Thursday, June 9th, 2011 at 9:00 am  |  71 responses

Judgement Day for LeBron James


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Eight years into his NBA career, at 26 years old, LeBron James is already a sure-fire Hall of Famer. His legacy, however, is still very much up in the air.

It’s a strange in a way — in this age of the 24-hour news and opinion cycle — that a great athlete’s entire body of work is threatened by the stain of one calamitous performance on his sport’s grandest stage.

But, that’s where we are with LeBron, who must answer the bell tonight, in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Despite questions about whether or not he’s been playing too many minutes in the postseason, James expressed confidence that he’ll be able to bounce back in what has now become the most important game of his life.

Superstar teammate Dwyane Wade is also certain that LBJ will come through.

“[Tuesday] night, you know, eight points is definitely inexcusable for myself,” James said. “I hold myself to a higher standard than that … I had to do a better job of putting myself in situations where I can benefit myself and my team, no matter how many minutes I’m out on the floor,” James said.

“Obviously, he feels like he let me down,” said Wade, who had the reverse version of this conversation while he was struggling to assist LeBron in the Eastern Conference finals. “I understand he’s going to respond. So we just talked about the moment more than anything. I’m not worried about him. Eventually, he’s going to do something amazing, and it’s going to put us over the top.”

LeBron James promises to be a lot more aggressive from the start of the game tonight.

While many in the basketball-watching world jeer and delight in LeBron’s and the Heat’s failures, is anyone actually willing to doubt their collective ability to forcefully respond?

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  • JL

    Seriously this is the best chance for the rest of the league to win a Championship for the next 4-5 years. Maybe 3-4 because you never know with injuries and them all getting old. But I would say the next 3 years would be the prime time this big 3 have together. Mavs better win when they have a chance! And it’s just reality I am not a Heat fan just gotta realize what’s going to happen. Not saying they will win all next 3 years but they will have the best chance.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    We built this city on rock and roll

  • http://slamonline.com 1982

    Rashard Lewis? In other news, Bill Gate’s wife left him for the local Geek Squad manager.

  • http://wwww.need4sheed.com Tarzan Cooper

    shard shaq’d bron????!?!?!?!?!?!? i wonder if bron called gil……..

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    C’mon Darce. That’s gotta be the worst Rock song of all-time

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    …but your singing it aren’t you… oh yeah…

  • http://twitter.com/hurstysyd Hursty

    That’s why I said “unless major changes go down.”
    I don’t know how hard it would be for them to win back to back, or 3x in a row – I’m not an NBA player, but for that period of time, I’d say there are very few legit threats unless teams make moves.

  • O

    Don’t sleep on Rashard Lewis. He was blamming out Rihanna right after Chris Brown and before everyone got a chance. He knows how to turn b*tches out!

  • slamfan4life

    nice game bron

  • Raeniel

    Ask LeBron James for a dollar and he’ll give you 75 cents. He never gives you the fourth quarter.

  • Jackie Moon

    Where was this huge spectacular game from LBJ we were promised by all his fans? Oh, he had a triple double, you say? Great.

  • QuinnTheEskimo

    @Raeniel..Classic!

  • Geek

    @Raeniel niiiiiiiice!

  • Logan

    not the greatest Lebron fan here but he seems to be in a funk of sorts. The only time I thought he was going to take over was when he posted up Marion (on the double dribble no call). He looked aggressive only then. He seemed to phase out again after

  • flipnoyce

    I said time and time again since before the finals started, this is MAVS year. I can’t see the HEAT beating them two in a row at home. LEBRON will be fine even if he doesn’t win a ring this year.His legacy is already cemented in the books and in people’s mind. He is still very young and has a lot time to learn and improve on his game. Jordan was 28 years old when he won his first. What Lebron have to realize is he needs to have a KILLER mentality and seize the moment.

  • jumpman

    why does everyone hate on the Heats??? They have so many superstars on their team, yet everyone still hates them, i don’t get it. Jordan and his teammates in Chicago used to be the best of the best, but they never had this many haters. WTF is wrong with people these days? Those haters are rooting for Dallas, not because they like Dallas, but because they hate Miami. WHAT’S WITH ALL THE HATE?!?! It’s ruining basketball! People need to learn how to enjoy the game, instead of being punka$$ haters…

  • Mike From Spain

    @jumpman -> I don’t have to like the Heat. There is no obligation to like any given team.

  • tomtom

    Is last night was judgment day then consider him judged. He passed and played well but one of the g.o.a.t.s? Dont make me laugh man. Long….live…..Dwades sidekick.

  • IAMORANGE4EVER

    LONG LIVE 3 QUARTER JAMES!

  • MikeC.

    I don’t see how the Heat are going to win 6 in a row. Is Wade still going to be carrying the team in 4, 5 or 6 years? People are saying the Celtics are done because they’re too old. Wade is 29 now, which puts him right in the middle of his prime. Since he’s not a lights-out perimeter shooter like Shuttlesworth or Reggie, when he hits that 33-34 years old area, the drop-off could be pretty drastic. Since it’s obvious that he’s the leader and the closer of this team, then their title hopes go as Wade goes. Two or three rings before this Heat team is done? Maybe, if they shore up their bench so they don’t have to rely on Mike “held together by duct tape” Miller and Juwan “I’m 75, but still look like I’m in the Fab 5″ Howard to play key playoff minutes. Miller is good and a great fit with the Heat’s current roster, but he’s not exactly an ironman.
    @Allenp – I was thinking the same thing yesterday at work. The disease of more gets every team. More minutes, more shots, more endorsements, more spotlight. It’s going to happen, which means a shakeup will have to come in the next 3-4 years max. Probably sooner with the harsh spotlight that follows these guys everywhere. At some point, one of the key players will just say “Enough of this crap. I want to actually enjoy playing basketball again, please trade me.”

  • MikeC.

    @Hursty – You forgot about New York. Other than the Bulls, NY is the team with the best shot at being a roadblock for the Heat. The Bulls are almost there. They just need to add a good wing scorer, which could be tough. It’s not like other Eastern teams are going to line up to help the Bulls unless they’re dumping salary. They’re going to have to do their shopping in the West, and Noah might be the price since Rose isn’t going anywhere and Boozer is also staying in Chi forever (for different reasons). The Knicks have done their heavy lifting by getting Amare and Melo. They need depth and a mobile 5. Since NY finally has some draft picks and financial flexibility, the Knicks seem poised to make a jump into the upper tier of the East when we get another season.

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