NBA Basketball Sports News in Philippines: James

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

NBA News 2013: LeBron James Wins 2013 NBA Finals MVP

NBA player LeBron James answers questions duri...

LeBron James has been dogged by nay-sayers throughout most of his career, even after winning his first NBA championship last season.

Now that he's secured his second straight Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award, it'll be a little bit harder to knock him.

LeBron James earned the prestigious honor after posting 37 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in the Miami Heat's 95-88 Game 7 win over the San Antonio Spurs. The Heat's Twitter feed congratulated their superstar after the announcement:

Overcome with emotion when receiving the award, James noted how far he's come throughout his career, per Pardon the Interruption's Twitter feed:

In a series full of adversity for James, it was only fitting that his series-closing moment was one for the ages.

With the Heat ahead 90-88 with a little over a half minute remaining in Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals, LeBron James was dribbling about 35 feet out from the basket, draining the shot clock in an effort to suffocate the San Antonio Spurs' comeback bid.

He then took a high screen from Mario Chalmers, darted to the right elbow and raised for a jumper as Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard gave chase. The shot touched nothing but nylon.

James, the man who was once deemed incapable of having the fortitude to thrive in "clutch" situations, had just hit the most clutch shot of all—one that clinched his team's NBA championship. Manu Ginobili turned the ball over for the Spurs on the next possession, James coolly knocked down two free throws after a subsequent foul and the celebration was on in South Beach.

Thursday night's win gave the Heat their second NBA championship of the "Big Three" era, a win that capped one of the best NBA Finals in history. James, again, came up big when his team needed him most.

His 37 points came on 12-of-23 shooting, including a 5-of-10 performance from beyond the three-point arc that seemed impossible this time a year ago. For the series, James averaged 25.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and seven assists per game.

The award is James' second consecutive finals MVP, another crowning in a career full of them for the game's best player. He's just the third player in league history along with Russell and Michael Jordan to win back-to-back MVPs (regular season and finals) and NBA championships, another piece in James' ever-growing legacy.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1680205-lebron-james-wins-2013-nba-finals-mvp-award

Sunday, March 10, 2013

NBA News 2013: LeBron James’ Historic Season

English: Lebron James: Washington Wizards v/s Miami Heat December 18, 2010 Italiano: Lebron James Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV License on Flickr: CC-BY-SA-2.0 Flickr tags: LeBron James (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For the last decade, we’ve wondered what LeBron James would look like when he reached his prime. Once his potential and upside were distant memories and James peaked, how good would he be? At 28 years old, we’re finally finding out. Not only is James the best player of his generation, he may go down as one of the greatest players to ever step onto a basketball court. This isn’t hyperbole. This is fact.

After leading the Miami HEAT to an NBA championship, winning a gold medal and taking home regular season and Finals MVP honors last year, James still found a way to take his game to another level this season. He has an incredible arsenal of weapons that allows him to pick and choose how he’s going to dominate each opponent he faces. He scores, passes, rebounds, defends, leads and, ultimately, wins. James may not be very good at announcing free agency decisions, but good luck finding many other weaknesses.

This season, James is averaging 27.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.3 assists. He is shooting 56.8 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from three-point range. He shot 64.1 percent in February, becoming the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in March of 1983 to shoot at least 64 percent from the field for an entire month with a minimum of 200 field goal attempts. He also became the first player in NBA history to record six consecutive games with 30 or more points and 60 percent shooting from the field.

James is currently having the most productive season of any player in NBA history, according to Player Efficiency Rating, a stat that measures a player’s per-minute performance by weighing their positive and negative contributions. Michael Jordan holds the highest single-season PER after recording a rating of 31.89 in 1987-88. Wilt Chamberlain’s highest PER was approximately 31.84 in 1962-63, but it’s difficult to calculate since the league didn’t keep track of turnovers, blocks, steals or offensive rebounds. Legends like Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird never had a single-season PER higher than 30.

