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| Lebron James (King James) taking his shot at Game 6. |
OAKLAND, Calif. – LeBron James concluded his final off-day news conference of the season, slipped on backward a baseball cap that featured a tiny image of the popular Internet meme featuring Kermit the Frog sipping a cup of tea. The subtle message on the black snapback was symbolic of the worry-free attitude that James has conveyed ever since the NBA Finals became the most desperate for him and the Cleveland Cavaliers, after the Golden State Warriors seemed so intent on not only making light work of this series but also handing out demoralizing insults in the process.
James has willed his team through two improbable wins and set up a Game 7 on Sunday that few saw coming when the Warriors returned home last week with a 3-1 series lead. So, he could easily dismiss any inquiries about how this one game will define his legacy, or the pressure to fulfill the fairytale ending for the community he promised a championship in 2014 upon his heralded homecoming.
“The whole world, the word everyone likes to use in sports is 'pressure.' I don't really get involved in it. But I guess in layman's terms, pressure, I think it's an opportunity to do something special,” James said, “and I'm fortunate to be in a position where I can be a part of something that was very special.”
On the eve of the 19th Game 7 in Finals history, James and his Cavaliers spoke as if they were oblivious to the pressure, the magnitude, of this moment. Stripped from all of the hype surrounding legacies, the tug-of-war over the title of the game's best player, the sure-fire ratings that the game will inspire, and any other ancillary storyline, this still remains a game that kids continue to dream about in their backyards.
The Warriors, however, have taken a different approach. Coach Steve Kerr has encouraged his players to embrace, or rather, accept what comes from being in this position, in a game that they earned the right to host by virtue of a 73-9 regular season that remains an astounding feat regardless of the outcome of one game.
“If you don't feel pressure in a Game 7, you're probably not human," Kerr said. "I told our guys that. Of course they're going to feel pressure. Of course there's going to be some anxiety. But how lucky are we to feel that pressure? If you just kind of remind yourself we get to play basketball for a living, we get paid a lot, we have fun, there is some heartbreak, there is some joy, and everything in between, again, pretty good deal. We're among the luckiest people on Earth, win or lose Game 7.”
James’ calm demeanor could be denial, delusion or the undeniable confidence that comes from knowing that he has endured and overcome far worse scrutiny. No matter what happens on Sunday, James won’t be nearly as low as he was during that curious disappearance against Dallas in 2011 – the springboard to a five-year run at the Finals in which he has consistently been the best player on either side. James could wind up losing three consecutive Finals but it wouldn’t be because of a lack of effort, and it remains amusing that the past two Finals MVPs claimed those honors for guarding a man who averaged more than 28 points in each series. This series, James has been sublime since the Cavaliers lost the first two games and has made a case to win MVP, win or lose Game 7.
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| Stephen Curry after committing the sixth foul in Game 6 |
That nearly two weeks of basketball could possibly diminish anything that our eyes have witnessed of the Warriors over the course of this incredible season, or of James over the course of his legendary career arc, seems almost unfair. But the Finals are the crucible that allows casual basketball fans to enter debates about the best, leaving little room for nuance or sensible arguments. Knowledgeable basketball people don’t need to see much more from James to already determine that his status as one of the game’s most remarkable players has been established, even if he decided to call it quits after Sunday’s game. Discussions about legacy are better with time and career completion, but who has the patience when people can shoot off 140-character opinions in the matter of seconds?
The game, this stage, has a tricky way of determining who lives on to receive the glory. James has two rings, and is the only player on either side to have actually participated in the seventh game of the NBA Finals, in 2013 against the Spurs. But would he have had any chance at that ring if Ray Allen hadn’t hit one of the greatest clutch shots in Finals history to force overtime in Game 6 of that series? Perceptions of James’ career have no doubt been altered by something that literally was out of his hands.
Should James pull off the greatest accomplishment of his career – ending Cleveland’s 52-year, major professional sports championship drought, defeating the league’s winningest regular-season team in history and becoming the first to lead his team back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals – he would have the drop-the-microphone moment for the haters who either discredit what he has done, or choose to ignore it. James would pull even in championships with Larry Bird and have a Finals record (3-4) that could put him in range of catching some of the other all-time greats, since he has been soaring and dunking at age 31 in a manner that suggests he has a few more years left in his prime.
Stephen Curry has already lost out on the chance to be the best player over the full course of this series but he can become the fourth player to win a championship and a regular-season MVP in consecutive seasons – joining Bill Russell, Michael Jordan and James – if he just finds a way to be the best for one game. This has been the most taxing season of his career, both physically and mentally, and might explain the rare mouthpiece-tossing temper tantrum that led to his first career ejection in the fourth quarter of Game 6. Curry is banged up but won't use injury as an excuse, especially since the Warriors didn't care about the shortcomings of their opponents last year. And he only has to fight through for one more night, with an offseason of rest and recovery awaiting him come Monday.
“I need to play my best game of the year if not my career because of what the stakes are,” Curry said. “I just want to understand and enjoy the moment because growing up, as a basketball fan, you kind of put yourself in so many Game-7s-to-win-The-Finals kind of situations playing with your friends and stuff, and this is my first crack at it. So, I'm excited about it.”
As easily the most disrespected champion since Phil Jackson tried to place an asterisk on the 1999 San Antonio Spurs, the Warriors have been hell-bent on proving that last season was no fluke. After an offseason of dismissive comments from conference rivals and even the Cavaliers – who believed the title would already be in Cleveland if they weren't shorthanded last June in the Finals – the Warriors wanted to have a leave-no-doubt campaign that made everyone recognize and admire their greatness. That meant knocking Michael Jordan's 72-win season down a rung and celebrating the mockery they made of the league with laughter and championship ring-on-the-middle-finger brashness.
The playoffs and these Finals have hardly been the expected coronation for the Warriors, but they don't want to have all the stress and strain that has been invested into being viewed as the best team ever to be inhaled by one man on a mission. They will have to find another source of motivation than anger against an outwardly unbothered James. Anger over Draymond Green's Game 5 suspension led to a flameout. Anger over calls against Curry in Game 6 led to meltdown, and Curry and Kerr tossing a combined $50,000 into the fireplace. Now, a team that lost only nine games in the regular season needs to avoid a ninth loss in the playoffs to complete a year-long quest for immortality.
“If we come up short, we'll all be very, very disappointed. No two ways around that,” Curry said.
The Warriors haven't really confronted a team that actually had a response for their sometimes-brazen behavior. James might have finally instilled the appropriate fear for the Warriors to find themselves again. Or he might have used some over-the-line trash talk to morph into an intimidating, unstoppable force.
No one who has watched this series can truly predict what will happen next.?
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