2016 NBA Finals: 5 Things To Know Heading Into Game 7

2. King James Is On The Cusp Of His Most Legendary Conquest

There’s still a very good chance that LeBron James falls to 2-5 in the NBA Finals for his career on Sunday night. And yet, even after averaging 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game in last year’s Finals, it’s somehow taken this year’s championship series to remind the world that King James is a once-in-a-generation legend.

Again, context is important. If LeBron falls to 2-5, those will be the only numbers that matter to the general public, even though the only Finals series where his team was actually favored and lost was in 2011.

If he loses this year, he’ll be exempt from criticism for carrying this Cavs team back from the depths against the greatest regular season team in NBA history. If he wins, he’ll cement his legacy as one of the five greatest NBA players of all time.

Win or lose, it’s nice to live in a world where LeBron James is no longer the punchline of a cruel NBA Finals joke.

In Game 5, LeBron was masterful with a 41-16-7-3-3 stat line on 16-of-30 shooting from the field and 4-for-8 shooting from three-point range, but none of it would’ve mattered if he came out complacent in Game 6 and lost his fifth Finals.

With the Cavs counting on another all-time performance to force a Game 7, LeBron delivered once again in Game 6 and was arguably even better, dropping a 41-11-8-4-3 stat line on 16-of-27 shooting from the floor and 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range.

Every time the Warriors tried to rally a comeback, LeBron responded with a made jumper, a layup right at the basket, an alley-oop to Tristan Thompson or another backbreaking play to carry his team to victory.

It wasn’t always graceful, and if not for Curry’s ongoing struggles and Draymond’s suspension, this series would probably be over already. But the results were poetically undeniable nonetheless.

Forget about those two games! He tea-bagged Draymond Green and somehow got him suspended. He’s been the best player in a series featuring Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving. He even provided the highlight play that’s been indicative of the entire series as a whole.

Ever since Klay Thompson’s comments about it being a “man’s league,” LeBron has been more than a man among boys; he’s been the proverbial Boogeyman, a terrifying monster lurking in the nightmares of the mere children that now represent his competition.

It’s almost enough to make you wish he’d pick on someone his own size, until you realize he’s doing all this against a 73-win juggernaut.

Win or lose, LeBron James has reminded the world that he’s so much more than the modern day Jerry West. On the cusp of leading Cleveland to its first ever NBA championship against arguably the greatest team ever, King James is not only deserving of Finals MVP honors, but he’s worthy of recognition and respect.

After all, he’s perhaps the only player in NBA history capable of this feat against an all-time great team with so little help.

Next: No. 1