We’ve heard the buzzer. The game has settled. This rollercoaster ride of a season has finally come to an end. The Lakers are once again on top of the NBA mountain, and the King is the Finals MVP.
“The Chosen One”
LeBron James in his 17th year has proven once again why he is dubbed “The King”: Record after record, accolade after accolade, scoring titles, 4 Regular Season MVPs, 4 Championships, and 4 Finals MVPs.
Even in his high school years, he has been put on top of a pedestal. Slam Magazine put him on their cover page with the text “The Chosen One”. Pressure has always been on his shoulders, but he never disappoints. In his 4th Year as a professional player, he led the atrocious Cavaliers and came out of the East, only to be swept by the more experienced and championship-caliber San Antonio Spurs.
LeBron would soon win a championship, but with a different squad in a different environment down in Miami. He would team up with his draft mates and close friends Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in the Miami Heat and form one of the most dominant Big 3’s the league has ever seen.
When he decided to leave Cleveland the pressure grew bigger for LBJ. His former team hated him, his Cleveland fans burned his jerseys and the Heat were considered the villains of the league. We all remember our reactions when he said the words “I’m taking my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat”. NBA fans hated LeBron for his decision. Of course, the villains would eventually fall on their knees, getting defeated by the clearly lesser team in Dallas Mavericks led by an aging Dirk Nowitzki back in 2011, and once again being haunted by his ‘07 Finals memories when they fell flat to the established Big 3 of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs back in 2014.
The two championships they won in 2012 and 2013 gave LeBron his first two Finals MVP trophies and that cemented his legacy in the Miami Franchise. After four seasons, he would leave South Beach to come back to where he truly belonged.
“I’m Coming Home”
His job was not yet done. He needed to bring a championship trophy to the city he truly loved for 7 years. He needed to bring a championship in Cleveland. LeBron came back to Cleaveland for the 2014-2015 season, saying the words “I’m Coming Home” in his exclusive essay for Sports Illustrated.
Now with his own Big 3 of a young and hungry Kyrie Irving and an All-Star Power Forward from the West in Kevin Love. The Cavs were finally a championship-caliber team, and they came out of the Eastern Conference and went to the Finals in their first year, only to have Irving and Love injured in the Finals and be defeated in 6 games by the “Strength in Numbers” Golden State Warriors led by the Splash Bros (Stephen Curry & Klay Thompson) and the loud-mouthed, post-dominating stretch 4 in Draymond Green.
The pressure was once again on LeBron. Was his Big 3 enough? What else can he do to get over the hump? Well in 2016, the story was different. He was much hungrier, Irving and Love showed no signs of letting up and before we knew it they were in the Finals to meet the 73-win Warriors.
Games 1,2 and 4 went to the Warriors. The Cavs only took Game 3. It was a 3-1 lead for the Warriors and the Cavs’ chances of winning a championship were getting slim. The pressure was once again on LeBron James. And before we could even start to doubt him, they took Games 5 and 6, pushing the series to seven games. We already know the story, the game-saving block, Kyrie’s dagger, and the Warrior falling apart. LeBron won his third championship and his third Finals MVP.
The job was done, he finally brought back a championship to Cleveland after 52 years of the city never winning a championship in any professional sports league. He has finally cemented his legacy in Cleveland. Unfortunately, that would be the peak of the Cavs as they would once again enter the NBA Finals in the next 2 seasons but fail to win against the Golden State Warriors that added Kevin Durant to their already star-studded team.
The Man in LA
LeBron would eventually leave Cleveland again, but it wasn’t like the bitter parting they had back in 2010. The city and the fans were happy for him and they accepted his decision to leave, as he has already brought greatness back into the City of Cleveland.
The then 33-year old veteran was on another mission. He wanted to bring back glory to the City of Angels, and become part of the team that had astronomically transcendent players like Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant. He went to Los Angeles and became part of the Lakers. He was now “The Man from LA”.
However, just like his previous trades, his first year with the Lakers was not pretty. His new teammates were young, inexperienced, and have never even sniffed the Playoffs. The Lakers before the trade were terrible. Their young core of Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma was talented, but not talented enough for the loaded Western Conference. The addition of LeBron to the team improved their record. They showed flashes of great basketball but an injury to the groin ended Lebron James’ season early, and their Playoff hopes were once again gone. Lebron’s 8-year streak of being in the NBA Finals came to an end.
