Still a Prince?: Why This Is More Important to Lebron James

By Joseph Barry on June 5, 2013

Lebron James has a title. He was able to get the demons off his this time last year when his Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games. People began to respect Lebron more (and just to be clear, he should be respected; he’s put together one of the best seasons the NBA has ever seen) since he was finally able to get that elusive ring. He finally had a championship, the only thing he had not captured in his NBA career until that day.

Tim Duncan and the Spurs denied Lebron James in his first trip to the Finals, sweeping the Cavs 4-0; photo from totalprosports.com

However, this year, against the San Antonio Spurs, will be much more telling of the kind of player Lebron James has become. I’ll be much readier to put King James in the conversation with Michael Jordan, a conversation I believe the media has preemptively tapped into simply for something to talk about.

There’s the obvious reason: he will be one ring closer to reaching Michael’s six. Deeper reasons exist if you take the time to examine the matchup.

The only other time Lebron James has faced the Spurs in the finals, the Texas boys swept Lebron’s Cavs 4-0. Those Cavaliers were much more ill-equipped to take on a younger Spurs team than this Heat team is. The key trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, and Tony Parker are still intact and Lebron would love to take down the Spurs in what will be an unpublicized revenge match. Don’t expect a sweep this time around.

The biggest reason this finals matchup is bigger is a combination of who the Heat play this year and who they played last year. The Heat had the experience of having been to the Finals the previous season (when they lost to Dallas) as well as Lebron and Dwyane Wade having been to the finals by themselves earlier in their careers. They faced a young Thunder team who were still experiencing learning curves as they went along. Their main players had never experienced the atmosphere of the Finals. Perhaps the biggest factor in that matchup was that the superstar battle between Lebron James and Kevin Durant was not as hateful as battles between Bird and Magic, or even the Celtics vs Lebron. The two are great friends who even train together in the offseason and, despite both undoubtedly giving it their all, Lebron was relaxed by playing against one of his best friends. That can take a lot of pressure off of an individual; to contrast, when the Heat played the Celtics, players such as Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett got in Lebron’s head from the get go and he appeared shaken (though that can be argued that he finally overcame that in his 45 point performance in Game 6.)

Now to this year’s series. The older players on the Spurs have won anywhere between three and four championships. They aren’t as flashy as the Heat, or even the Thunder for that matter, but you better believe that Coach Greg Popovich will out coach Erik Spoelstra. Tony Parker was playing at an MVP level until he hurt his ankle in February. Lebron also has no connection with any of the Spurs players, so look for San Antonio to mentally get in his head (though to Lebron’s credit, he comes across as more mentally tough than he has in previous seasons.)

Lebron James has finally captured a title; however, will winning this year mean even more? Photo from larrybrownsports.com

That leaves the biggest wildcard: can Lebron James will his team to victory, add to his legacy, and begin to have an argument of overtaking Michael Jordan as the GOAT? (Well, after watching the Eastern Conference Finals, you could argue that the biggest wildcard is if Wade and Chris Bosh actually show up. For the sake of this article let’s go with my wildcard.) Lebron has had an incredible statistic season and has rarely disappeared, something he would do in past seasons. If Lebron James brings his A game, there is no one on the Spurs who can stop him. The only question is if he will bring his A game.

Prediction: Heat in 7 games.

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