Yesterday was another morning after for LeBron James.
The morning after James played the entire second half, defended every position on the floor except center and collected 28 points, nine rebounds, six steals and five assists, doing all he could to pick up the slack for missing All-Star teammate Chris Bosh and struggling superstar teammate Dwyane Wade, who missed 14 shots, including a potential go-ahead layup in the final minute.
It was also the morning after James missed five free throws, including three that could have tied the game down the stretch; bricked four 3-pointers; and attempted one shot in the final 3 1/2 minutes, a driving layup that was blocked by Paul George.
The moaning and mourning over another big loss by the Miami Heat was dropped squarely on the shoulders of James by countless critics who often overlook that when you do a lot of heavy lifting, you’re going to get tired.
What does it mean? In the grand scheme of things, nothing. It’s Game 2 of a second-round series. One game.
Since joining Wade and Bosh with the Heat two summers ago, James has established his own, grander referendum: If he wants to quiet the critics, he’s going to have to win a title. And that is still very much within reach this season, one game notwithstanding.
“The game is not lost or won with two free throws,” James said afterward. “But I definitely want to come through for my teammates. So I’ll get an opportunity again. I know I’ll be at the line again in that situation.”
And the critics will be watching again, waiting for James to fail so they can pile on the game’s best player and remind everyone that he still has no championship rings.
Fair or not, that is what has to be said.
A season that ranks among the best in NBA history? Meaningless.
Three MVPs in four years? Nobody cares.
Leading two different teams to the Finals? Win one, already.
In a historical sense, the player to whom James is most often compared is Michael Jordan. Both are wing players who spent the early portion of their careers dominating statistically and psychologically at both ends of the floor. Both captivated fans with their highlight-reel style of play that transformed them into corporate entities. Both lifted otherwise ordinary teams to unexpected heights that stopped short of the pinnacle.
But Jordan finally broke through and won a championship in his seventh year, when he was 28. Now in his ninth season, James, 27, is still in search of a title. And while climbing the mountain, Jordan was universally adored. He never experienced the vitriol that has been thrown at James over the last couple of years.
Yes, James certainly brought some of that upon himself. Predicting multiple championships will do that to you, especially in the age of instant media. And his disappearing acts in the last two postseasons – the first in Cleveland, the second in Miami – have undone all of his previous playoff work, which is considerable.
In those respects, James is much less like Jordan and much more like Wilt Chamberlain.
Like James, Chamberlain entered the NBA to much fanfare, having already been on the covers of magazines such as Time, Life and Newsweek before turning 21. James had graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, so the hype machine already was well-oiled.
Like James, Chamberlain was an imposing specimen at his position. At 7-1, he was much bigger and stronger than anyone else. That provided his detractors with the argument that he should be as good as he was.
Like James, Chamberlain had extraordinary physical gifts that others at his position simply did not have. He was a high school track star specializing in sprints and high jumps, attributes that often made him seem superhuman when compared to other players.
Like James, Chamberlain needed virtually no time adapt to the NBA. His dominance and status among the heirarchy of players was immediate. Like James, he was the Rookie of the Year. (Unlike James, he also was MVP.)
Like James, Chamberlain’s individual stats rank among the best of all time. As George Gervin once said, “Wilt is the record book.”While James’ basic numbers are not anywhere near as transcendent, he has three of the top 10 single-season PER scores, perhaps the best stat for comparing players across eras. This season, he finished at 30.74 – which ranks 10th all-time – after threatening Chamberlain’s all-time mark of 31.84.
Like James, Chamberlain singlehandedly lifted an ordinary team into the NBA Finals in his fifth season, 
only to lose to a more battle-tested club. In 1963-64, the San Francisco Warriors reached the championship round but lost to Boston, much like Cleveland did in losing to San Antonio in the 2006-07 campaign.
Like James, Chamberlain won three MVPs in the prime of his career, claiming three in a row from 1966-68, his seventh, eighth and ninth NBA seasons. James has won three in four years, in his sixth, eighth and ninth seasons.
Like James, Chamberlain changed teams after being unable to win a title. He was traded from San Francisco to Philadelphia in a deal that included a huge sum of money at the time and was one of the most lopsided in NBA history. Remember, James actually was traded to Miami for a huge cap slot and four draft picks, another one-sided swap.
Like James, Chamberlain botched a golden opportunity to use the media to change public perception about him. In 1965, he gave an interview to Sports Illustrated called “My Life In A Bush League” that made him seem self-important and only hurt his image. James encountered the same reaction in the aftermath of “The Decision,” a self-serving PR exercise.
Like James, Chamberlain received harsh criticism for disappearing in the postseason. Most prominent were Game 7 of the 1968 East Division finals vs. Boston, in which he did not shoot in the second half of a 100-96 home loss, and Game 7 of the 1969 Finals vs. Boston, in which he sat out the last six minutes with a knee injury of debatable degree.
And like James, Chamberlain was cast as a villain and never received the unbridled adulation afforded to lesser contemporaries such as Jerry West and Willis Reed. As his coach Alex Hannum once said, “Nobody likes Goliath.” In one of his commercials, James acknowledges his role as a villain and even asks if he should embrace it.
This comparison won’t convert any of the haters. Only James has the ability to do that.
And it wasn’t meant to declare James the equal of Chamberlain, who simply has no equal in the game’s lore.
It was meant to draw a parallel between two players whose reputations – fair or not – have obscured our ability to truly appreciate their obvious greatness.
After all, isn’t that the reason why we watch?
Chris Bernucca is a regular contributor to SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear every Wednesday and Sunday. You can follow him on Twitter.
Good article. Hadn’t thought of it until you mentioned it.
