LeBron James' sixth consecutive trip to NBA Finals brings 'a different feeling' and greater appreciation
TORONTO – Through 96 games and 69 wins, 2,264 personal points and a coaching change, two playoff sweeps and a tougher-than-expected Eastern Conference finals, LeBron James fought against a single narrative, a universally shared perception for an entire season.
That the Cavaliers were automatically going back to the Finals.
Remember his letter? In northeast Ohio, nothing is given. Everything is earned.
“We’re not entitled to anything,” James said in the wee hours of Saturday morning, after he and the Cavs had in fact landed in their second consecutive Finals with a 113-87 romp in Game 6 over the Toronto Raptors.
“We earned the right to be here and represent the Eastern Conference in The Finals,” James said. “We work our tails off every single day. We commit to one another and we sacrifice to one another. We’re not supposed to be here. We earned our right.”
This team has come quite a distance, from early this season when James was ripping teammates for a sense of entitlement to coach Tyronn Lue calling out Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love for caring more about their brands than winning.
The simple fact remains that the Cavs are indeed where everyone thought they would be, the team standing in the East with another Finals on the horizon.
It was predicted almost from the moment James strode off the floor for the final time in the 2015 season in Game 6 of the Finals, knowing the Cavs would lose to the Warriors that night and fall two wins shy of the ultimate prize.
Nevermind the challenges the team would have to overcome. Irving and Iman Shumpert missing two months with injuries; Love again needing to feel his way into the flow of the offense; the front office choosing to fire David Blatt and promote Lue to head coach in January even though Cleveland was leading the East.
The Cavs have James. He takes teams to the Finals. That’s just how it goes.
The following statistic just rolls off your tongue, like it’s something you mention every day when you awake in the morning. It’s said with a shrug, like, “yeah, so?”
James just reached his sixth consecutive Finals.
Take a step back though and consider the next part. That no player or team has done it – go to that many Finals in a row – in 50 years. The Celtics’ last of eight consecutive Finals was in 1966.
Then go another step and remember that no major professional Cleveland sports team has won a championship in nearly 52 years. It’s then when you realize that what happened in Toronto Friday night was anything but ordinary.
“There’s definitely a different feeling,” James said. “I didn’t appreciate last year myself personally getting to the Finals. Just so much was going on in my mind, knowing that Kev was out for the rest of the season and knowing that Ky was dealing with injuries all the way from the first round. I just didn’t appreciate it.
“Having these guys right here at full strength, having our team at full strength, and the way I feel personally, I appreciate this moment, to be able to be a part of it and to be there once again.”
In an immediate, on-court interview with ESPN’s Doris Burke following Game 6, James’ voice cracked with emotion on a few occasions going over some of the same points.
How the Cavs were without Love and Irving for most of the 2015 postseason and virtually all of the Finals because of injury. In Game 6 against Toronto, James led the Cavs with 33 points, but Irving was right behind with 30 and Love added 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Too much history for LeBron, Cavs to be denied
To put it in perspective, James scored at least 30 points for the 81st time in his postseason career. But it seemed so special, so out of the ordinary, because of how consistently Irving and Love have helped James carry the Cavs through the 2016 playoffs.
NBA onlookers were waiting for James to “take over” a playoff game, and what transpired in Toronto counted only because it was the first time this postseason that James went over 30 points.
Irving, averaging 24.3 points for the playoffs (to James’ 24.6), and Love, who’s contributing 17.3 points and 9.6 rebounds, have essentially shaded the actual impact James has had, especially in the Eastern finals.
In this series, James led the Cavs in scoring (26.0 points) and assists (6.7), and tied for the team lead with Tristan Thompson with 8.5 rebounds. He collected 40 assists compared with 14 turnovers and shot a torrid 62.2 percent from the field.
“We wouldn’t be at this point today going to the Finals without those two,” James said of Irving and Love, who flanked him at the podium.
Whether or not that’s true – would the Cavs be headed to the Finals without Irving or Love – is debatable. They did it last year. But they didn’t win – they couldn’t, they ran out of bodies against the Warriors.
And that’s another reason why this trip to the Finals is different. The Cavs are fully healthy, fully prepared to do what they’ve never done before, with or without James.
Win a championship.
“We have the right team and we have the right talent,” Lue said. “The way we’ve been playing basketball and trusting one another and coming together as a unit, I think guys understand what we have ahead of us. I’m just happy that everyone gets to enjoy it.”
By beating the Raptors Friday, James earned a road win for the 25th consecutive playoff series. According to ESPN, he broke Michael Jordan’s old record of 24.
So if the Oklahoma City Thunder complete its upset bid over the Warriors and reach the Finals, Cleveland would not only have homecourt advantage – it would also have strong odds of winning at least one road game. That’s what history tells us.
If Golden State survives and thus holds homecourt over the Cavs, James’ track record neutralizes it.
When it comes to narratives surrounding James, it’s never just about reaching the Finals. Since he came home from Miami in the summer of 2014, he’s been chasing the storybook tale of winning the city’s first title since 1964 as the hometown hero.
Last season, James seemed to revel in the win-one-for-Cleveland angle. This year, he’s kept his distance from it.
And yet, James, the Cavs, and northeast Ohio are again on the brink. But, this time, it’s different.
“I know our city deserves it,” James said. “Our fans deserve it. But that gives us no sense of entitlement. We’ve still got to go out and do it.”
LeBron James" sixth consecutive trip to NBA Finals brings "a different feeling" and greater appreciation
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