What ACTUALLY makes LeBron great

To start — I’m a Warriors fan and I don’t really like Lebron. Now that that is out of the way…

As the world embarks on Warriors vs. Cavs part III, the hype reaches feverish levels amongst sports media and for those of us who’ve been fortunate enough to have a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. I’m sure the casual fan is as potentially excited, but the reality is probably closer to a feeling of “well at least we are finally here.” Sports has always been a welcomed, and well-exploited, diversion for the everyday person. And while we still love that diversion, today’s immediate-gratification digital information delivery services have created greater voids that are inevitably filled with tiring hyperbole of irrelevant storylines only meant to serve as click-bait vehicles to drive ad dollars. One example: the new, and constant, narrative asking whether LeBron is about to pass Michael Jordan as the greatest basketball ever.

Short answer: He’s not. At least I don’t think so.

It’s obviously not that simple. Trying to address that question head-on in some sort of an apples-to-apples scenario is also quite illogical. While it seems that they can be directly compared, and that basketball is a sport where those direct comparisons actually work (think: comparing linebacker to QB, pitcher to outfielder), they can not be.

If they could then why isn’t Bill Russell the GOAT? He has 11 rings, 5 MVP’s, is a 12 time all star, and player-coached the Celtics — winning a championship as such. When’s the last time you heard someone comparing him to Jordan? You haven’t — at least not seriously. Why? I’m sure there are a number of reasons and all of those reasons are the same for why we shouldn’t be debating the same with LeBron vs MJ now.

But none of this is to say that LeBron isn’t great. He is. He’ll go down in rarefied air as a mythical NBA legend that serves as a benchmark for future generations. His stats will largely drive the discussion of his greatness, but when you get that high on the ladder stats are more like admittance into the theater, but which seat you get is driven by other, more subjective themes.

And so, let’s look at what actually makes LeBron great…

July 8, 2010 — ‘The Decision’. After it happened (James announcing he was leaving for Miami) it was pretty apparent that no one liked the way he did it. But what we learned from that moment had so much more to do with what he announced, instead of how he did it. LeBron was born and raised in Akron, Ohio — 40 miles from Cleveland. He went to high school in Akron and jumped to the NBA from there. In some master stroke of what had to be divine purpose, the Cleveland Cavaliers had the first pick in the draft and spent it on what was considered to be a ‘once-in-a-generation’ player…who was also the hometown kid.

The Cavs sucked — hence having the first pick. The year before ‘The Draft’ they won 17 games. The next four years?

’03-’04: 35

’04-’05: 42

’05-’06: 50

’06-’07: 50

The 2006–2007 season saw the Cavs in the NBA finals. And even though they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs, everything was on the rise…right? Wrong.

The next season Cleveland only won 45 games and lost in the second round of the playoffs.

James & Co. got back on track the next two years with their highest win totals yet:

’08-’09: 66

’09-’10: 61

But despite the increase in wins, and a slightly improved roster, they didn’t make it back to the finals. Shortly after their 2010 second-round playoff exit, LeBron decided to get everyone on cable TV and say sayonara.

And this is why LeBron is actually great: His off-court vision.

First Example: Leaving Cleveland

The hometown hero. Going to the playoffs every year. Monster on the court — winning back-to-back MVP’s before leaving. LeBron had so much in his favor as he tried to achieve greatness. So then — why leave Cleveland? Because he needed more help to win the big one. Wait…why not recruit Wade and Bosh to join him in the ‘Land? Well for one, Dwayne had won a title in Miami and probably didn’t want to leave, but it was more than just grabbing a couple other top players. The Cavs weren’t an organization ready to win a title. They hadn’t been there before.

Miami on the other hand, was that type of organization. To start, they had Pat Riley as team president. Riley had been a part of championship teams as a player, coach and executive. Not a single person in the Cavalier organization could relate. Wade had proven himself as a star and already carried Miami to the ’06 title winning the finals MVP.

The market was different too. Convincing big names to come to Cleveland was probably a tough task. Getting them to come to the sun and sand of South Beach? A lot easier. And they proved that. It was an organization and a location that had the potential to give LeBron what he needed to elevate his career success.

Many have speculated that LeBron was also tired of having to carry the load by himself. In a town he grew up in, that drafted him to be their savior — it isn’t far fetched to think someone would get tired of having all the pressure in the world to deliver a championship that the organization wasn’t able to help James deliver.

He must’ve known they would hate him for leaving. Friends, family, admirers — he had to know that they would feel betrayed and that he would be left with the pain of being the betrayer. But every time he stepped outside of those court lines, he could see that he wasn’t going to reach that summit with what surrounded him. And I’m sure it didn’t take much for him to see that Miami offered him the chance to reach that pinnacle and not have to do it by himself.

We know what happened: 2 titles in 4 years. He reached the summit. He cracked the code. He joined the club. His move worked. His off-court vision allowed him to get that first ring (and another). But then his monster numbers weren’t enough. And when he started to look around and see that the situation he had sought out had begun to change, it was then he knew that off-court vision was needed again…

Second Example: Returning to Cleveland

Heading back to their fourth finals appearance in as many years, the Heat were primed to continue their winning ways and fulfill LeBron’s prediction of winning “not 1, not 2, not 3….” Unfortunately for that ridiculous moment of hubris, the Spurs handled the Heat. Anyone watching could tell that the Heat were a team on the decline. Wade and Bosh weren’t playing at levels to support LeBron and Mario Chalmers was their best hope off the bench…which is saying something.