This season, James’ PER is 31.94. If he can continue to play at this level in Miami’s 27 remaining games, this will go down as a historically great year for James. This has become an annual dance for James. In 2008-09, he was on pace to break Jordan’s single-season record for much of the year, but finished at 31.69. Last year, James had a PER of nearly 35.0 at one point in the season, but eventually came down to earth and topped out at 30.80.

However, James has been seemingly unstoppable this season. After winning back many of the fans that turned on him as well as his first NBA title last season, James has had the weight of the world lifted off of his shoulders. For the first time since being labeled a phenom out of high school, James isn’t feeling the crippling pressure that comes with being the next big thing or a ring-less superstar. As a result, he has delivered an unforgettable season.

“LeBron, he’s so big and strong and powerful,” said Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doug Collins after a recent loss to the HEAT. “I mean, he decides whether he wants to be a passer or a scorer. The plays he makes are incredible. He’s an amazing player. … That team, when they go to LeBron at the four, is impossible to guard. You can’t guard him.”

His stat lines seem unreal, but these are not typos. Take last night’s double overtime win against the Sacramento Kings, for example. James recorded 40 points, 16 assists and 8 rebounds. Few players can impact one aspect of a game the way that James can impact all of them. He truly is a triple-double threat each and every night.

“He has simply made all of his weakness into strengths,” said one NBA scout. “He’s Magic and Jordan in body and mind right now. What impresses me most about James, and this is going back to last year, is that he’s no longer afraid of greatness. He’s comfortable with himself and his decisions. I credit Pat Riley for that exponentially. On the court, his game continues to expand, but it’s his jump shooting ability from all angles that has improved dramatically, especially in fourth quarters.”

James has received heaps of praise this season, to the point that his accomplishments blur together and his greatness is somewhat taken for granted. However, down the road, we’ll likely look back on these years as the LeBron James era and relive many of the spectacular moments throughout his career. James is to this generation what Jordan and Chamberlain were to theirs, and the numbers back that up.

Even if James isn’t considered the best NBA player of all-time when all is said and done, he’ll still belong in the conversation of once-in-a-generation legends that changed the game, dominated on a nightly basis and helped redefine greatness.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-pm-lebron-james-historic-season/

Thursday, February 14, 2013

NBA 2013: Efficient LeBron playing at highest level yet

Washington Wizards v/s Miami Heat December 18, 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After a recent Miami Heat practice in Washington, Ray Allen told the coaching staff he was skipping the bus ride and running back to the hotel.

LeBron James' ears perked up.

With that, the three-time NBA MVP went looking for his running shoes.

"LeBron said, `If you're going to do that, I'm going to do that too. I'm not going to be outdone by somebody else. I'm going to run,"' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "So he gets very competitive with things like that. If other people are working on their game, he takes notice."

That approach must be working. James' game -- already considered among the best in the NBA -- might be better than ever right now.

He's made 37 of his last 47 shots over his last 111 minutes, a torrid 79-percent clip. For the season, he's shooting a career-best 56 percent so far, easily on pace for the sixth straight season of improvement in that department. His 3-point shooting, at 42 percent this season, is much improved. He's shooting 70 percent inside the paint.

"I want to continue to push the button, continue to get better, maximize my potential and not waste an opportunity," James said.

The numbers go on and on. He's averaging 26.9 points this season. According to STATS LLC, only five players in NBA history have averaged that many points while shooting at least 56 percent over a full season. Maybe that's why Heat guard Dwyane Wade marvels when talking about James these days, saying "every year, it seems like he does the amazing."

"Numbers don't lie," James said.

At least, they don't in this case. After winning his third MVP award, second Olympic gold medal and first NBA championship, James said he wanted to get even better.

