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Greatest of all-time or not, LeBron James is an all-time GREAT. For the sake of this article, let's leave aside any debate and just appreciate his greatness. (If you still wish to indulge yourself in a LeBron vs MJ debate, do plunge in here)
Despite all the adversities that James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have had to overcome over the course of this past season, as we begin the final week of May, the King is back where he belongs - the NBA Finals.
Also read: Reviewing LeBron James' Six NBA Finals Losses
In doing so, he becomes the first non-Boston Celtics' player (from the 1960's) to make it to eight consecutive NBA Finals. Led by LeBron, the Cavaliers have now become the fifth team (fourth franchise) to make it to four consecutive Finals (2015-18). The previous teams being the Celtics from 1957 to 1966 and then again from 1984-87, the 'Showtime' Los Angeles Lakers (1982-85) and the Miami Heat (2011-14).
But, in this case, we are talking about a player's streak and not that of a team. In fact, he has more Finals appearances than 28 franchises in the league (only ones having more are the Lakers and the Celtics). It's safe to say that his appearance in the Finals was most in doubt this year and yet, despite all the odds, he remains the King of the East.
LeBron's Finals' streak is now legitimately as long as two US Presidential terms. So, it's time to take a short trip down the memory lane to see everything that has changed since LeBron last missed the NBA Finals (these are not rankings):
Note: 2009-10 was the last season LeBron James missed the NBA Finals.
#10 Chris Kaman was an All-Star
Remember Chris Kaman? No?
That's because he hasn't done much to help you recollect. Kaman, who was drafted 6th overall in 2003 Draft, hasn't officially retired yet but has not played for any NBA franchise since 2016. In those 13 years, he played five teams - the Lakers, LA Clippers, New Orleans Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, and the Portland Trail Blazers.
He literally has one career highlight or award to his name - making the All-Star team in 2010. It was the first and only All-Star selection of his career during a season when he averaged 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 49% shooting.
#9 Instagram an Snapchat didn't exist
To clarify once again, the 2010 NBA Finals was the last championship round that didn't feature LeBron. And at that time, the very popular social media platform of Instagram hadn't even released yet.
It was officially out on 6th of October 2010, that too just for IOS. The Andriod versions came out 2 years later in April 2012, around the same time they were acquired by social media giants Facebook for close to a billion US dollars in cash and stock.
Another popular multi-media messaging app, Snapchat wasn't out either. Snapchat was released in the summer of 2011 (July or September). Since then, as of February 2018, Snapchat has garnered a base of 187 million daily active users.
Note: Snapchat Inc., the company that had engineered the app, was renamed to Snap Inc. in September 2016.
#8 Kyrie Irving was a senior in high school and Stephen Curry was a rookie
In the summer of 2010, the last time LeBron missed the NBA Finals, 2-time MVP Stephen Curry had just completed his rookie season. Meanwhile, LeBron's former teammate, Kyrie Irving had just completed his senior year in high school and was all set to take the leap to play college hoops at Duke.
Obviously, since that summer, the careers of Curry and Irving have come a long way. While one is arguably the greatest shooter in NBA history, the other is arguably the best one-on-one scorer in the league right now. Curry has one unanimous MVP award to his name, the only one in NBA history, while Irving has been named an All-Star 5 out of his seven seasons in the league and is only 26 years old.
Both of these point guards have won NBA championships, each at the expense of the other.
#7 Game of Thrones hadn't released yet
The first episode of season 1 of the very popular and highly acclaimed television series Game of Thrones released on 27th April 2011. Since then, there have been 67 more episodes that have come out across seven seasons. In its seven years, the television series has received over 38 Primetime Emmy Awards including the Outstanding Drama Series in 2015 and 2016.
As fans wait agonizingly for the 8th and final season to launch mid-2019, it is important to remember, LeBron James' Finals streak even predates this TV series.
#6 The iPad 1 had just released
On January 27th, 2010, Apple's co-founder, chairman and CEO gave a keynote address introducing the Apple Inc.'s iPad. It was one of his last keynote address before he died on October 5th, 2011.
Since then, various versions, generations and models of the iPad have been released and they only predate LeBron James' last Finals miss by a few months.
Let that sink in!
#5 Drake had only just released his debut album
Drake, the global ambassador of the Toronto Raptors, released his debut album on June 15th, 2010.
On that date, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics were facing off in Game 6 of the 2010 NBA Finals, the last LeBron has missed. The Lakers won that game 6, thus forcing a Game 7 and then a couple of days later won that as well, clinching the franchise's 16th title and Kobe Bryant's 5th.
Anyways, back to Drake. Since that debut solo album, the rapper has released four more albums and has been awarded 3 Grammy awards and 27 nominations. He has also won 2 MTV Award Video Music Awards and has been ranked at No. 1 on Complex's "Best Rapper Alive Every Year Since 1979" list, awarding Drake the accolade in 2011, 2012, and 2015.
LeBron's last Finals' miss basically predates Drake's career (from when it took off).
#4 LeBron James had enough hair for an afro
We had to mention one on a lighter note, right?
Once LeBron James joined the Miami Heat in 2010, plenty discussed the positioning of his hairband - essentially his receding hairline. In the past few years, he seemed to have rescued that but anyway the last season that he didn't make the NBA Finals, it was the last time he had somewhat of an afro to show off.
#3 It was Allen Iverson's final NBA season
The last season that LeBron James missed the NBA Finals, was Hall of Famer Allen Iverson's final NBA season. He ended his league career with the same team that drafted him - the Philadelphia 76ers but not after a rough final four seasons to his career, where he played for three other teams as well - Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, and the Memphis Grizzlies.
He was named an All-Star each year from 2000 to 2010 but the other league accolades stopped coming when he left Philly the first time in 2006 after playing for the franchise for the first 10 years of his career.
#2 Ty Lue began coaching career with basketball development spot with Celtics
The last season LeBron James missed the NBA Finals, was Tyronn Lue's first season of his coaching career. He was picked up by the Boston Celtics before the 2009-10 season as the director of basketball development, mainly for his relationship with Doc Rivers, who was his coach while he was playing for the Orlando Magic back in 2003-04.
He joined Doc in LA with the Clippers but this time as a member of the coaching staff in 2013. A year later, however, he joined the Cavaliers as one of the league's highest-paid associate head coaches. One year removed from that and he was promoted to head coach when David Blatt was fired by the Cavaliers management.
He's set plenty of rookie head coach all-time records but there's no denying the fact that LeBron had a huge part to play in that.
#1 Ray Allen and KG were on talking terms
Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett joined hands in 2008 with the illustrious Boston franchise to win their first league title. They achieved in their first attempt itself as they teamed up with 2008 Finals MVP Paul Pierce.
The Big 3 kept the Celtics relevant for five consecutive seasons (Conf. Semifinals each year including 2 Finals trips) before contract negotiations forced a separation. Ray Allen left in the summer of 2012 and went on to sign with LeBron James and the Miami Heat, the team that eliminated the Celtics in the 2012 Conference Finals.
The move angered Paul Pierce and KG, some might say for obvious reasons. Having said that, you can't really fault Allen for choosing the best option available and maximize his chances of winning another ring.
Since then, Pierce and Allen have seemed to have reconciled but nothing seems to have improved with KG.
Guess the Lakers players!
