In sports, there are certain moments that define a player, or elevate him into the elite status of a superstar. While it is difficult to think of one off the top of your head, it is obvious when it happens, and when you see it with your own eyes it really is something special, even magical.
The last time I had seen such a play take place was when Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter made a running catch along the third base line in which his momentum carried him into the crowd with a violent crash. Jeter then emerged from the stands with the ball in his glove and cuts on his face. From that point on, Jeter has never had to prove anything else to me ever again, and I cannot say enough about the guy.
I caught a similar taste of greatness in this year’s NBA playoffs, watching LeBron James from series to series, all the way up to the finals, and I have to say that I became a “witness”—“We Are All Witnesses” is James’ trademark slogan for his Nike campaign.
Now, when James came into the Association as the top overall pick in the 2003-2004 NBA season, I was a little skeptical of all the hype. Here was a kid, who was not much older than myself, making the jump from high school to the professional level, and was being dubbed “King James,” “The Chosen One,” and unfairly ... the successor to Michael Jordan.
After his first few seasons, James racked up the statistics and accolades—including Rookie of the Year, fastest player to reach 1,000 career points, among many others—yet the “King” seemed to lack something, perhaps the drive or killer instinct in the game’s final moments that separated him from the likes of Kobe Bryant and all the others of years past who he was being compared to.
All of that changed, though, in game five of the Eastern Conference Finals when James’ Cavaliers took on the heavily-favored Detroit Pistons. Detroit had gone up 2-0 early in the series and it looked as if they would continue to cruise past Cleveland, but the Pistons squandered the lead and found themselves tied up with the red hot Cavs.
In that game, from the fourth quarter on through two overtimes, James put his team on his back and carried them to victory in a performance that many can only dream about. It was an epic—even legendary—performance in which each shot James took and made, you, as a fan, were left in awe and amazement.
He scored 48 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and dished out seven assists, but that is just the short of it. James scored 29 of the Cavs’ final 30 points, including 25 in a row in one stretch. Watching that game with my own two eyes rather than just seeing the highlights the next day was really a treat and something I will never forget. As he hit shot after shot, relishing in the pressure rather than folding under it, you knew the kid had arrived, he had reached a new level, and from here on out, he truly would be the “King” of the NBA.
After the game five win, James and the Cavaliers proceeded to take down Detroit and reach the NBA Finals versus the San Antonio Spurs. While Cleveland was hot and riding momentum, the vastly talented and seasoned nucleus of the Spurs, who had been together for many seasons, proved to be too much for the young and inexperienced Cavaliers; the Spurs went on to sweep them en route to capturing their fourth championship title in nine years—now flirting with the term “dynasty.”
So while James’ title quest fell short, only more greatness will come for the young star, which is hard to believe since he’s already accomplished so much. The kid has evolved into a man, and the rest of the league should watch out, because now that James has been to the top and had the game’s ultimate prize within reach, it is evident that he will not stop until he gets there again and claims the title for himself and the city of Cleveland.
