October 21, 2020
Page 5
S PORTS
LaBron James: How Legends are Defined
LaBron James:
How Legends
are Defined
(AP) — He went to Miami and
became a champion.
He went back to Cleveland and
won another title.
He went to Los Angeles and
now the Lakers are back atop the
basketball world.
LeBron James, love him or
hate him, is in his own category
now. He has led three franchises
to NBA titles, something nobody
has ever done. His legacy was
complete long before the Los An-
geles Lakers became NBA cham-
pions for the 17th time by beating
the Miami Heat and winning the
title to cap a season like none oth-
er, in a bubble like none other.
But that legacy is just a bit
shinier now.
He’s got four titles. He’s a four-
time NBA Finals MVP, the second
to win that many. He’s done it all
with the NBA’s biggest target on
his back, with every action and
every word scrutinized and often
Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James reacts during the first half
in Game 6 of basketball’s NBA Finals against the Miami Heat
Sunday, Oct. 11, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP photo)
criticized.
James has become the epitome
of the independent superstar ath-
lete, something many try to be but
few even have a chance of pulling
off. He does whatever he wants,
whenever he wants, however he
wants and makes it work. Bill
Russell will forever have more
rings and Michael Jordan will for-
ever be the choice of many as the
NBA’s greatest player. And that’s
OK with James, who has forged
his own path.
“The game of basketball will
pass me by,” James said as the ti-
tle loomed. “There will be a new
group of young kids and vets and
rookies throughout the course of
this game. So, I can’t worry about
that as far as on the floor. How I
move, how I walk, what I preach,
what I talk about, how I inspire the
next generation is what matters to
me the most.”
He’s never forgotten that he
was once a broke kid from Ak-
ron, Ohio. If he’s not a billionaire
yet, he’s trending that way. He’s
on a Wheaties box now, saying
its unveiling last week was “one
of the best moments of my life.”
He founded a school and stays
involved with matters there. He’s
actively trying to get more people,
particularly Black people, to vote
than ever before.
“I just hope I make my guys
proud and that’s all that mattered
to me,” James said. “I make my
guys proud, make the fan base
proud, my family back home,
I can’t wait to get back home to
them. Akron, Ohio, we did it again
— and that’s what it’s all about.”
Oh, if that wasn’t enough, he
delivered a championship to a
Lakers franchise that went 10
years without one and did so in
a year when they needed it most,
letting them cry tears of joy after
all the tears of anguish that fol-
lowed the death of Kobe Bryant in
a helicopter crash in January.
“I think it’s remarkable what
LeBron is still doing at his age,”
Denver coach Michael Malone
said of James. “The minutes he’s
playing, how effective he is on
both ends of the floor, and the
impact he has on both ends of the
floor, his will to win is just incred-
ible.”
The 35-year-old James finished
this postseason with 580 points;
no one at his age had ever done
that. He had 184 assists; no one
at his age had ever done that. If
he’s slowing down, he’s not show-
ing it; he had 32 points in his first
playoff game 14 years ago, he ex-
ceeded that six times in this post-
season run.
James is 4,148 points behind
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the reg-
ular-season scoring lead, mean-
ing he’ll have to play at least two
more full seasons to reach that
mark. Sunday was his 260th career
playoff appearance, passing Der-
ek Fisher for the all-time record.
He was All-NBA for the 16th time
this season, a record. He started his
16th consecutive All-Star Game
this season, yet another record.