LeBron James Answers Critics Who Question His Clutch Gene
Just four days ago, the Miami Heat were on their heels and the legacy of LeBron James was in serious jeopardy (again). The criticism of James and his failure to step up "when it counts" was reaching an all-time high.
Then Games 6 and 7 happened.
LeBron James went on a two-game stretch of historic proportions as he carried his team to comebacks and into the 2012 NBA Finals.
There are those who want to make "clutch" too simple a thing and only count last-second shots. Make no mistake about it: this Gamd 7, LeBron James was absolutely clutch and was the biggest reason the Miami Heat are in the finals.
His 31 points and 12 rebounds are only part of the story. In the fourth quarter, he took over the game, and that's where he was clutch.
With a little over nine minutes left in regulation, James scored on a layup, drawing a foul in the process, then completed the three-point play.
Ray Allen answered with a three-point bucket of his own. Then James came back and dunked it with 7:58 left to put the Heat ahead for good.
Just 19 seconds later he found Chris Bosh for a wide-open three. And 26 seconds after that LeBron made a four-foot jumper.
After Brandon Bass made a shot, LeBron hit a 31-foot jumper that may as well have been from Cleveland. The next Heat bucket came when James found Bosh again for two.
When it was all said and done, James had scored or assisted on 15 consecutive points by the Heat, and a one-point deficit had turned into a seven-point lead and the fat lady was warming up her vocal chords.
In Games 6 and 7, James scored a combined 76 points and grabbed 27 rebounds.
Furthermore, he did all of this while guarding a Hall of Famer, Paul Pierce, holding him to just .405 shooting over the course of the series.
Over the entire postseason, James has averaged 30.8 points, 9.6 rebounds and 5.1 assists. He is close to becoming the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1963 to average 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
Other than Robertson and James, the only other time a player has averaged 30, nine and five is when LeBron James did it in '09, and LeBron's Game 6 was the first time since Wilt Chamberlain that a player had 45 points, 15 boards and five assists in a single game.
Players mentioned in the same breath as Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson should not be criticized as LeBron has.
Yes, there will be those who will discount James' game because Chris Bosh had 19 points and eight boards, or because of Dwyane Wade's 23 points, six boards and six assists. I'd just say, stop and think about it before you say it.
And if it's not enough for you to hear what this writer has to say, listen to what Wade has to say.
Is it any wonder that in the postgame interview on ESPN, Wade said of James, "He’s emerged as the leader of this team, and we follow him." (h/t Miami Herald)
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/10/2841814/miami-heats-lebron-james-dwyane.html#storylink=cpy
Yes, he made his mistakes, but as Jeff Van Gundy said in the broadcast: "There should be a statute of limitations on saying stupid things."
For right now, forget about the hating and just enjoy basketball greatness. You don't have to be a fan of the Heat—if you can just be a fan of the game, it's hard to not appreciate what James is doing in these 2012 playoffs.
