THE other day I saw an interview of Lebron James saying he doesn’t care about his legacy on the court, and that he cares more about his legacy off it.
I had to do a double-take when I saw it. But I promptly called it a load of bull-crap and tweeted it @thelastround.
Then, of course, his team went on to lose to the Miami Heat on Saturday, and failed to clinch the championship in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
LEGACY. I don’t know which way you slice it, but James not caring about his on-court legacy is clearly disingenuous.
This is the guy who proclaimed himself as the greatest player of all -time. This is the player who a few years back declared he is chasing that ghost in Chicago (meaning Michael Jordan.)
This is a player who embraced himself as “The Chosen One, ” and calls himself the King.
This is the same Lebron whose transfer to the Miami Heat in 2010 was made the subject of an ESPN special called “The Decision.”
Of course, he cares about his legacy.
Nobody but his blind followers who hang on to his every word will believe this latest display of false-heartedness.
GAME 5. The Larry O Brien trophy had been brought in. Almost everybody had already written Miami out. Analysts were already talking about packing it in and how great the “Bubble” experience had been.
And of course, Lebron was dialed in.
He was already 5-out-of-7 from the three-point range in the third quarter. We know he can get streaky like that. Those nights do not come often, but when they do it doesn’t look good for the opposing team. We already know he’s almost unstoppable when he drives to the hoop. He’s impeccable as a court-general. But when he gets those long-range bombs going, he’s Thanos on steroids.
Jimmy Butler played like an MVP again giving his team another brilliant triple-double with 35 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Duncan Robinson, Miami’s designated sharpshooter came alive for the first time in the series, scorching the Lakers with 7-for-13 shooting from beyond the arc.
In the end, it all came down to a missed wide-open three from Danny Green on an assist from James and an error on the entry pass from Markieff Morris to Anthony Davis.
But the thing is, James played like the true superstar that he is. Like his legacy depended on it. How can he say he doesn’t care about it while at the same time, play like a man possessed?
GOAT. James knows he cares about his on-court legacy. There is no off-court legacy to speak of if he were not a basketball superstar. His stances against racial injustice and his charity work are tethered to his on-court greatness.
He needs to stop denying he is chasing Michael Jordan in the Greatest-of-all-time conversation. His strategy of trying to downplay it is a way to deflect some of the embarrassment in case he fails. He thinks he can always say, “Nah... I don’t really care too much about that championship.”
Stop it, Lebron. Embrace this. Go for the jugular. Win it or lose it and live with the consequences.
LAST ROUND. It’s on Francheska Marie Mamac who recently celebrated her birthday. Cheers!