Step-By-Step Guide to Burying LeBron James' Passive Clutch Image
Yet another postseason has been officially hijacked by a preoccupation that fundamentally misconceives what it means to be a great NBA player.
Taking the last shot just isn't what it's made out to be.
Games are won with blocked shots, wise passes, help-defense and hard picks. The guy who gets the final shot may get the glory, but there's a reason LeBron James has been recognized as an MVP three times, and it's not how many buckets he scores.
It's time for LeBron to put this nonsense to rest, and these three easy steps should do the trick.
First Step: Stay the Course
James' support for the Lakers' final shot in Los Angeles' Game 2 loss against the Thunder is completely justified. In fact, had the Lakers moved the ball to open shooters for the duration of those final two minutes, they probably would have walked away as victors.
Even without Chris Bosh, the Miami Heat are closer to a title than the Lakers for that reason alone: James understands what Bryant has forgotten. The best closers sometimes rely on others—be it Shaquille O'Neal, Derek Fisher, Robert Horry, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum or any of the other Lakers who helped make Kobe a legend.
James knows better than anyone that one player doesn't win a title. It didn't work in Cleveland, and it hasn't worked in Los Angeles. The Lakers' best seasons were the ones that featured a dominant inside game—absent that, we've seen years when Los Angeles struggled despite Kobe's best efforts.
The Heat could use better role players and more depth, but they won't go very far if LeBron takes every last shot. There may be times that he should take more shorts (like Game 2 against the Pacers), but that doesn't mean he should take every shot.
The Lakers lost their Game 2 because Bryant forced his offense in the final two minutes. The Heat, however, fell to Indiana when they could hit the broad side of a barn in the third quarter. That's not about the clutch.
Los Angeles had a seven-point lead in the final two minutes. It's not even that Kobe was less than clutch—he choked. He made the wrong decisions, while LeBron missed a couple of free throws.
LeBron should keep doing what he's doing, at least what's been doing on the court.
Second Step: Stop Playing Into the Hysteria
Does this Miami Heat team ever stop making noise? Whether busy talking to refs or chatting with the media, Dwyane Wade looks more interested in taking his old friend Charles Barkley's job than he is taking another title.
And there was never any need for LeBron to lecture people about their problems or play into any of the other stories the media is all too happy to yammer on about endlessly in opinions like the one you're reading right now.
James should learn something from the team that ended his first championship push, the San Antonio Spurs. You don't hear a peep out of this team. Even when their star point guard is mired in scandal, no one actually cares (or even pretends to).
This clutch-or-not story will go away when the Miami Heat make all the stories go away. Just clam up and play ball.
Third Step: Win a Championship
Fair or not, Kobe Bryant gets a free pass for his failures in the final moments because he's won five championships.
Even if LeBron is making better plays, and even if he lets his game do the talking, we'll hear more of the same criticism so long as he's ring-less.
That's not entirely reasonable to be sure. Had LeBron found a time-machine and teamed up with Shaquille O'Neal in his prime, his career would look a lot more like Kobe's. And in five or six years, it may still yet.
But that's not going to happen if some obsession with taking the last shot derails an otherwise sound game plan.
