After Tuesday night, I was relatively prepared to write a post about how Game 6 was going to be LeBron James’s defining moment, how this series is shaping up to be a demarcation point in his career: if the Cavaliers go out in Game 6, or even Game 7 he’ll be on his way to the fenced-in land of guys who just couldn’t get it done. If, on the other hand, he returns to MVP form, leads the team to two straight victories and the Cavs are somehow able to defeat the Orlando Magic and whoever comes out of the West, he will be exalted. As Chris Ballard of SI wrote on Twitter today, we will all become “amnesiacs.”
That’s what gives tonight’s game the opportunity to be special: redemption. The scenario unavoidably reminds me of something Phil Jackson relates about Kobe Bryant in his book The Last Season. During high school, Phil claims, Kobe would blow games throughout the first three quarters so he could dominate in quarter four and be looked at as a hero. I don’t know if James (yes, this is the other part of the defining moment for LeBron - if he plays weakly in Game 6, I may never refer to him lovingly as “Bron” again) has been throwing these games on purpose, but he certainly does still have the opportunity to be a hero.
Oh, but then there’s today’s column. I’m going to stop there. I’m not going to rip LeBron for allowing his agent, Leon Rose, to bring John Calipari to the arena when, reportedly, the locker room has become openly upset with Mike Brown. I’m not going to bother ripping LeBron for letting his team become upset with Brown either. I’m not even going to rip him for the now very questionable decision to not simply extend his contract with the Cavaliers before the season, a decision that reflects poorly on his commitment to winning (I would very much enjoy seeing Trevor Ariza guarding Rajon Rondo, for instance).
I’m going to point you, instead, to a few articles from yesterday that examine the game and LeBron’s psychology better than I can. The first is from Woj. The second is from Kelly Dwyer. The third is from John Hollinger, who makes a surprisingly convincing argument that LeBron’s elbow is actually bothering him.
And then I’m going to leave it at that. Because it can all change if the Cavaliers win tonight.
We’ll have all offseason to rip and shred and tear apart, if we’re not dancing in the streets of Cleveland - which, until the Cavs lose to Boston one more time, is still a possibility.