"It's kind of like, where is the bar for this guy? Does he have a bar?" Wade said. "And I'm glad that he's doing all this while he's in a Miami Heat uniform."

http://www.nba.com/2013/news/02/09/heat-lebrons-numbers.ap/index.html

Saturday, January 19, 2013

NBA News 2013: LeBron James the youngest to reach 20,000

English: Wizards v/s Heat 03/30/11 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

LeBron James, 28, became the youngest player in the history of the NBA to score 20,000 points when he hit a floater in the lane late in the second quarter at Golden State on Wednesday night at Oracle Arena.

In a symbolic reminder that he is the farthest thing from a one-dimensional scorer, James – who has been assaulting the record books since he was drafted first overall by Cleveland in 2003 out of St. Vincent St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio – also surpassed the 5,000-assist mark against the Warriors. By doing so, he joined a club that – according to Basketball-Reference.com – has a total of 13 members. James surpassed the 5,000-rebound mark last season, and is now one of 11 players in the 20,000-point, 5,000-assist ,5,000-rebound club.

Thirty-eight players have reached the 20,000-point mark in all, with seven of them active (including James’ 37-year-old teammate, Ray Allen, who entered play with 23,336 points). James’ 5,000th assist came midway through the first quarter, when he found Dwyane Wade for a dunk that put the Heat up 8-7.

His scoring was versatile as always – a converted alley-oop via Wade from midcourt early, a three-pointer atop the key late in the first quarter that stretched the Heat’s lead to nine, and a stepback 17-footer that gave him 17 points and put Miami up 41-29 with 4:24 remaining in the second quarter.

James – who was the youngest player to be drafted No. 1 overall in 2003 at 18 years old, the youngest to win Rookie of the Year, and the youngest to score both 1,000 and 10,000 points – has long since cornered the market on becoming the youngest player in the game’s history to achieve such feats. He is marching past the milestones in what is already a remarkable career.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/lebron-james-the-youngest-to-reach-20000-points/

Friday, December 28, 2012

NBA 2012: LeBron James says he will never enter the Slam Dunk Contest

English: LeBron James playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers Español: LeBron James con los Cavaliers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For years, fans have dreamed of watching LeBron James — one of the most athletically gifted and remarkable in-game dunkers the NBA has to offer — compete in the Slam Dunk Contest at the league's annual All-Star Saturday Night festivities. And for years, from James' thrilling early days with the Cleveland Cavaliers through his heel-turn move to the Miami Heat to his redemptive title-and-Finals-MVP-winning 2012, we've found ourselves disappointed by the King's decisions to decline.

Sure, the inferred rationales were understandable — the competition has largely become a showcase for younger, lesser-known players; a star of LeBron's magnitude has more to lose in terms of reputation/public perception by posting an unimpressive showing in the contest than he has to gain by winning it; adding more All-Star Weekend work rather than getting rest where you can doesn't do you any favors in a season expected to extend into June, etc. But the heart wants what it wants, and since he entered the league with the top pick in the 2003 NBA draft, NBA fans' hearts have wanted to watch LeBron throw down in the midseason exhibition. Unfortunately, it's never going to happen.

After scoring 30 points in the Heat's 105-89 win over the visiting Utah Jazz on Saturday — his 29th straight regular-season game with 20 or more points (45th straight, including playoffs) and his sixth straight game without being called for a personal foul — James put the kibosh on any speculation about whether he'd take part in the dunk contest this February, or in any other year. From Chris Tomasson at FOX Sports Florida:

"No," said James, who turns 28 on Dec. 30. "It's over with. I'm getting too old for that. ... There were times when I wanted to do it. But I came into All-Star Weekend a few times banged up and I didn't want to risk further injury."

While there's been buzz about the prospect of James competing just about every year of his career, discussion reached a fever pitch back in 2010. With Dwight Howard and Nate Robinson going Superman and Lex Luthor in the '09 competition, James tossed his name into the ring for the '10 edition. Then, the following December, with the competition drawing nigh, James began to waffle, proclaiming the odds of his participation "50-50." Sure enough, when the 2010 Dunk Contest field was announced one month later, James' name was nowhere to be found.

