LeBron James: Why Gregg Doyel's Comments About 4th-Quarter LeBron Were Stupid

During the entire playoffs, it has been LeBron James' time to rejuvenate people’s perception of him in many aspects of the game such as clutch, defense and even his perimeter game.

Everyone was so enthralled with the All-Star after the Boston Celtics series because he was able to do what no one has seen him do as a Miami Heat player. The ability to make such an impact towards the end of the fourth quarter had been lost in Cleveland as he took his talents to South Beach, but has been recovered on the biggest stage.

The Chicago series was no different. He was given the task of guarding Derrick Rose and everyone saw how instrumental he was at stopping the MVP of the 2010-11 season and contributed a points average of 25.8 as well.

No one stopped themselves from labeling him the best player on the team and probably the best active player the league has right now. His power on both ends of the court was challenged and he came out successful in a majority of the opportunities.

Now, in the Dallas series when his offense has not been the most standout of the game, people are more than willing to write his past accomplishments off as a mere occurrence among greater athletes. Gregg Doyel's question concerning LeBron's fourth-quarter performances was outright idiotic and simple-minded.

There is no one giving him credit for what he has done to get Miami to this place in the postseason. Fans are living in the moment and not truly taking into account that Miami would not have been in this position in the Finals had it not been for LeBron James.

Dwyane Wade is seen as the commander in chief, but without James, he would have stopped short a long time ago.

People would like to challenge LeBron’s unwritten legacy on the move that he made to Miami from Cleveland. The questions surrounding where he will stand at retirement are more of the media’s concern than his own. He obviously does not care much about how he is viewed by the public because, if so, he would make more strides to appease public opinion.

But, to be frank, that is not what NBA players or players of any other sport join the league for. They join the league in order to win at the highest level. This should not be a secret.

The reasons why he joined the team are on display for everyone to see, but as usual, people are taking his performance as a fallback from greatness. People are using it as "proof" that he is not the best player on the team.

That could not be further from the truth.

Dwyane Wade may be coming up big in the Finals. Why wouldn’t he? As the only player other than Udonis Haslem that has won at this level before, it is expected of him to be the leading man in this series. He is the team captain and this shows that not only does LeBron respect his skills as an athlete, but also respects his success.

If Wade has the hot hand for the night, why would James block his opportunities when it means one step further in the direction of a NBA championship? That would make him as selfish as fans who hate him make him out to be.

But, let us not be so quick to forget that it was James’ efforts in Boston and Chicago that even allowed Miami to arrive in the Finals to face Dallas. In the series against Boston, he averaged 28 points, but those numbers were not the most important. In Game 4, where the Celtics could have turned the tide, James scored the 11 of the Heat’s last 13 points that forced overtime, and Miami went on to win to send the series to a 3-1 lead.

If the Celtics would have had the opportunity to tie the series, Miami would have been in a lot more trouble than they face in the eyes of Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. Wade only scored two points in the fourth quarter of that game. Chris Bosh scored four.

In the last two minutes of Game 5 when Boston was only down by three, LeBron scored Miami’s last seven points to widen the lead to 10. His plays over that two-minute span included a three-pointer off of a bad pass from Paul Pierce and he stole the ball from Delonte West to come up with a two-point shot on the other end of the floor.

If things had not gone LeBron’s way, things could be entirely different throughout the rest of the Eastern Conference playoffs. By the way, D. Wade, the beloved leader of the franchise, missed on two key possessions in that same two minutes.

Moving on to the Chicago series, where there was a horrific start by the Heat. They were blown out by the Bulls, and a lot of people backed off of their Miami predictions for the Finals.

Then LeBron James arrived.

The game was tied with less than five minutes left in Game 2. James scored nine of Miami’s last 12 points to end the game with an 85-75 victory, tying the series 1-1.

In Game 4 against Chicago, it was LeBron’s business to keep the team alive. Wade scored 14 points in the entire game, although he did come up big in overtime. Still, it was James’ 35 points that kept the Heat afloat. That was a game where he did not own the luxury to sit back and watch anyone else. He had to handle his job to the best of his ability or they would fall at a crucial time in the series.

Never faltering from his belief in Wade, James continued to get the rest of his teammates involved, but it was ultimately a combined effort of his great 49 minutes and Wade’s great 2:30.

I use the fourth quarter of these games as a measuring stick of his efforts on this team because those have been the moments that decided the outcome of the game. None were decided in the first half.

Now that the Dallas series is underway and James has not been dominating every game, everyone would like to abolish the journey he carried to get here.

Dwyane Wade is having his moment in the spotlight and rightfully so. He has earned every moment. Wade proves that he still has a big voice on this team while answering questions about a moment in the game where he appeared to be giving LeBron a piece of his mind, as reported by The Sun Sentinel:

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“Them guys understand. They know me. I understand them. If things are said to each other, it’s all in the better for the team. It’s all about winning. I want it. LeBron knew that. The things I was saying to him, I was saying to Chris, wasn’t nothing they wouldn’t say to me. It was something they would say to me in the Chicago series and vice versa. We have enough respect for each other.

At the same time, I wanted it. I was just trying to help them guys and feel like ways that they can be better to help our team be better at that moment and vice versa. They do the same to me. I don’t know if I got in his face, but I was just trying to do what leaders do and do what captains do. Step up and say what you feel at that point in order.”

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But, do not make the mistake of assuming that LeBron James has not been equally or even more important to the success of the franchise this season.