Absolutely perfect. I just did a post mentioning how everything is always LeBron’s fault and you proved me correct. Also, looking at most of these comments you can see just how much the public dislikes the guy just from an article. Pathetic how most of these comments are negative. Great read in my opinion. Let the haters hate.
I have no problem people doubting Lebron’s ability to take over at the end of games like Kobe used too and like MJ did. And The Decision didn’t make me hate him, I wasn’t mad that he spurned my Bulls, or that he left Cleveland (face it, we would all want to leave Cleveland); my problem with Lebron is one key statement he made on why he want to Miami. He said because playing with Wade and Bosh would take some of the end of game pressure off of him. True NBA Killers like MJ and Kobe, players who want to put 40 on you and then dunk over your wife and kids and talk trash while doing it, want that pressure. They want to be the guys who everyone else relies on, that gets that shot at the end. Until Lebron starts telling Spolstra and Wade that at the end of the 4th quarter the ball is mine and you will react to what I do he deserves some of the criticism that he receives.
But I also agree mostly with you, Chris. He doesn’t deserve most of the criticism he gets. This is a guy that took the Cavs to the Finals, and no matter what anyone says that Cavs team sucked. A guy who once scored 30 straight points against a far superior team and defensive powerhouse of the Pistons to lead his team to a key playoff victory. A guy who when Wade doesn’t play is unstoppable. How about we rip Wade, who is no longer an all-star if not for the presence of Lebron on his team (think Monta Ellis, will still put up numbers but will not lead his team to the playoffs). How about we rip Riley for still failing to surround Lebron with the kind of role players he needs around him. Miller, Battier, and Jones all play the same position. Haslem and Anthony are undersized at their positions. Chalmers and Cole are not good enough at the PG position. It is so easy to rip on Lebron, but he is the least of the Heat problems.
Finally, I don’t understand the criticism of his character of the court. I find him fairly likeable, a guy who has never gotten in trouble with the law, who tries to say the right thing, a guy who respects the game. Yes, the decision was stupid; as was the pre-championship championship celebration in Miami, but if those are the worst things Lebron has done as a person I can look past those instances. With my Bulls out of the playoffs I find myself rooting for Lebron, not the Heat, but Lebron. And when, if, he wins I will be happy for him.
You forgot to note his quitting in Game 5 against the Celtics. If you don’t want to call it quitting simply soften it to “he stopped trying.” Then last year, right before the Finals, he lashed out at his former team by saying he wanted to be around players who “don’t die in the moment” When Boobie Gibson called him out, saying – essentially – that LeBron was the one who “died in the moment” LeBron shut up and played gutlessly in the 4th quarters of the Finals. Now apologists are saying how “exhausted” he was in Game 3. Give me a break. He didn’t show up in the second half yesterday, but now it’s become so commonplace that it is overlooked or explained away by saying how great he was in the regular season. The bar has gotten awfully low for the psychologically fragile, 3-time MVP and self-promoted Chosen One. Which is why he is called “LeFraud” by most who watched him for seven years in Cleveland.
I’m guessing you are a Cleveland fan, so you know the situation while he was there much better than me (honestly, I’m not being sarcastic). But if this is truly how Cavs fans felt while he was there shouldn’t Cavs fans be happy he left? I did not hear any of this criticism of Lebron while he was in Cleveland until game 5, and then when he left. So, if you can honestly tell me you wouldn’t welcome him back with open arms to the Cavs, I can understand where you are coming from even though I disagree. But deep down, if 1% of you still wants him back, it shows how unfair Lebron gets it compared to 2nd tier stars of the NBA.
Also, I know I’m in the minority when it comes to this, I still don’t think he ‘quit’ in game 5. Why can’t it just be that he played bad? That he didn’t have it that night? Coaches all the time talk about shots not falling, the energy not being there, or about poor decisions players make. When these things happen I don’t think it is because players are quitting, sometimes they just don’t have it. There have only been 2 players in my lifetime who have consistently ‘had it’ when it has mattered the most; MJ and Kobe. Lebron is definitely no MJ or Kobe, but that doesn’t make him a fraud, gutless, or a quitter; it just means he is not as tough as the best player ever, and arguably one of top 5 players of all time.
You should go back and look at the tape of Game 5. I was standing about 30 feet from the Cavs bench and he undoubtedly stopped trying (if you don’t want to call that quitting I guess you can) and just about everyone in the place knew he stopped trying to compete. He needs to acknowledge that he colluded with Bosh and Wade to play together and that he gave up in Game 5. Tell the truth and shame the devil – then he can come back with his tail between his legs
Um, Wilt did win 2 championships.
Yes, he did. There are certainly some differences between them, not the least of which was Wilt was truly a giant and LeBron is only a giant in public stature. However, the criticism of Wilt continued after he won his first (and even second) championship and IMO was mostly unfair, which is how I feel the criticism of LeBron is – mostly unfair. I am not a huge LeBron guy but he is a great, great player. Thanks for reading.
This article is pathetic.Since he was 15 James has received more absolute adoration that any sports figure ever. I covered him for his seven years with the Cavaliers and he was treated with such adulation that it was downright sickening. But since he quit against the Celtics in Game 5 in 2010 and absolutely choked in last year’s Finals he’s taking well-deserved heat – and he can’t handle it. Now the sycophants at ESPN and James apologists all over the sports world are treating him like a tragic victim. This is classic Orwellian “Up is Down” If you looked at all the articles ever written about him you would find a 500-to-one ratio of positive vs. negative. Now it’s fashionable to put another spin on the story. What a joke
I am pretty sure that the reason so many people dislike LeBron James is because he is an insufferable, self-entitled, and insanely narcissistic douchebag.
Just to clarify, he predicted not 1, not 2, not 3, etc…
He is right on target, I don’t see why people hate him for knowing the future.