Tag: Lebron James

Fit For a King

I’ve been a LeBron James hater for most of my life. He cries every time he doesn’t get a call. He falls short in The Finals. Arguably two lucky breaks away from only having one title to his name, yet today The King has now taken his talents to Downtown Los Angeles, my favorite team.

From all media reports and just overall vibes, it seemed LeBron would end up here but not today. I thought they’d have to acquire my favorite player Kawhi Leonard first from The Spurs, but by joining The Lakers now, $154 million dollars for four years, with a fourth year option, he’s bought them time.

They’ve already moved fast signing Lance Stephenson, a bitter rival of James, and have no pressure to trade valuable young players and draft picks away to The Spurs. They should keep all their young pieces at all costs. If they can trade Lonzo Ball to the Hornets for Kemba Walker it would be a miracle. Ball and his family bring too much drama to a team that now employs the greatest player since Michael Jordan.

Next, if needed, trade whatever draft picks you have over the next three years. With LeBron in the fold we’re in win now mode. He’s best suited with three point shooters around him. They’ll have to find players to surround James and fill up their bench.

There’s still Luol Deng’s dog shit contract to either stretch or somehow (likely impossible) trade. They’ll have to figure out what to do with Julius Randle. I watched Bobby Marks on ESPN talk about either extending him or outright renouncing him to make salary cap room. I’m not sure that’s the move. It’s in their benefits to retain him, finding other ways to make room, and/or just waiting to next season.

Whatever happens in the next few hours and days, The Los Angeles Lakers have returned. We are no longer in the genesis of rebuilding. LeBron James acts as the keystone to build a contender around.

I’m not certain we can win a championships with him. He’s 3-6 in The Finals, The Laker’s front office is unproven, and our team is made of players younger than me. Tonight however has given credibility to the organization. Co-general managers Magic Johnson and Rob Palinka can more easily recruit players to come play with James and a promising young roster.

At first it felt cheap to have added LeBron, but this is our history. From Kareem to Kobe we’ve always embraced premiere players. Yes, James is older and due for at least some deterioration, yet after what he did this past year I won’t doubt him again. Bringing that sorry Cavs team to The Finals is his greatest professional accomplishment besides winning championships. Even better than 2007.

Welcome to Southern California LeBron James. I hope your family thrives out here and selfishly I hope this will allow your son to realize all our collective dreams of facing off against you in the NBA some day soon.

Golden Luxury

Source: Stacy Revere / Getty

After falling behind to a tremendous Cleveland Cavalier effort The Golden State Warriors engineered a victory behind 43 points and 13 rebounds from Kevin Durant.

GSW fell behind early enduring a LeBron James triple-double, a great Kevin Love double-double, and 15 points from Rodney Hood off the bench. Hood particularly damaged GSW early into his minutes. Even with all those solid efforts the Cavs could never pull away by no fault of their own. They never commanded the game. No matter how well they defended him, Kevin Durant always made a bucket to keep GSW in the game.

It seemed Cleveland would just get this one. Steph Curry couldn’t hit a three with an Ohio hooker holding his prick and showing him the way. Thanks for the quote Four Leaf. Klay Thompson did not play well either. Andre Iguodala returned tonight but wasn’t the difference many believed. There wasn’t the usual third quarter surge tonight. JaVale McGee microwaved 10 points in 14 minutes but Durant’s 65 FG% carried the squad.

In third quarter GSW managed to catch up but neither team could pull away. Cleveland received contributions from several different players. It seemed like Durant was the only one scoring for his team primarily backing down defenders for fade-aways. With four minutes left in the fourth it was winning time.

Curry finally hit a big three, Iguodala and Draymon Green had massive dunks, but Durant’s three from 30 ft away, reminiscent of last year, slayed The Cavaliers with less than a minute left.

Golden State now needs one more game to win three titles in four years. We should remind ourselves Kevin Durant’s decision two years ago made this possible. He’s the ultimate extravagance. When the two greatest shooters arguably ever go cold they turn to Durant. When he struggles, the splash brothers inevitably overwhelm the opponite.

In the Houston series I had concerns with his play. Durant himself admitted displeasure with his performance. Curry up until tonight lead the team, but when he couldn’t the golden luxury took over. This team seems impossible to defeat and will add another title Friday night.

Golden State can play average but as long as they’re engaged with either Curry, Thompson, or Durant leading the team they will undoubtedly win, every time.

WTF JR

LeBron: “Fool, we tied!”

The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers faced off tonight for the fourth straight Finals. It seemed like no one wanted to see this movie again but game one was as much of a thriller as any over the past four years.

There’s a lot to unpack tonight but my mind is fresh post-game and there’s one overriding thought. GSW got away with another game tonight. They were the better team tonight but Lebron James is still the best player in the world, maybe of all time.

James posted 51 points and almost had a triple double. He got his subpar team to play above their heads for almost the entire game, but when it mattered most everything conveniently turned in GSW’s favor.

In a play that should have been charge on Kevin Durant, James was called for a blocking foul. GSW ties up the game with two free throws. The Zebras has several questionable calls but that one seems the most egregious now.

With less than 5 seconds George Hill could have won the game for The Cavs. Hill made his first free throw tying the score. With Oracle Arena roaring like a Roman mob, Hill missed his last free throw and the most indelible moment of game fell upon JR Smith.

Instead of calling time out, passing it to Lebron, or doing anything of thought Smith tried to run out the clock. When he realized the score was tied, or rallied from drinking too much Hennessy before the game, it was too late. There wasn’t enough time left and the game went to overtime.

The ending shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Steph Curry and gang collected themselves putting Lebron James and the cabbage patch kids away.

I’m frustrated for Lebron. He did everything in his power to win the game. He did everything you could’ve asked of him and more, but it wasn’t enough. Maybe this symbolizes this season for him, and perhaps his career.

The man maximized all possibilities as the leader of the team. James utilized everything to win the game but ultimately his teammates defecated on an opportunity to beat a better team, at times caught with their pants down.