The chatter was briefly revived for the 2012 competition, prompting one Oregon youngster to record an impassioned plea for LeBron to finally stop straddling the fence and actually get to dunking, but the song remained the same, as James steered clear of the 2012 event, which Jazz jumping jack Jeremy Evans won (somewhat underwhelmingly) by jumping over teammate Gordon Hayward and slamming two balls at once. James did tell ProBasketballTalk's Brett Pollakoff he might consider entering if the contest's winner won a $1 million grand prize; shockingly, NBA Commissioner David Stern didn't write a check on the spot.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/lebron-james-says-never-enter-slam-dunk-contest-163834704--nba.html

Monday, December 24, 2012

NBA News 2012: LeBron James bikes to most of Heat home games

Because an NBA game is not enough of a workout…

LeBron James — reigning NBA MVP, best player walking the face of the earth, Miami Heat franchise anchor — rides his bicycle to most home games. And practices. And shootarounds.

He had done this a little in the past but it has become the norm this season, reports Ira Winderman at the Sun-Sentinel. And if you think it wears him out, know that he rode in on Tuesday night and played 42 minutes putting up 22 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and not one turnover.

James also said he got lights on his bike, for safety. Frankly, for safety Pat Riley would pay for a car to bring him to games. Heck, Pat Riley would drive the car to bring him to games safely. But James just wants to feel the wind in his face and let his fleet of expensive cars rest.

James bike looks to be a kind of hybrid — not a mountain bike, not a street racer, just something you’d own to get around on (TBJ has a photo).

Personally, I think he’d look good on an old beach cruiser with wide handlebars. But that’s just me.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/19/lebron-james-bikes-to-most-of-heat-home-games/

Friday, June 22, 2012

NBA News 2012: LeBron James, Heat dominate Thunder to win NBA championship

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - JUNE 12: Serge Ibaka #9 of the Oklahoma City Thunder and LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat go after the opening jump ball in Game One of the 2012 NBA Finals at Chesapeake Energy Arena on June 12, 2012 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
Music blared and confetti fell, the only celebration LeBron James really wanted in Miami.

Not that one two summers ago, the welcoming rally where he boasted of multiple titles, perhaps without realizing how hard it would be to win just one.

He dreamed of this moment, with teammates surrounding him and the NBA championship trophy beside him.

"You know, my dream has become a reality now, and it's the best feeling I ever had," James said.

James had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists, leading the Miami Heat in a 121-106 rout of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night to win the NBA Finals in five games.

Ripped and ridiculed for the way he announced he was leaving Cleveland and taking his talents to South Beach, it's all worth it now for James.

Best player in the game. Best team in the league.

And now, NBA champion.

"I'm happy now that eight years later, nine years later since I've been drafted, that I can finally say that I'm a champion, and I did it the right way," James said. "I didn't shortcut anything. You know, I put a lot of hard work and dedication in it, and hard work pays off. It's a great moment for myself."

And for his teammates, who watched the Dallas Mavericks celebrate on their floor last year.

James left the game along with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh for good with 3:01 remaining for a round of hugs and the start for a party he's been waiting for since arriving in the NBA out of high school as the No. 1 pick of the 2003 draft. James hopped up and down in the final minutes, shared a long hug with opponent Kevin Durant, and then soaked in the "MVP! MVP! chants during the raucous postgame.

"I wanted to become a champion someday," James said. "I didn't know exactly when it would happen, but I put in a lot of hard work."

He was a choker last year, the guy who came up small in the fourth quarter, mocked for "shrinking" in the moment while playing with what he called "hatred" in trying to prove his critics wrong.

