Did LeBron James Win a Title Because of His Supporting Cast, or in Spite of It?
LeBron James has done the impossible and won a championship, complete with Bill Russell handing him the Finals MVP trophy after his dominant triple-double in the decisive Game 5. He was the best player on the court throughout the series and the Oklahoma City Thunder, despite the brilliance of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, stood no chance once he decided to take over.
The rest of the Miami Heat also receive championship rings, even though it seems like LeBron was the only player who mattered, given the amount of attention he's receiving.
So that begs the question: Did LeBron James win a title because of his supporting cast, or in spite of it?
It's a tough question to answer because the two potential conclusions are by no means mutually exclusive. My answer is a combination of the two.
LeBron's title chances were buoyed by the stellar play of a few role players, but it was undoubtedly James who kept the team afloat throughout the 2012 NBA Finals. He was easily the most consistent player, and performed admirably from the first time he set foot on the court, until the final buzzer.
Saying that he won a title in spite of his supporting cast is doing an injustice to the great performances of those role players. Likewise, saying that he won because of his supporting cast is unnecessarily minimizing James' role in the Finals.
Basketball is a team sport, even if it sometimes masquerades as a glorified individual one. A single player cannot win a title, no matter how talented he may be.
Despite the fact that LeBron averaged 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists in the series, he couldn't have gotten the job done without Shane Battier, Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers, even if all three were nowhere near as dominant or consistent as he was.
During the first three games of the Finals, Battier decided that he was a combination of Reggie Miller and Ray Allen, hitting 14 of his 19 shots from downtown. Going into the series, only 11 players since 1985 had ever made six or more triples in a Finals game.
Now, between Battier and Miller, there are 13. Miller was the unlikely secondary hero for the Heat in Game 5.
As he fought through various injuries and looked ready to collapse at times, the $30-million man scored 23 points—third on the Heat to only James and Chris Bosh during Game 5—on 7-of-8 shooting from behind the three-point arc.
There was also Mario Chalmers, who took a break from being mocked and yelled at by his teammates to score 25 points and hold off the Thunder charge in Game 4.
Some of the players who stepped up were unexpected. Some of the performances were inexplicable.
The key, though, is that James couldn't have won with them, and the role players couldn't have won without James.
James proved once more that he's the best basketball player in the world, and finally adorned one of his fingers with a well-deserved ring. But he also showed that not even a dominant individual like himself can, or should, turn a team sport into an individual showcase if there's a title to be won.
