The LeBron Standard

LeBron James is the greatest basketball player in the world. As of June 2012, it's not even close.

Kevin Durant can score as well as (and most likely better than) LeBron, but he cannot match James' ability to create for his teammates nor his defensive intensity.

As Malcom Gladwell put it, Kobe Bryant's ideal teammate is a ball boy. Plus, he is old. (Though I will argue that even in his prime, Kobe was not ever the impactful force that LeBron is.)

Dwayne Wade has lost a lot of stock in my eyes. To me, it feels like Wade has decided that, since he is on the same team as the best player in the world, he can assume the role of the guy who can score, play no defense, and get the ball in the clutch. (His last-shot efforts in the Celtics series were dreadful. Turrible.) I cannot fail to mention his sudden penchant for cheapshots and taking guys out. He has been inconsistent during the playoffs and at times it has felt like the Heat have won in spite of Wade.
(Maybe all of those charges to the basket and trips the foul line have started to wear on Wade and is at least partial explanation for his shortcomings. To say the least, my opinion of him has soured as LeBron has willed the Heat into the Finals.)

I'll stop there as Dirk Nowitzki (old), Carmelo Anthony (don't make me laugh), Dwight Howard (does he even like playing basketball?), Chris Paul (needs a deep playoff run), Blake Griffin (52% free throw shooting this year), et al don't even belong in the discussion.

As the greatest player in the world, James is rightfully held to a different standard. We expect him to be great, and he has not disappointed. Look at the stats. Otherworldly. His per 48 minute Win Share of .233 essentially means that he has been responsible for one-quarter of his teams wins since he started playing in the NBA.

As the player who guaranteed a fistful of championships when he joined up with Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, he is held to even a completely different standard. In my opinion, the "Imperial March" through the NBA during the 2010-2011 season that culminated in a Finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks was enough of a penance for LeBron. He disappeared in many of the 4th quarters during that Finals and he felt the wrath of the media and fans alike. As the greatest player in the world, there was a lot of deserved criticism thrown James' way.

When a player fails, he is the first to know it. When a last second shot leaves the finger tips, the best players in the world can likely tell if that shot is going to go or not. The greatest player is hard on himself and constantly trying to improve. The greatest player understands that there will be criticism. The elite can move on from mistakes. When the Celtics and Lakers met up in '84, it was Magic Johnson's inability to get over a crunch-time mistake (combined with Kevin McHale leveling Kurt Rambis in Game 4) that turned the tide of that series. Magic learned to move on and his clutch "junior junior" hook in the Celtics/Lakers Finals of 1987 is the lasting memory from that Lakers' triumph.

It is very possible that LeBron James has learned his lesson. (First off, I need to say that the whole idea of the necessity of a the elite teams posessing a "closer" is one of the more overblown and annoying fads currently infecting the NBA. It probably will never go away.) With that said, LeBron has dominated this postseason. Based on his league best 30.8 points-per-game during the playoffs, you could argue that, coupled with Dwayne Wade's inconsistent play and the abdominal injury to Chris Bosh early in the Indiana series, that LeBron has carried the Heat into the finals. And I thought he left Cleveland because he no longer wanted to do that.

Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals was an all-time performance. The series was over once LeBron had scored 30 points in the first half. At that point, I just got the feeling that Boston had landed their last punch in Game 5--they would not recover from LeBron's first-half domination. Though they made it interesting for 3 quarters in Game 7, the writing was on the wall: the Heat would be back in the Finals. LeBron and the Heat put the series, and likely the Big Three/Four in Boston, away for good during that Game 7 fourth quarter.

Few players are able to cite a performance during their career to match what LeBron did in Game 6. He put Boston away. He didn't need 4th quarter theatrics, he only needed two quarters to say enough was enough. That's impressive. While I love a dramatic fourth quarter as much as any fan, nothing is more humbling as a fan as to watch one player on the other team put the team you cheer for away before the first half had even wrapped up. Though it will likely be forgotten due to the Lebron Standard, James' performance in Game 6 was one of the greatest individual performances in playoff history.

As it stands now, the Heat are up 2-1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. Through 3 games, James has been on fire. He has gone to the free throw line 217 times, which is a little over 10 times a game. Clearly, he hasn't been settling for jumpers. He has played like a man on a mission. In his post-game interview with Doris Burke following Game 3, LeBron spoke like a player who had just played a hard 43 minutes. Winning it all could temper the criticism for an offseason, but unfortunately for LeBron, anything short of winning it all next year will be just the crack in the door the critics need to start all over again.