Despite his team struggling a bit more than usual during these particular NBA playoffs (aka, they’re probably still going to the Finals, for the 8th straight time), LeBron James remains his incredible self. People hate on The King, and I get that – he’s a whiney, subtweeting drama queen. Regardless of whether you hate on or root for him, though, you gotta admit: dude can ball.
And I’ve actually been noticing in these playoffs, his excellence is unique in two specific ways.
Making It Look Easy
The first is a bit hard to describe – as well as hard to find video evidence of (not that I looked), given the nature of it. Because, in addition to his buzzer beaters and other attention-grabbing highlights, LeBron is often so much better than his opponents that you frequently fail to give him credit for things he’s responsible for.
And this isn’t just a general, “LeBron’s still under-appreciated!” argument. Everybody knows he’s good. What I’m talking about is one specific thing that nobody seems to pick up on, which is essentially my point.
The example I keep thinking of: the camera slowly pans up court as the point guard brings it up… and then all of a sudden LeBron has the ball in the paint and is laying it up, off the glass and in. The play is only “contested” by some 6-inches-shorter red shirt who arrived on the scene way too late.
Or perhaps another example: early in the shot clock, LeBron makes one crossover dribble from left to right, and then immediately finds himself cruising down an empty lane. There’s no help defender in sight, so he casually two-hands through the rim and trots back on defense.
In these situations, my first reaction is always to blame the defense – “they didn’t box out!” or “those rotations are sloppy!” – but as I continued to react this way while watching Cavs games this year, I realized these complete “defensive breakdowns” don’t happen to other players nearly as much. Westbrook can rupture a defense in amazing and violent ways, but you always know it’s him. The style in which LeBron is good – so big, so fast, so deft – he makes you think the defense fucked up.
You Want It to be One Way, But It’s the Other Way
The other thing I’ve noticed is that LeBron’s in-game play receives a unique, and rather eye-rolling, type of criticism.
Early in his career – his first stint with Cleveland, or some of those no-shows he put up against the Mavericks in Miami – he had the occasional underwhelming game. It was fair to claim that he didn’t “show up,” at times. These days, though, you can pen in a minimum 28-7-7 slash line every full game he plays. He’s the first player I can remember who’s evolved beyond the “did he play well, point blank?” analysis. It’s the Given at the start of your Proof.
Instead, and amazingly, what you now hear is: “LeBron dominated, but not in the right way.” Perhaps it’s, “the double-digit assists are great, but I thought he needed to be more aggressive as a scorer in the first quarter.” Or, conversely, “he got his 42 points, but he needs to do a better job getting his teammates involved.” The criticism is essentially: yes, he went about destroying the opposing team – but he should have done so in a different manner.
That’s just crazy, if you think about it.
Sort of like how I worked in two allusions to The Wire in a blog that had nothing to do with it.