Come at the king, you best not miss. Omar Little of HBO’s ‘The Wire’ delivered that memorable line, but it’s a quote the Golden State Warriors should have kept in mind before goading LeBron James into one of the best games of his career.
Draymond Green, destroyer of future family lineages, supposedly called LeBron a “b****” in Game 4. Klay Thompson followed that up by claiming James’ “feelings just got hurt” when he took exception, while Marreese Speights took a clear jab on Twitter by posting a baby bottle emoji.
There’s nothing wrong with trash talking. In fact, it makes everything more entertaining. But maybe don’t poke a sleeping giant, who also happens to be one of the best basketball players ever, and if you do, be prepared to back it up.
The Warriors’ bravado was only the icing on the cake though. LeBron has had to once again deal with the narrative that he shrinks on the grandest stage.
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— Marreese Speights (@Mospeights16) June 12, 2016
James’ career record in the Finals is likely to drop to 2-5, but you’re crazy if you believe that takes anything away from his greatness.
But narrative is a funny thing. Even when it misses the mark, it’s prevailing enough to shape opinions. Which is why it was so satisfying to see LeBron play the way he did in Game 5, essentially looking his naysayers and critics in the eye and producing an absolute masterful performance.
When you look at all the jaw-dropping efforts James has had in his career, few hold a candle to what he just did against a 73-win, historic Golden State squad in a hostile environment. As far as the moment, stakes and assertion of will, the performance most resembled the 45-point, 15-rebound epic in Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics.
That may be LeBron’s finest hour, individually speaking, and like Game 5 against the Warriors, it came when James was facing elimination.
It’s no coincidence that leading up to that outing four years ago, LeBron was pushed and pushed and pushed by a Celtics team that was led by Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce – two guys who have a knack for getting under your skin with constant trash talk.
What they ended up doing was pushing LeBron to another level as he went Super Saiyan and basically ended Boston’s Big Three run.
Golden State is in a much more favourable position, but they haven’t made it easy on themselves. The King still lives.
