The Magic Of LeBron James

Fourth quarter. Ninth inning. Overtime. The 11th and 12th rounds. Green-white-checkered. And down the stretch they come. The fifth set. The final lap.

Somewhere between the Romans of the 1st century and the Celtics of the 21st, we fused the definitions of crunch time and clutch inextricably with those climatic end-stages of our athletic competitions. As a result, too many of us have adopted the idea that the only time that is crunch time is the “five, four, three, two, one” we counted down on our elementary school playgrounds.

Too many of us forget that the critical juncture of a contest can also take place in the early to middle stages. Ask Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Miguel Cotto and see if they don’t agree. Talk to Nick Saban and Les Miles and get their opinion.

Battles are finished at the final bell, but that’s not necessarily when they are decided.

Which of course brings me to LeBron James, the most scrutinized crunch-time performer in all of sports, who all along has been more clutch than we’ve been led to believe.

From the moment the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers tip off tonight in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series, from the first quarter to the fourth, LeBron will be playing in crunch time. With his team tied 2-2 in a series they were widely expected to win convincingly, LeBron is under the microscope (as usual) to deliver a victory.

He faced the same scenario this past weekend in Game 4, only the stakes were higher. Coming off a blowout loss two nights earlier, playing on the road, with Chris Bosh sidelined by injury and Dwyane Wade sidetracked by the worst playoff slump of his career, LeBron took the court facing a potential 3-1 series deficit and a world waiting for him to fail one more time.

A loss in Game 4 would mean that – one more time – LeBron’s legacy, his manhood, and his character would be tried in public court. And he’d be guilty until proven innocent.

LeBron responded with 40 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists, leading Miami to an eight-point win.

There was no buzzer-beater, because no buzzer-beater was necessary. There was no crucial possession in the final minute, because LeBron had done his job on so many other crucial possessions in the first 47 minutes. In a must-win game, he simply dominated from start to finish, making moot the idea of needing to save the day with time running out.

So was his performance not clutch?

All things considered – including Kevin Durant‘s postseason game-winners against L.A., Chris Paul‘s historic fourth-quarter rally in Memphis, and Andre Iguodala‘s reputation-saving free throws in Philly – LeBron’s Game 4 at Indiana may have been the most clutch performance for any NBA player this season.

One big reason is that LeBron did it while playing … not so much out of position, but every position. Sometimes he was the point guard. Sometimes he was the power forward. As the team’s best interior player after Bosh, LeBron was essentially playing center at times, while on paper he was still penciled in as the small forward. Only Wade’s job as Miami’s two-guard was safe from LeBron’s versatility.

It was almost as impressive Magic Johnson‘s performance in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals, when Magic (as a rookie) stepped in for an injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at center and helped lead the Lakers to the championship with 42 points, 15 boards and seven assists.

One difference: Magic was still playing alongside Jamaal Wilkes (Hall of Fame), Michael Cooper (eight-time NBA All-Defensive Team) and Norm Nixon (two-time All-Star), while LeBron was playing alongside Wade and … Wade.

A second difference: Magic did it for one game. LeBron has been doing it all season, regularly playing multiple positions in games for the Heat.

A third difference: So many people are hard-wired toward negativity when it comes to LeBron that he’s unlikely to get the credit he deserves for this season-long reenactment of Magic’s greatest moment.

In fact, identifying the genesis of LeBron James haters’ hate for LeBron James reminds me of theological study. Subscribers to the faith, for the most part, cannot pinpoint when and where they began believing – and they are, for the most part, impossible to convert even when gaping holes are found in the foundation of their system.

One denomination of LeBron hate stems from the fact that he has yet to play on an NBA championship team – even though Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki went a decade-plus in their careers without winning a title, and if anything it made them sympathetic figures. Hell, Steve Nash can barely lead his team to the playoffs anymore, let alone title contention, but he’s still beloved by NBA fans and media.

Another root of LeBron hate is the misconception that he’s not clutch, despite so much evidence to the contrary.

Remember the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals, when LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers faced elimination against Orlando and he cranked out 37 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists in a win? Clutch. Or the 2010 conference semis, when Cleveland was coming off a blowout loss at home to the Celtics and LeBron put them back atop the series with a 38-point effort in Boston, as well as playing a significant role in holding Paul Pierce to just 11 points? Clutch. Or the 2011 conference finals, when LeBron’s Heat had just taken a blowout loss in Chicago in Game 1, to which LeBron responded with a 29-point, 10-board, 5-dime, 3-steal line in Game 2 that set the tone for four straight Miami wins? Clutch.

Game 4 was not an anomaly.

Ask yourself this: Which player is carrying a bigger load in these NBA playoffs than LeBron James?

Durant can be quiet for three quarters, as he was in Game 4 against the Lakers, while Russell Westbrook leads the charge for Oklahoma City. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili can each have an off night and the Spurs can still win if the other two pick up the slack. The same goes for Pierce, Garnett and Rajon Rondo in Boston. The Sixers don’t have a single player carrying them, either.

If LeBron doesn’t play well, Miami loses. That’s it.

The names of his Heat teammates may ring louder than anyone he played with in Cleveland, but LeBron’s situation has not changed much, particularly in these playoffs. On both ends of the floor, he carries the Heat. That is why he was named league MVP for the third time in four years.

Game 5 will be another test of LeBron’s ability to perform in the clutch. And maybe he will miss a free throw in the fourth quarter, or miss a crucial jump shot at the buzzer. Even worse, maybe he will pass up a big shot in favor of setting up a teammate who has, in his opinion, a better look.

If that happens, all it should mean is that LeBron lost that game. That he fell short on that night. It should not fuel the belief that he is not clutch overall. History should have taught us better than that.

Do you agree that LeBron is a clutch player?

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