He came to Miami seeking an easier road to the finals but found it tougher than he expected, the Heat coming up empty last year and nearly getting knocked out in the Eastern Conference finals this time by Boston. Facing elimination there, James poured in 45 points on the road to force a Game 7 and the Heat won it at home.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever done as a basketball player," James said. "You just put a lot of hard work into it and you hope that one day it will pay off for you."

This time, with a chance to clinch, the Heat took control in the second quarter, briefly lost it and blew the game open again in the third behind their role players, James content to pass to wide-open 3-point shooters while the Thunder focused all their attention on him.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=320621014

Monday, June 18, 2012

NBA News 2012: Thunder can't match the resolve or hunger of LeBron James and the Heat

LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers in action against the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center on April 2, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The championship is waiting for LeBron James now, within his grasp, a confluence borne of configuring his mind and body with the scattered state of these Oklahoma City Thunder. He thinks about those Dallas Mavericks and the NBA Finals, the way the moment made him reluctant, afraid, and something’s hardened with him. He doesn’t cower. He doesn’t scare. Finally, LeBron James is coming.

All these mistakes, all these regrettable moments, belong to someone else now. James pushes for his destiny, two victories away, and a collapse now would be the most colossal of all. He is too wise to lose to the Thunder. He’s too great. Beyond James’ genius, Oklahoma City gave Miami Game 3 on Sunday night, an avalanche of AAU offense, inexplicable turnovers and foolish fouls conspiring in a 91-85 loss.

James delivered his 29 points and 14 rebounds for a 2-1 series lead, and he made Thunder star Kevin Durant miss everything on two telltale possessions late in the fourth quarter. He pushed Durant deep into foul trouble. James obliterated Durant the way his two trips to the NBA Finals, his three MVP awards, his successes and failures, demand he devour everything between him and the celebratory podium.

LeBron James has relentlessly attacked Kevin Durant and the Thunder in the Finals. (Getty Images)

"He’s just totally a different player," Miami’s Dwyane Wade said. "Up until the Finals last year, he was having an amazing playoffs. He had a game where he struggled and he kind of let that get into his mind a little bit – and he was thinking too much.

“Now he’s playing. He’s on attack. When he puts his head down to go to the rim, you have no other choice but to foul him or he’s going to finish."

All these Heat stars have come to embrace the failures of a year ago, come to let it wash over, coat them with resolve. The Mavericks taught them about poise and treating the Finals moment with the respect it deserves. The Mavericks were the perfect storm to beat the Heat a year ago: Stars understanding this was a final chance, replete with a rim-protecting center, spectacular shooting and a great coach.

"We’ve got to understand that over there in the locker room, there’s a team that really wants it," Perkins grumbled. "They’ve got a couple guys over there who want this. … They want it. Nothing’s going to be given to us, we’ve got to go take it. We were just careless and sloppy. … We’ve got to know that we are in the Finals.

"We’ve got to trust each other. Tonight, we got back to 'I' basketball, the individual shooting over two and three people."

James has transformed his game to take advantage of these unfocused Thunder. He is in perpetual attack mode, unabashedly assaulting the rim, daring mere mortals to step between the basket and his 6-foot-9, 270-pound locomotive. Once, he played the part of the contrarian, refusing to use his Karl Malone physique in the low post simply because, well, everyone told him he should use it.

As one former member of the Cleveland Cavaliers staff texted, "We tried to post him and he had great success at times, but he wouldn’t commit to it." He used to live on the perimeter in isolations and pick-and-rolls for the Cavaliers, but his championship destiny was forever following this blueprint. He had to take the path of most resistance, a fitting completion to his jagged journey to glory. The Dallas debacle lingers for these Heat, but mostly for James. He was the reason Miami lost a year ago, and he’d be the reason that they win this time. In the way James backed down a year ago, he’s hurtling himself forward now. In the way he shrunk, he’s rising now. Chris Bosh insisted, "We carry that pain with us. We think about it every day."