More so, San Antonio was a complete team with young pieces that were performing at high levels. No doubt LeBron noticed that. Free agency rolled around and he assessed his situation. He maybe wins another title with his current team, but it probably wouldn’t be more than that without making some major changes. Miami had all their money tied up in the current roster and it would take a lot to replace current guys with a team ready to compete for another championship. So LeBron did what he does best when in a declining situation: look elsewhere.

While Lebron was gone Cleveland went back to suck-town. They won an average of 24 games during the 4 years LeBron was on the beach. That netted them the first pick in two different drafts. First they got Kyrie Irving, who immediately became a star. The second one was awarded to Cleveland at the exact time LeBron was trying determine his next move.

This is the part where LeBron really started to think about his long-term legacy. Leaving Cleveland left a black mark on his record. It enabled him to win titles, sure, but it also would forever be held against him. Unless of course, he came home and made things right.

LeBron returned to Cleveland for the following reasons:

• They played in the Eastern Conference. Going to the West meant LeBron wouldn’t be going to the finals every year.
• Kyrie Irving. Young, talented, confident — everything LeBron needed to help bear the load.
• Andrew Wiggins. 1st overall draft pick of 2014. LeBron knew he was a trade-able chip and intended to use him as such.
• Dan Gilbert. The Cavs owner who had slammed LeBron when he left. Lebron would need leverage over the person signing contracts and he’d have it with ‘ol Dan.
• To say “I tried.” Who would really fault him if he came back and didn’t win a championship? He’d be a hero for coming back without the pressure that existed his first 7 years.

So he came back. And boy were they happy.

LeBron went to work constructing his team of the future. Despite rumors that Cleveland was trying to land Minnesota’s Kevin Love, it was James coming in and demanding better pieces that sent Wiggins to MN and brought in Love. LeBron didn’t have time to wait for Wiggins to develop so he was gonzo. LeBron also orchestrated the signings of Shawn Marion, Mike Miller, and James Jones — the latter two having played with LeBron in Miami, and pushed the mid-season trade for Iman Shumpert and JR Smith as well.

LeBron had his team and carried them to the 2015 Finals. He ran up against the Warriors and fell short. It was no secret that injuries to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love dealt a fatal blow to LeBron’s chances of an immediate Cavalier championship. He played like a beast though and proved why his off-court vision makes the difference. No matter how great his numbers he wasn’t going to win with guys like Delladova, Mozgov, Smith and Shumpert surrounding him.

Third Example: Improving the Machine

The ’15-’16 season didn’t come with a ton of changes, but there were some that further proved LeBron’s continued focus on improving what he saw around him. The most notable was the firing of head coach David Blatt. In only his second season as coach, after taking the Cavs to the finals in ’15 and having the best record midway through the ’15-’16 season, the Cavs let him go citing “a lack of fit with our personnel and our vision.” Meaning it was a lack of fit with LeBron and his vision. Despite “sources” saying James wasn’t consulted, anyone with half a brain knows that LeBron liked Tyronn Lue more (he went from assistant to head coach) and didn’t like Blatt. It was the right move too. But lets not be foolish in thinking LeBron wasn’t exerting his greatness in this situation as well.

With Lue at the helm the Cavs went to the Finals again and managed to come back from 3–1 down to the Warriors and win Cleveland’s first championship. LeBron played out of his mind and got the help he needed from Kyrie, just like he did from Wade, to help seal the deal.

He also managed to get Draymond Green suspended for game 5 which probably cost the Warriors the title. To be fair, Draymond was only suspended because of all the other flagrant fouls he’d accumluated, but LeBron stepped over him while he was on the ground — a punk move that anyone would take exception to. Unfortunately for Draymond, the swipe he took at LeBron when it happened was near his crotch. Draymond had given a few other groin shots during those playoffs so the league had no problem assigning intent and suspending him. LeBron made sure his press conferences pushed the narrative of Green’s transgression to seal the deal.

The Warriors lose to the Caves and promptly turn around and add Kevin Durant. Midway through the ’16-’17 LeBron starts criticizing the Cavs front office because he feels the team is too “top-heavy” and he wanted more depth. He could see that they weren’t going to compete with the upgraded Warriors even though they were defending champs. Cleveland, having to respond to the guy in charge, went out and signed Kyle Korver, Deron Williams, and Andrew Bogut (who was injured immediately in his first game as a Cav).

How much does a lineup with 5 all-stars cost you? $127 million. Which is not only tops in the league but also $11 million more than the next team. LeBron came back to Cleveland knowing it’d be the place where he’d call the shots and he’s proved that by having the Cavs organization shell out to keep up with his vision. Now they are back in the Finals and performing at high levels in their return.

LeBron changed the game. He was the first one who leveraged his skill and influence to manufacture the right environment in order to win championships. And he’s done it multiple times in multiple ways. The intelligence it takes to do that makes him one of the greatest players to ever be in the league. Kevin Durant has picked up on this too. No longer can a great player sit in a city ill-equipped to help him win a title and think it’ll be different. LeBron showed it takes ‘off-court’ vision to become an all-time great now.