Mind-blowing greatness should be appreciated, period.
Heavily worshipped in the media as a super spectacular basketball whiz since the final two seasons of his high school career, LeBron joined the pro ranks in the fall of 2003, just six months after the great Michael Jordan ended his career forever in a ghastly blue and white uniform. James immediately garnered immense praise for his singular brilliance; he was a breathtaking playmaker for the team that drafted him, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and a stunningly proficient scorer. As the years added up and his across the board statistical feats increased, he began to come under heavy scrutiny for not leading his team to a league title. He authored shockingly great games both in the regular season and postseason, but always fell short in leading his team to a championship.
The negative whispers grew louder.
LeBron's callously executed departure from the Cavs following another postseason loss in 2010 transformed him from beloved hoops hero to basketball outcast and villain. Instantly, he was the subject of enormous bitterness across the NBA and especially in Cleveland, where his exit quickly returned the Cavs to their pre-LeBron irrelevance. Once he joined forces with Heat megastar Dwyane Wade and the newly acquired star Chris Bosh, James was seen as a shameless opportunist who tried to short cut success. He was derided by the general public as well as former NBA greats, all of which added to his new villainous reputation. When Miami loss the 2011 NBA finals to the Dallas Mavericks, many people across the country cheered and celebrated LeBron's failure, especially since he was a non-factor in the fourth quarter of multiple games.
Fast forward to this season.
Several times during the 2012 NBA playoffs, the Miami Heat looked like they were on the verge of collapse and elimination. Many people seemed ready to cheer again for James to tumble further down the ladder of public perception. However, the 27-year old superstar found another gear and enormous inner strength and focus to rescue his team from disaster. Beginning in their second round series against Indiana, LeBron turned in historically dominant performances, something that carried over to the showdown with Boston in the conference finals. His resolve, resiliency and flat-out superiority proved to be at an all-time high and sent the message that this season, his 9th as a pro, was going to end differently.
Boy did it ever.
The delicious NBA finals match-up with the Thunder afforded basketball fans the chance to witness a marvelous rivalry-in-the-making between the league's two pre-eminent players; James and Kevin Durant. OKC was favored to win the series based on their dominance of three straight Western conference powerhouses as well as their young and awesome star-laden team. Durant and star guard Russell Westbrook were outstanding in the series, but James was in another galaxy with his all-around play. He dominated the rebounding, made countless pinpoint passes to teammates for easy baskets, hit huge shots and free throws himself in crunch time and repeatedly scored in the lane. All of that brilliance came as a result of LeBron operating from the low post, something he rarely did in the past, but was always capable of.
The result? LeBron's first title and the second in seven seasons for Miami.
Without question, another factor in the Heat's 2012 breakthrough was the bitter pain they endured collectively (and James in particular) after last season's meltdown. LeBron's historic dominance of these playoffs is worthy of extensive praise, no matter how much he screwed up his own reputation by being such an arrogant brat after leaving Cleveland. He reformed that aspect of his persona this season, at least publicly, and took an all business approach from Day one of this lockout shortened campaign. These are all contributing elements as to why he now sits as a once-in-a-lifetime player who is also an NBA champion.
And he did it the hard way.
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