He’s no longer bound by judgment of how his actions affect the present. Everything he does, and continues to do for the rest of his basketball career, will be placed into the context of great players of the past.

In professional basketball, the measuring stick of greatness often takes the form of Michael Jordan. Comparing players to one another is an inexact science – even more so when trying to defy the constraints of time. But people will continue to engage in the never-ending debate, because that is all that’s left for LeBron James; he’s proven all he needs to when it comes to his basketball generation.

It’s a bit unfair to judge great people’s amazing feats by immediately comparing to others who were just as fantastic in their own way. It takes from the spectacle of what’s happening in the present, and unjustly cheapens grand performances.

But those heavily invested in legacy talk – what LeBron James must do to “keep pace” with a man who’s long been retired – will be heard loudly with each miss or make in these NBA Finals. People will measure LeBron’s place in history game-by-game, if not quarter-by-quarter, and attempt to find ways to pin-down a constantly evolving situation.

This chatter, and the pressure that comes with it, is not new to LeBron James. It’s unlikely he even recognizes it anymore. He has been pegged as “The Chosen One” since he was in high school, and is now competing on basketball’s brightest stage for the fifth-consecutive year. The weight of scrutiny and comparison is all-too-familiar.

Whether LeBron internalizes or gives legitimacy to this type of external pressure is another topic entirely. The fact remains that the pressure to compete with the past is there, a product of both James’ supporters and detractors alike. Both groups will be looking to use his performance to bolster their “case” as the 2015 NBA Finals unfold.

So, when he takes the floor on Thursday night, LeBron James won’t be competing against Stephen Curry and the league-best Warriors. He’ll be competing against basketball ghosts like Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, and, of course, Michael Jordan. Fair or not, it’s how most frame the discussion of the very best to ever play this sport.

LeBron is sure to provide superhuman performances, highlight plays, and can’t-miss moments in the 2015 NBA Finals. He will face the questions, the comparisons, and all the pressure that comes with superstardom of the highest degree. He will also add another section to a book that has an undefined number of entries remaining.

Just be sure to take a break from updating your personal “Greatest of All-Time” rankings to read the newest chapter.

Next: 2015 NBA Finals Preview

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