And that’s so important for these Heat, so much a part of why for the sluggish intervals – the wildly up-and-down performances of everyone but James and Shane Battier in these Finals – they’re fueled with a ferocity that ultimately manifests itself into execution and performance. James has come out of a place of accountability, out of the realization that it wasn’t his teammates, his coaches, his critics responsible for flaking out in past pressure situations. It was him, and it will be on him to elevate himself into something more, into the kind of champion that his talent demands he become.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--thunder-can-t-match-the-resolve-or-hunger-of-lebron-james-and-the-heat.html;_ylt=AsRHzekRxU6vKiolMIwdMPw5nYcB

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

NBA News 2012: Sefolosha Does Double Duty Defense

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - JUNE 12: Thabo Sefolosha #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder dunks the ball against Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat in the second half in Game One of the 2012 NBA Finals at Chesapeake Energy Arena on June 12, 2012 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
There was lots of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, as usual, and the quick-strike transition baskets that we’ve all come to associate with the Thunder as their trademark. But more than anything else in Game 1, we also learned OKC can play some OKD.

And that defense started and ended with Thabo Sefolosha, who had the wonderful task of checking Dwyane Wade for much of three quarters, then LeBron James in the fourth. Imagine, a guy who isn’t even the best defender on his team, being asked to slow two players who represent roughly 80 percent of the Miami offense. And he took down both. Chop, chop.

“I told myself I can do this,” Sefolosha said.

This was a powerful opening statement by the Thunder, out-defending a better defensive team, essentially beating the Heat at their own game. Miami had 40 points in the second half, where they lost the lead, their grip and the game, 105-94. OKC protected the rim, which forced Miami to take jumpers that fell in the first half but whiffed in the second. When that happened, it was a wrap — both defensively and in terms of the final outcome. The loss will certainly send the Heat scrambling to find a way to adjust by Thursday.

“Our players demand (defense) out of each other and out timeouts are always about defense,” said coach Scott Brooks.

Defense. That’s what Sefolosha’s about, too. He’s quickly earning a rep for accepting any assignment, no matter the player. Last series, he silenced Tony Parker in the second half of Game 6 to clinch the West title. Then came Wade, who shot only four-for-14 in the first three quarters, and finally James, who missed four of his six shots in the fourth and never took over the game as promised. To summarize, Sefolosha went from dee-ing up a quick point guard to a slashing two-guard to the league MVP.

He never gave Wade or James much to work with and kept each player from getting into a groove. Most of their damage was done when Sefolosha was guarding the other. Sefolosha was supposed to stick with Wade in the fourth, but when Wade went to the bench early, Sefolosha switched to James and stayed. That allowed Durant, who was guarding James, to use more energy on offense, paving the way to 17 points in the fourth. It also kept James Harden, who usually replaces Sefolosha in the fourth quarter, on the bench.

“We love what Thabo does,” said Brooks. “He’s a tough-minded defender. He understands that he has to be able to guard every possession like it’s his last, and he does that.”

Not taking anything from his work on Wade, who in some instances was his own worst enemy, but Sefolosha was most impressive in the fourth on James. Remember, this is the James who vowed to go nuts in the fourth to make up from vaporizing last June. And the setting was perfect for James to do so: The score was tight, Wade was clearly struggling and meanwhile Durant and Westbrook were threatening to break the game open.

And yet, James managed seven points and a pair of buckets. Therefore, two reputations remained intact: James in the fourth quarter, and Sefolosha as a defender.

“We knew he and Dwyane would try to take over,” said Sefolosha. “We were thinking of ways to slow them down. I was pretty fired up to make a statement. It was a challenge and I like that kind of challenge. I take it as an opportunity to show the world what I can do.”

