In Historic Finals Return, LeBron Has Condemned East to Repeat Past Yet Again
TORONTO — LeBron James knew the question was coming, knew the scope and weight of the moment, and still he hesitated. Stammered. Felt his throat constrict as he searched for the words.
The Cleveland Cavaliers had just closed out the Toronto Raptors in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, securing another trip to the NBA Finals, the sixth straight for James.
Six straight Finals. No player in 50 years has flirted with such a feat—not Kareem, not Magic, not Bird, not Michael, not Duncan, not Kobe.
"Sixth straight," ESPN's Doris Burke said to James late Friday, as fans exited and Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" played over the Air Canada Centre loudspeakers. "Of what are you most proud?"
"Ah, ah," James said, pausing, closing his eyes and grabbing the back of his head. "I don't know, Doris. I've heard all the questions, and that right there is a stumper."
He said he was humbled. He thanked "the man above" for letting him "play the game I love." His voice cracked, and he paused again.
"It is emotional," James said.
After everything LeBron James has experienced—all of the adulation and enmity, the championships and the misery, the breakups and the homecomings—this moment seemed to overwhelm him.
A year ago, James stood in this same position, having led the young Cavaliers to the Finals in his first year back in Cleveland. But his co-stars were hurt, and the Golden State Warriors were simply too good.
"I didn't appreciate last year, what we were able to accomplish in our first year," James said, explaining his emotional state. "I'm just truly blessed."
Soon enough, the Warriors and Thunder will finish their series and provide James his next opponent. The discussion will turn to whether James can win his third title, whether Cleveland can end its infamous drought. What it would mean if James wins, what it would mean if James loses.
Forget all of that for now, and appreciate what he's already achieved—the first star to make six straight Finals since the 1960s Celtics.
Winning a title requires some magical blend of talent, commitment, chemistry and luck. Some of the greatest players never win one. Many never even make the Finals.
James is heading to his seventh Finals in 10 years. Whatever happens next, he has already defined an entire NBA era.
In recent days, a cheeky flow chart, titled "Will I Be in the NBA Finals This Year?" circulated on Twitter. The bottom line: If you play in the same conference as James, the answer is no—unless he's on your team. If you play in the other conference, then possibly.
As the saying goes: It's funny because it's true. No single figure has as much influence on the league's collective fate.
Over the last six postseasons—four with Miami, two with Cleveland—James has beaten 11 different franchises and won 18 straight Eastern Conference series. He's crushed five different teams in the conference finals, ruining the title hopes of Chicago, Boston, Indiana (twice), Atlanta and now Toronto.
Six straight NBA Finals. "It's hard to comprehend," Masai Ujiri, the Raptors' general manager, said late Friday.
Consider the wreckage James has left behind. The Bulls are a mess, the Celtics and Pacers are rebuilding and the Hawks have slipped into mediocrity. Pity rival team executives, whose mission is no longer "How do I build a contender" but "How do I build a team that can beat LeBron James?"
In the East, for the last six years and for the foreseeable future, that is the only question that matters.
Last summer, the Raptors signed DeMarre Carroll, one of the league's elite perimeter defenders, to a $60 million contract, undoubtedly with James in mind. They have two All-Stars, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, and a blossoming big man in Jonas Valanciunas. They finished just one game behind Cleveland in the regular season.
And yet the gap between Cleveland and the rest of the East is still massive.
The Raptors did tie this series 2-2, despite the absence of Valanciunas, but they were barely competitive in the final two games and thoroughly outmatched by the Cavs' power trio of James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
With a little good fortune and internal growth, perhaps the Raptors inch closer next season. Then again, they could lose DeRozan and Bismack Biyombo in free agency, leaving Toronto in the dustbin with the rest of the East's would-be challengers.
Only a few months ago, rivals were heartened by the Cavaliers' sickly chemistry—the glares and finger-pointing between the stars, the fickleness of the supporting cast, the passive-aggressive remarks by James, the persistent rumors that Love was trade bait. This is a team that fired its coach, David Blatt, midseason and replaced him with a rookie, Tyronn Lue.
Then the Cavs swept through two playoff rounds, shot a ton of three-pointers, discovered a brilliant small-ball lineup and happily cruised back to the Finals. The same flaws remain—Love's moodiness, Irving's bouts of selfish play—but the Cavaliers have grown tighter in recent weeks.
They celebrated Friday night with a friendly water fight in the locker room, leaving an inch-deep puddle from wall to wall.
"We didn't have Champagne," James said later, "so we took waters."
"I had chocolate milk," said Love, sitting to James' right.
While James, Irving and Love took questions at the podium, Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith (cradling the Eastern Conference trophy) stood off to the side. Richard Jefferson poked his head in to make a few timely quips. There was a lot of smiling and laughter.
This team has evolved, and that should be a scary sight for rivals. The Cavaliers are whole now, too—in contrast to last June, when Love (shoulder) went down in the first round and Irving (knee) went down on the opening night of the Finals.
Rivals should worry, because James has become the proverbial unstoppable force and the immovable object simultaneously. Six years is a long time—it's a Senate term, an entire elementary school education, a space flight to Jupiter.
The last time an NBA Finals was played without LeBron James, Kyrie Irving was a high school senior.
Stephen Curry was a rookie.
The first iPad had just been released.
Barack Obama was in his 17th month as president.
David Stern was commissioner of the NBA.
Kobe Bryant was working on his fifth championship.
And James had not yet taken his talents to South Beach.
The 2010 Finals ended with Bryant clutching the Larry O'Brien Trophy and the Celtics shuffling off the stage for the last time.
Three weeks later, James made his "Decision," and Cavs fans set fire to his jersey.
Six years have passed, and each spring brings another layer of vindication, from Cleveland to Miami and back again. Rosters have been shuffled and reshuffled, coaches hired and fired and hired again. The one constant has been LeBron James, the NBA's only immovable object.
Howard Beck covers the NBA for Bleacher Report and is a co-host of NBA Sunday Tip, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET, on SiriusXM Bleacher Report Radio. Follow him on Twitter @HowardBeck.
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