Once again, the plot thickens.
The remarkable twist of irony that took place at Oracle Arena on Thursday night was something out of a Hollywood screenplay. Sports has a funny way of pulling stunts like this. Kirk Gibson will hobble up to the plate and smack a walk-off home run into right-center in the bottom of the ninth off a hall of fame closer in the World Series. The New England Patriots will be gifted the Tuck Rule to launch a dynasty at the expense of the same team that was the recipient of a fortuitous flag that sparked a similar Raiders run some 25 years earlier.
Now, the man who is arguably the most scrutinized athlete to ever walk the earth (and he’s only 30), finds himself in a situation that probably has him questioning whether or not he took the red pill from Morpheus.
Our protagonist Neo, aka “The One”, aka LeBron James, has spent the last five years of his basketball life living in The Matrix— “a world that has been pulled over his eyes to blind him from the truth.” It’s the final bullet that detractors who don’t believe this #23 could ever be on par with that #23 still have left in the chamber.
Consistently saddled with an inferior supporting cast, James exited Cleveland in 2010 to join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. Four years, four Eastern Conference Championships and two NBA Championships later, James returned to his hometown and the team that drafted him with hopes of bringing the region that raised him their first pro sports championship in over five decades. This time though, he would not be sharing a jersey with the likes of Eric Snow, Sasha Pavlovic and Drew Gooden. LeBron now had two All-NBA teammates in Cleveland with whom he’d go into battle.
Or so he thought.
With Kevin Love already sidelined by a shoulder injury (that was a dirty play by Kelly Olynyk, point blank— don’t let anybody tell you differently) and Kyrie Irving fracturing his kneecap in overtime of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, LeBron once again stands alone as the man trying to single-handedly reverse Cleveland’s curse.
Consider for a moment that James bolted from Miami not strictly for a cute story— Cleveland was by far the best basketball situation for the four-time league MVP. After the Heat succumbed to a gentleman’s sweep at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs last June, LeBron quickly took inventory of the South Beach situation and found that he was essentially carrying Bosh, who had been relegated to a rich man’s Donyell Marshall, and Wade, who sat out a combined 74 games due to injury and or rest during LeBron’s last three years in Miami. Wade missed 28 games in the 2013-14 regular season, but this was viewed as an insurance policy, so as to ensure the 2006 Finals MVP would be ready for another deep playoff run. But after giving the LeBron the Heat an underwhelming 15.2 ppg on .438 shooting in no more than 36 minutes in any game versus San Antonio, LeBron knew it was time to bounce.
Certainty, the idea of playing the next several years with a 23-year-old dynamo in Irving and (eventually) a 26-year-old force in Love seemed more appealing than re-upping in Miami to play with Wade (33) and Bosh (31), neither of whom were getting any better or healthier. Who would’ve known that a return home to Cleveland would reveal a paradox that even LeBron’s greatness might not even be equipped to handle?
This is what happens when LeBron plays against the Spurs and The Architect, aka Gregg Popovich.
Despite their youth, Love and Irving have frequently battled injuries throughout their careers. In spite of all the talk about the aging Miami Heat, Wade and Bosh only missed a combined 10 playoff games during “The Big 3’s” run to four straight NBA Finals, nine of which came at once after a Bosh abdominal injury in the 2012 playoffs. Love and Irving however have already missed 13 total playoff games this spring alone, a number that will increase by two for each remaining game of these Finals. With LeBron now having to defeat an immensely talented Golden State Warriors team without any other All-Star teammates, the 2014-15 Cavs now bare a striking resemblance 2007-2010 Cleveland rosters that eventually drove their favorite son to South Florida.
Sidebar: In 2010, LeBron’s most talented teammates were Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison and a geriatric Shaquille O’Neal. While James gets all the credit in the streets for being the Cavs de facto “general manager” (which discredits the historic job done by David Griffin), James’ departure in 2010 led to the acquisitions of several key pieces that would help transform this team. Two #1 overall picks (Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins) and two #4 overall picks (Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters) can be directly linked to the Cavs being flat out garbage without LeBron. Bennett and Wiggins were packaged in a trade for Love last August, while Waiters was exchanged for J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert five months ago. With Thompson remaining a key cog in the Cavs rotation, this all amounts to the greatest tongue-in-cheek argument one could make about LeBron moonlighting as the Cavs GM.
It’s even more ironic that Irving’s injury came in overtime, moments after a missed buzzer-beater by James that would’ve sent the Cavs back to the telly with a 1-0 lead and a healthy unit sans Love. James has worked hard to shed the misnomer that he’s incapable of rising up when a playoff game hangs in the balance, and for even passing out of double-teams in similar situations, but he seemed to settle for a fade-away over Andre Iguodala Thursday night. While that decision was puzzling to some, in reality, LBJ was in search of a familiar look in that particular gym. Twice before, King James has rained down game-winning jumpers in almost that exact same spot at Oracle. The first came on January 23, 2009 with the Cavs.
The second came in his last year with the Heat— a disgusting step-back three OVER IGUODALA, polished off with a classic Nick Van Exel celebration.
Still, for all of the erroneous criticisms of James not being able to make clutch shots, his missed step-back jumper was probably the most costly miss of his career. The price of that misfire is now staring squarely at the prospect of losing his fourth NBA Finals in six appearances against a team whose star player and MVP was born in…Akron, OH.
When he penned that moving letter last summer announcing his return to Northeast Ohio, LeBron did so with the intention of being the homegrown kid who was the only one gifted enough to bring a championship to Cleveland. He talked about what it meant to be from Northeast Ohio and what it meant to bring those fans a title:
Before anyone ever cared where I would play basketball, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio. It’s where I walked. It’s where I ran. It’s where I cried. It’s where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart. People there have seen me grow up. I sometimes feel like I’m their son. Their passion can be overwhelming. But it drives me. I want to give them hope when I can. I want to inspire them when I can. My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now…Our city hasn’t had that feeling in a long, long, long time. My goal is still to win as many titles as possible, no question. But what’s most important for me is bringing one trophy back to Northeast Ohio.
For LeBron to have come this far only to lose in the Finals under these circumstances to Stephen Curry, another kid born in Akron (raised in Petey Pablo country), would be the cruelest twist of all for someone who takes such pride in hailing from Summit County.
It appears LeBron was quite prophetic in his letter. He made no promises about winning and indicated that this would be the toughest test of his career. He was right. The truth is though, his team is still only four victories away from completing one of the great comeback stories a player, a team or a region the sports world has ever witnessed. A Game 2 victory completely flips the momentum in this series, but he’ll have to take out Curry, Iguodala, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and several more “Agent Smiths” to get there.
The people of Cleveland, aka Zion, are a passionate bunch who are so frequently heartbroken, they’re numb the misfortune that has fallen upon its team, once again at the worst possible time. Just like in the movie, our hero must go to The Oracle (Arena) in order to save these people. Just like in the movie, if he embraces his powers and maximizes his full potential, his people might have a chance at survival.
What does the Kyrie Irving injury mean? There’s no other superstars to lean on. No running from the responsibility of lifting a 51-year-old curse. There can be no second guessing. No feeling sorry for oneself. No fear. Only an unmitigated understanding of the mission at hand.
LeBron James is living in The Basketball Matrix, and only he can destroy it.
Yep. Straight out of a Hollywood screenplay.
“In Northeast Ohio, nothing is given. Everything is earned. You work for what you have.
I’m ready to accept the challenge.” – LeBron James