What a difference a year makes.
When millennials, myself included, grow up and think back on the 2016 NBA Finals, we’ll remember how Lebron James and the Cavaliers made history.
The performance by Jameswill go down in the books as the greatest series showing in our generation, after leading both teams in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
Reread that sentence again. It wasn’t a typo. In recent memory, only Dwyane Wade’s2006 Finals against the Dallas Mavericks comes close, and that was a decade ago. While many fans try to compare James to one of the greatest NBAplayers (and the greatest meme of all time) Michael Jordan, all criticism and slander is null and void now.
Any casual NBAfan that watched all seven games of the Finals saw what James did. After falling into a 3-1 deficit against a team that won a total of 88 games and had the back-to-back MVP on its roster, it was going to take an legendary individual performance.
Before that comeback performance, NBAteams were 0-32after falling behind 3-1in a series.
At first, the knock of Lebron was that he wasn’t clutch. Now the old joke, “Why can’t Lebron shop at Dollar Store? Because he only has three quarters,” seems like a distant memory.
Just because he may not take the last shot of the game doesn’t mean he’s not clutch. The chase-down block on Andre Iguodala sealed the deal for the Cavsand opened the door for Kyrie Irvingto make a game winning shot.
On top of that, in the last three elimination games James scored 109 points and 35rebounds, becoming only the third player ever to record a triple double in game seven of the Finals, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
His “decision” to take a vacation to Miami for four years was widely criticized, and even after winning two championships in four years, there was still disapproval.
And for some reason he decided to go back home to a collection of fans that burned his jerseys and denounced his name.
But he brought a championship to a city that hadn’t won a title in five decades.
The biggest knock on James as of late is his lackluster 3-4 record in the Finals. In all honesty, two of the teams he took the Finals had no chance of winning.
His first trip to the Finals included a roster that had a guy named Ira Newble, and Larry Hughes was the second best player on the team.
Last season the Cavs relied on Matthew Dellavedova to support James with a depleted roster without Irving or Kevin Love, who both played integral roles in game seven of the Finals.
Let’s face it: the more accomplishments James racks up, it’s hard to find ways to point out negatives in his career.
James will never be like Jordan, but as he put it, “I’m not MJ, I’m LJ.” He is the best athlete that we’ll probably ever watch.
You can hate on Lebron all you want, but just remember to put some respect on his name
Joshua Thornton is 21-year-old communications studies major from Jacksonville, Florida.