by Ryan Isley
If the Mayans were correct and the world will be coming to an end in December of 2012, the stars couldn’t have aligned more perfectly for LeBron James to capture his first career NBA championship in the league’s final year of existence.
It started with the NBA lockout shortening the season to 66 games. For some reason, people seemed to believe that the labor situation and the loss of games favored LeBron and the Miami Heat in the long run.
When Dwayne Wade was forced to miss games due to injury, LeBron was able to take over as the leader of the Heat and led the team to a 12-1 record in games that he played but Wade did not. It was like LeBron was able to revert back to his days in Cleveland where the team was depending on him and him alone to lead them to victory. It’s a role LeBron is comfortable in – at least during the regular season.
Wade being out and LeBron turning into the front man for the Heat turned LeBron into the favorite to win his third NBA MVP award when the hardware is handed out later in these playoffs.
When players around the Eastern Conference started going down due to injury, the Heat’s path just kept getting easier and easier.
It started when Dwight Howard announced that he would have season-ending back surgery and would not be available for the Orlando Magic in the playoffs. While most did not consider the Magic as a threat to the Heat because of the drama between Howard and head coach Stan Van Gundy, the Magic would have been a viable opponent if they could have put that all behind them and played the way in which they were capable.
Then it was defending NBA MVP Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls who went down with a season-ending injury. Rose, who missed 27 games during the regular season due to different injuries, tore his ACL in the Bulls’ opening game of the first round against the Atlanta Hawks. Even with Rose limited during the regular season, the Bulls were able to earn the top seed in the Eastern Conference and looked like the natural opponent for the Heat in the conference finals. Without Rose, the Bulls were beaten in game two by 17 points.
As if those two players being out weren’t enough, the New York Knicks are now without Amar’e Stoudemire. After the Heat beat the Knicks in game two of their first round series to take a 2-0 lead in the series, Stoudemire took out his frustration on the fire extinguisher housing at American Airlines Arena in Miami. He will be out at least for game three and likely for the remainder of the series.
Add in Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics being game-to-game with an injury and missing the first two games of their series against the Atlanta Hawks and the injury bug has torn through the Eastern Conference like Ron Artest tears through psychiatric medication.
While all of this drama has unfolded, the Heat have quietly dismantled the Knicks in their first two games while each other series in the Eastern Conference was split 1-1 after two games.
Looking at the Western Conference, it is going to be a tougher road for whichever team survives the first three rounds of the playoffs and advances to the NBA Finals.
There are four teams in the Western Conference that people seem to think could end up making it to the NBA Finals – the San Antonio Spurs, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies. Add to that list the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers and the Western Conference seems to be deeper and more competitive than the Eastern Conference. What that means is that whichever team comes out of the Western Conference will have to fight in each round to advance.
When all the pieces and parts are put together, it certainly looks like the Heat have as easy of a path to a championship as a team can find. And that could be a bad thing for the Heat, especially LeBron.
On one hand, if the Heat fail to run the table and lift the Larry O’Brien trophy when the playoffs are over, critics will continue to hammer LeBron about not being able to get it done in the playoffs. He will again be looked at as a great regular season player who disappears when the chips are on the table.
I have a feeling that even if LeBron puts up a great statistical run in the playoffs – he is averaging 25.5 points, 6 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 56.3% in the first two games – people will still find a way to place blame on the 27-year-old’s shoulders. It is something that he will have to deal with until he finally gets that trophy in his hands and a ring on his finger.
But will winning it this season do anything to change those perceptions that LeBron doesn’t have what it takes to win? Remember – the Heat have one of the easiest runs through the playoffs in recent memory.
A win when the team has an easy road through the playoffs will allow the critics to still question LeBron and his mental fortitude because they will just say that he wasn’t really challenged. They will continue to point back to the 2011 NBA Finals when he scored just 17.8 points per game on 47.8% shooting. They will also try to refocus our attention back to the 2010 playoffs when it looked like LeBron quit on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
No matter what LeBron does in the playoffs, there will be people who look at the Heat and give credit to Wade, who already has a title. It will not mean anything to some even if LeBron plays circles around Wade in the playoffs or in the NBA Finals – it will always be Wade’s team to some and all credit will go to the player who has been with the Heat since 2003.
This of course is the price LeBron knew he would have to pay when he chose to follow Wade to Miami instead of staying in Cleveland or going to New York when he made “The Decision” public on July 8, 2010. He knew that by joining forces with Wade and Chris Bosh that the road would never be easy when it came to the critics – and to a point, it has been a fair criticism.
But will it really be fair if LeBron leads the Heat to a championship that people will still try and tear him apart and over analyze every single possession of every single game? This is what will happen if the Heat win the championship or if the Heat somehow fail to take home the title this season.
So for LeBron in the 2012 playoffs, it looks like he is damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. If that’s the case, he may as well go out and win the title – it’s always easier to answer critics when you can flash the jewelry.
What do you think – Should LeBron finally get some slack if the Heat win it all or will it not matter because of the road taken? Leave a comment or email Ryan at ryan@morethanafan.net