APPRECIATING LEBRON'S GREATNESS

I hated LeBron when he left Cleveland to take his talents to South Beach. I have no issue with the career move but what I did not appreciate is how he made the
I think he took a shortcut to win it all despite his impressive skill set. I fondly remembered when I texted my friends regarding his move to join Wade and Bosh. Not surprisingly, they doubted it at first because it is unprecedented. They added that it would unfair to the rest of the NBA teams because Miami is sort of fielding "TEAM USA" out in the court. It was like stacking star players in one team in NBA2K.

Accurately, the 2011 to 2014 Miami Heat is the most scrutinized team in NBA History.

Fast Forward to the present, the 2x NBA champion LeBron is back in Cleveland. I love the reunion. His return was stroke of genius because he will be joining a team with a young core. He is joining forces with Kyrie and Kevin Love (Acquired through trade). However, this move does not sit well with his staunchest critics because it means he gives up easily when the circumstances are not favorable to him.

The start of the season started with a rough patch as expected from a newly formed team but still they ended up with the second seed in the Playoffs.

This year's NBA playoffs,we saw a different LeBron. Not the usual pass-first point forward we know about. He now isolates a lot and takes an unusual amount of shots akin to the field goal attempts of the Kobes and Iversons of the world.

What I like about the LeBron in his second stint with the Cavs is that his leadership has grown immensely. He leads now by example. He knows that Cleveland needs him to do it all because of the injuries to their key players.

Cavaliers were written-off in the Finals even before it began. The buzz grew bigger when Irving went down in Game 1 and still the Cavaliers still lead 2-1 at one point in the series.

I personally had Warriors win in 5 because I thought Isolation plays will not work against GSW's topnotch defense and that their ball movement and fast-paced offense will wear down the Cavaliers.
However, it turned out really different.

LeBron had monster videogame-like stats game after game. It made everyone think that the best player in the planet can beat the best NBA team alone. The Cavs had their version of Big 3 but in turned out, they only needed the Big 1 which is LBJ.

Before the start of the finals,  I thought If Cleveland somehow wins the series despite the team's growing list of injuries, it would erase LeBron's failures in the Finals.

As of this writing, the Warriors are now up 3-2. Regardless of the standing, there is an on-going debate whether LeBron should win the Finals MVP even if his team will lose. That is a testament of his unbelievable play.

Despite all the criticism regarding LeBron's penchant of joining superstar-laden teams, this Finals erases all doubts regarding his will to win. He embraces the challenge of taking a crippled team to the promise land. This is not what he envisioned when he returned back home. But his leadership has now helped his team reached a new level.

Just when you thought LeBron is already on the back end of his prime, he puts up this ridiculous monster stats. 5 straight NBA finals and he still has the stamina to bring a mediocre NBA team to the brink of the championship.

I still think the Warriors will be the 2015 NBA Champs. And I am still a big Kobe Fan but this Finals made me erase all my hatred against LeBron since he brought his talents to South Beach and just appreciate his own brand of greatness.

We are all just witnesses