5 Biggest Takeaways From The 2015 NBA Finals
3. LeBron’s Legacy Is Just Fine
It’s silly we even have to cover this, but LeBron James’ 2-4 record in the NBA Finals has become a very poor indicator of his status among the all-time greats. If you’re judging his career based on his latest Finals defeat, you really are missing the point.
It’s tempting to fire up the hot-take oven and cook up something incendiary. The constant Michael Jordan comparisons aren’t going to look favorable when you don’t include context and simply chalk it up to MJ’s 6-0 Finals record compared to LeBron’s paltry 2-4.
That 2011 Finals defeat will never be excusable, but in his other three championship defeats, LeBron’s team was facing a superior opponent and he had to drag an injured/banged up/sorry supporting cast to the Finals in the process. We all knew the Golden State Warriors were the better, deeper team as soon as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love went down.
To those who harp on LeBron's 2-4 record in the Finals: Would you rather him lose earlier and not carry depleted teams into the Finals?
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) June 17, 2015
The fact that LeBron James was able to almost singlehandedly lead the Cavs to two victories in such an outmatched affair — Cleveland’s only two Finals victories in franchise history, by the way — should tell you a lot more about his career than anything else.
If anything, you could argue his Herculean play in a losing effort should endear him to basketball fans even more than winning his third title alongside a healthy Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving would have done. It sounds crazy, but how could you not feel sorry for him coming up short again, not even getting a chance to fully compete because he was so gassed from doing EVERYTHING for his team?
LeBron James is 1st player in NBA Finals history to lead BOTH teams in points, assists & rebounds for entire series. pic.twitter.com/O4P5lex7IC
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 17, 2015
Maybe this counterbalances the constant gripe against LeBron James that his path to the Finals is a lot easier going through the Eastern Conference. Maybe this is just what happens when your teammates can’t stay healthy for an entire postseason wrong. Or maybe LeBron James is doomed to be the modern day Jerry West, the guy who always puts up unbelievably clutch numbers in the Finals…for the losing side.
But whatever the case, LeBron’s status among the all-time greats shouldn’t be so harshly judged based on his failures. Basketball is a team game, and as we saw in this series, even a sensational individual effort cannot change that fact. LeBron is not going to be Michael Jordan, but he never was in the first place.
LeBron’s legacy is unique and most importantly, it’s not over yet. So maybe let’s hold off with the outright trolling, consider the context and cut the guy a little slack?
Next: No. 2