A Championship in the making
The 2019 offseason was one of the wildest. Big names such as Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Kemba Walker, and Jimmy Butler were just some of the players traded in this offseason. However, one of the biggest trades was when the long-time New Orleans Pelicans All-Star Anthony Davis got traded to the Lakers for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and multiple first-round picks.
LeBron once again had an elite player with him in the team, and together with other players who have also been trying to redeem themselves and rejuvenate their careers, such as Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard, they had a squad of young and veteran talent.
Rocking the Lakers jerseys, the team represented what their organization was about. They entertained and brought W’s to the Lakers Franchise. LeBron continued to break records, and on January 26, 2020, he surpassed Kobe Bryant for No.3 in the all-time scoring record. It was “surreal” in the words of LeBron. He never thought that he would be surpassing Kobe, let alone doing it in a Lakers Jersey. Kobe himself showed his support for LeBron in a tweet saying “Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames. Much respect my brother.” He added a muscle emoji and the hashtag #33644 to show LeBron's points that made him 3rd all time in scoring. Little did we know, that would be his final tweet.
Continuing the Legacy
On January 26, 2020, the same day that Kobe tweeted those words, his helicopter crashed and eventually killed everyone on board, including Kobe and his daughter Gianna.
The entire league was put on hold. This was one of the most heartbreaking deaths the league has ever seen, and LeBron shared an emotional tribute to the late Los Angeles Lakers legend, saying that he will continue Kobe’s legacy.
And continue Kobe’s legacy he did. The Los Angeles Lakers were on top of the Western Conference and were heading to the Playoffs in an extraordinary fashion. Critics and some fans were still skeptical as to how LeBron can lead this team to a championship, but the King showed us what a true leader can do.
However, multiple obstacles would hit the league. On March 11, 2020, the NBA announced that it would suspend games due a player testing positive for the Coronavirus Disease, and in the midst of this pandemic, a social issue that caused a massive uproar from the black community happened - the death of George Floyd.
When the league finally decided to return, it was a totally different environment. All the players, coaches, and staff would stay in a “bubble” and multiple health restrictions were implemented to protect everyone who enters the bubble.
All for Mamba
NBA finally came back, and LeBron and the Lakers were as focused as ever. However, the 4-month hiatus from playing basketball made it hard for all the players and some of them struggled in the bubble. The Lakers also struggled without Rondo who was coming off an injury and Avery Bradley who chose not to play in the bubble, but they still clinched the 1st seed for the Playoffs. Lebron was once again under immense pressure.
It was finally time for the Playoffs, Rondo finally returned to the team and the Lakers’ rust from not playing for four months was finally gone. They steamrolled through the Playoffs, giving “gentleman’s sweeps” (4-1 series win) to every team in their way.
After winning the Western Conference Finals against a young and highly talented Denver Nuggets, LeBron James said one thing: “The job is not done”. He showed to us his drive to win and to win it all for not just for the organization, his legacy, but also for Kobe’s legacy.
In the Finals, they faced the team that nobody expected to come out of the East. They faced the Jimmy Butler-led Miami Heat. It was LeBron’s old team, where he won 2 championships with his old coach in Erik Spoelstra, his old boss in Pat Riley, but with new faces and emerging talent in Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. It was a championship match in the making.
Despite the hustle mentality of the Heat and the amazing performance put out by Jimmy Butler, LeBron and Anthony Davis were persistent in winning the Larry O’Brien trophy. They won the series after 6 games and the Lakers were once again on top of the NBA mountain. LeBron won his fourth championship and his fourth Finals MVP. It was for the fans, the organization, and it was for Mamba.
After a 6-year Playoff drought, the Lakers are back and have captured their 17th Championship, tying with the Boston Celtics with the most championship wins in NBA history.
The pressure, the job, and his legacy. LeBron James was built for this.
Video Courtesy of NBA on ESPN
“and I want my damn respect too.”
- Lebron James on winning his 4th Finals MVP.
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