"Its about ---- time", were the words that LeBron James yelled out as the game clock ticked to zero in the decisive game 5 of this years NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the OKC Thunder. After 8 seasons, countless teammates, two different franchises, and lots of scrutiny, he finally got that championship ring after teaming up with two olympian and all-stars in Chris Bosh and DWayne Wade.
Two years ago, many people, including former hall of famers, criticized LeBron after his highly publicized "The Decision" where in LeBron chose to announce Miami as his choice of what team he would join the following season. Many thought he chose the easy way out and said that "MJ'' would have never done that, teaming up with his league's equals (Bird, Magic, or Isaiah) in order to get over the hump. Yeah Jordan had Scottie but Scottie wasn't a proven champion prior to playing with Mike as was Wade when Lebron arrived and who was Bosh on that squad? Magic had Kareem and Worthy but Kareem was past his prime and Worthy thrived as a great finisher largely due to playing with the best full court, fast breaking PG ever in Magic himself. Kobe won with Shaq......and without him on the team that he's always played with and when the Lakers had down years, though he threatened to leave, he stayed and got back to the mountain top.
The question is, what would LeBron's first ring had meant if he had stayed and won it in Cleveland?
What if he hadn't taken the "easy way out" as many call it? Besides he made it to the finals with a Cleveland team a few years back with San Antonio where in his lack of offensive versatility was exposed by Bruce Bowen. What would that have meant to his legacy, to bring life to Cleveland, a city that has been haunted by failing sports squads across the board for many years, to bring a ring to a franchise that was bottom of the barrel when he arrived, to bring a championship to the people in his home town? If he had stayed on his own mountain? Shouldered the load and brought the Cavs with him? Wouldn't he be well on his way to being considered by most, the G.O.A.T? Imagine...just imagine.
Truth is, we'll never know if Lebron has what it takes to carry his team hands down to a ring without the obvious most talented starting 5 in basketball. We'll never know.
http://youtu.be/jzcuUgFxn0k
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