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/06/13/sefolosha-does-double-duty-defense-for-okc/

Monday, June 11, 2012

NBA News 2012: LeBron James returns to NBA Finals with purpose and poise

MIAMI, FL - MAY 31: LeBron James #6 and Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat hug alongside teammate Chris Bosh #1 of the Miami Heat after the Heat defeat the Dallas Mavericks 92-84 in Game One of the 2011 NBA Finals at American Airlines Arena on May 31, 2011 in Miami, Florida. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
The defiance, the childish petulance, was gone. LeBron James sat on the dais on the eve of his third NBA Finals Monday and spoke in the same measured, self-assured tone he's carried for much of these playoffs. No gnashing of his fingernails. No giggling with Dwyane Wade. He was, in his own words, "at ease," and that's different from a year ago.

Three hundred sixty-five days earlier, James sat on a similar stage and taunted the world. He had collapsed under the weight of expectations as the Dallas Mavericks eliminated the Miami Heat in the Finals, and his insecurities came pouring out. "All the people that was rooting on me to fail," James said, "at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today."

Laugh at me now, James seemed to tell his critics. You still have to go back to your crummy jobs, your crummy lives. I'm still better than you.

LeBron James is making his third trip to the NBA Finals. (Reuters)

One longtime NBA official, watching the venom spill out of LeBron's mouth that night, shook his head and said what many in the room thought: "He'll never get it."

Now, maybe LeBron does get it. Exactly one year has passed from the end of last season's failure to the start of these Finals, and the 12 months in between have been a journey of introspection. He's a different player, a different person. His focus is sharper. His priorities have changed.

"I played too much to prove people wrong last year," James said.

This, more than any other reason, is why James can finally deliver his first championship. He's changed and so can his Heat. The Oklahoma City Thunder are younger, faster, deeper, more athletic. They've fallen in line behind Kevin Durant and they have home-court advantage. But if James plays with the fury he brought to the Eastern Conference finals? Anything is possible.

For much of the world, James' reconstruction won't be complete until he wins a title. This is his third trip to the Finals in nine seasons. A closet full of MVP trophies is nice, but you can play the role of Buffalo Bills for only so long before even Nike begins to wonder why it's paying you $100 million. These Finals are one more opportunity for LeBron to fulfill his mandate.

"I'm sure he will try to seize it a little bit better than he did the first two times," Wade said.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--lebron-james-returns-to-nba-finals-with-purpose-and-poise.html;_ylt=Apx6OYlsla7Oa5GrFmLccmq8vLYF

Saturday, May 12, 2012

NBA News 2012: LeBron James is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player

NBA player LeBron James answers questions during a press conference after a preseason practice session Sept. 28, 2010, at the Aderholt Fitness Center at Hurlburt Field, Fla. The Miami Heat used the fitness center for their week-long training camp. James is a forward for the Heat. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
All apologies for making this so stupidly simple, but this truly is a simple award. You give the Most Valuable Player award to the player that has played the best basketball during the regular season, and LeBron James clearly played the best basketball of any player in the NBA this year. This is why, according to the Associated Press, he will be awarded the MVP trophy on Saturday. Gotta get it in before the Indiana Pacers sweep LeBron's Miami Heat out of the playoffs, y'know.

To consider any other candidate was to be charitable to that runner-up at best. Other NBA players have had MVP-level seasons in terms of production, and there certainly have been several players this season that have been just about invaluable to their respective franchises, but James was so far and away the best player in the NBA that even L.B.J. fatigue -- James has won the award three times in four years -- couldn't sway the vote.

James averaged 27.1 points this season on just 18.9 shot attempts a game, which is nearly (by .1 of a shot) a career-low. To put that in perspective, Kevin Durant averaged 28 points on 19.7 shots a night, and Kobe Bryant managed 27.9 on 23 shots a contest — and we don't want to hear about Heat helpers in comparison to teams that feature Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. James also contributed 14.1 rebounds/assists and 2.7 steals/blocks, numbers that far outpace his contemporaries in whatever the hell position James plays these days.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/lebron-james-nba-most-valuable-player-033257767.html;_ylt=Agkqkyow8RZYr8MCnS9RVSm8vLYF

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