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Think of the crazy sequence at the end of the game between Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers this past Wednesday. Just imagine, for a second, if it were Lonzo Ball rejecting Jimmy Butler's potential game-winner and hitting an improbable fadeaway jump shot over his outstretched arms.
Take any other young star of the league; the NBA is filled with them. For any other player on Earth, the buzzer-beater in the face of one of the league's elite defenders would have been a career highlight, let alone the magnificent block on the other end. But for LeBron James, who has made a career out of dismantling Tom Thibodeau's teams, this buzzer-beater meant absolutely nothing and here's why.
The magnificence of being LeBron
LeBron James has been the face of the league for more than a decade and, arguably, still is, despite stiff competition from his fellow All-Star Captain, Stephen Curry. To perform at such a magnificent level as LeBron in his 15th year is a superhuman feat to say the least.
Countering the doubters, the man is averaging a career-high in assists, continues to remain among the top-five in scoring in the league while also grabbing 8.0 stellar rebounds a night. Yet, it would mean little to add further laurels to LeBron's stacked resume. There is a reason they call him 'The King', after all. In fact, he has performed so well and for so long that NBA fans alike have started to take his on-court performance for granted, which is why we are here to marvel at the relative 'irrelevance' of his latest 37-point triple-double performance.
As Jimmy Butler bullied his way through the fragile body of the rookie, Cedi Osman, one man tasked with guarding the weak side noticed from afar. As No. 21 of the Timberwolves rose for his patented fallaway layup, LeBron James lifted off, with the weight of the entire city of Cleveland on his back to reject the Timberwolves last play of the game with 2.3 seconds left on the clock. This play in itself is an epitome of all that is going on in Cleveland, since way back to the 2016 NBA Finals.
In what was widely-agreed as the greatest moment in Cavaliers basketball history, the combined efforts of LeBron James and a cold-blooded Kyrie Irving did the job in delivering Cleveland its first title ever. But after that title run, the first cracks in the Cavaliers' armor started appearing as David Griffin, former GM of the Cavs was let go and Kyrie Irving had enough of LeBron's leadership.
Speaking of the King's reign over Cleveland, he has been heralded as a messiah ever since he stepped into the league, if not before that. He was handed the keys to the team at the young age of eighteen and over the years has cemented himself as the true face of the franchise. But as the old saying goes, 'heavy is the head that wears the crown'.
Necessity is the mother of intervention
No. 23's leadership is more of leading from up front, not as a matter of choice but a decision made out of compulsion. For a win-starved city, the people gave him all their hope and he inadvertently took it all upon himself. To say the least, he has become the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yes, the Cleveland Cavaliers is LeBron James (remember the 'All for One, One for All' slogan they used in the playoffs).
There came a point where everything ran through James; the defense, the offense, trade targets, whom to pursue in free agency, and maybe even coaching changes. One can't blame the man, for everyone in Cleveland was doing their job so miserably that LeBron had to come in and take charge, much like the very play we were talking about earlier.
Cedi Osman just could not handle his man (can't ask a rookie to guard an All-Star) and got pushed all the way back to the point he almost fell over when Butler took his shot. So once again, to save the day and to save the city's hopes, came LeBron James, soaring easily about two-feet over everyone to swat away what could have been Jimmy Butler's eighth-straight win against him.
Welcome to LeBron James' playground
If you paid attention to the huddle, LeBron James was sitting alone on the bench getting a breather receiving pats from his teammates while coach Tyronn Lue was drawing up the play for the Cavs. The man already predicted the play beforehand so he did not bother to ask the Coach.
With exactly one second left on the clock, his team had the ball in the backcourt as the ESPN announcer, Hubie Brown, repeatedly highlighted that fact. Facing a tough inbounds situation, three of the Cavaliers' players were being guarded tightly in the backcourt by the Timberwolves trio of Karl-Anthony Towns, Jeff Teague, and Taj Gibson. Kyle Korver lined up near the three-point line while LeBron was the only Cavs player inside of the three-point line.
The Timberwolves played into the Cavaliers simple trick as their inexperience forced them into a one-on-one situation with James facing Butler. Any experienced team would know the mistake the young Wolves were committing when they had three defenders in the backcourt, from where it was impossible to launch a reliable shot with only 1.0 second remaining.
With the ball in Jeff Green's hands, he thrust a pass up the court into the only viable solution at that point. The ball fell into the hands of Lebron who did an almost Herculean task of facing up and creating space without a dribble against his defender. With all the wear-and-tear he has had, he tried to turn back the clock again so that his aging squad would not have to head into a second-overtime against a young Minnesota team.
Preparation is best done when competition is around
LeBron James' dominance over the league has largely been attributed to his peerless basketball IQ and more often than not, his dominant physique. But many do not give him credit for the immense amount of hard work and preparation he devotes to the game on a daily basis, mainly because he carries out most of his revolutionary workouts in secrecy. Very few have been witness to his unmatched work ethic.
James is known to step up his fitness game even further in crucial phases of the league. His playoffs regime are as crazy as you'd expect. His determination to be the best has been visible in the number of hours he puts into improving his game. The fact that LeBron James is still a candidate for MVP at 33 years of age is enough validation of his commitment to the game.
Of title hopes, ownership, and legacy
The situation in Dan Gilbert's franchise has gone past sour and it may have been because he sought to take away certain liberties of LeBron who still remains adamant about not waiving his no-trade clause. With all this in mind and an impending free agency this upcoming summer, the games that are left grow increasingly interesting for James as he looks toward a fresher destination. LeBron's future may well and truly be decided by how far the Cavs are able to go in the playoffs.
Cleveland's struggles and worries outnumber the people cheering today and overshadow another of LeBron's many, many game-winning performances. The fans are not going to change, they will criticize him as soon as the sun rises early the next morning. LeBron James knows all of this, to him all of these worries mean nothing, as he will again find a way to surpass them. Being the enigma that he is, he does not want you to know anything as well. He just wants you to take a look at the bigger picture, as he is confident in calling himself 'the best player in the world'.
