So now what? Are we too busy complaining about the flaws to appreciate the diamond? If the Heat win the title, I can already feel the coming storyline: LeBron “learned” to deal with pressure because we held him accountable. The critics weren’t wrong, because critics are never wrong, according to critics.
The truth is that the sci-fi performance we saw Sunday has some precedents. You might think nobody has ever done this before. Guess what? LeBron has done this before. I know that doesn’t fit with the image of him in the fourth quarter, passing the ball to a teammate so he can use both hands to hold his teddy bear. But it’s true. In 2009, he had 41 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Orlando. He followed that up with 44-7-12 in Game 4, and 37-12-14 in Game 5. In Game 6 he only scored 25 as his team got eliminated … and the storyline was that he wasn’t a playoff performer. I wish I were making that up.
James averaged 35.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 7.3 assists and shot 51 percent from the floor in the 2009 playoffs, and in the public’s memory, he didn’t get it done when it counted.