LeBron James Will Silence NBA Finals Critics: Unchecked

After LeBron James wins this championship with the Los Angeles Lakers, his NBA Finals record will no longer be able to be used against him.

LeBron James called Game 4 of the NBA Finals a must win and one of the most important games of his career. 

LeBron on a text he sent to the Lakers group chat calling tonight a must-win: “I felt like for me personally this was one of the biggest games of my career, and I just wanted to relay that message.”

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) October 7, 2020

He’s right in a sense, because he could not afford to lose this series. And he’s not going to. As a result, his NBA Finals record will no longer be able to be used against him.

I’ve always thought that was a stupid argument—the logic that it is better to lose before the Finals, than in them, makes no sense. It is also wild to spin carrying teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007 (at age 22) and 2018 (without Kyrie Irving) as a negative when it has already been shown those squads would have been lottery-bound without him. I’ll concede 2011, the lone blemish on his career, still, there’s no universe where making 9 out of 10, and 10 out of 17 NBA Finals should be anything but lauded.

LeBron in the playoffs all-time:

Wins: 1st
Points: 1st
Assists: 2nd
Steals: 1st
3PTs: 2nd pic.twitter.com/1xlqRJu4Uk

— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) October 5, 2020

Nevertheless, given the conversation he’s in, a loss to the Heat would have looked bad on his resume. Well, that’s not happening and the same people who have constantly pointed to 3-6 are now moving to attempt to discredit this bubble championship or bemoan his path as easy. (Mind you he plays in the West now.)

35 year old LeBron seems like he's having a subpar Finals for his standards and he's still averaging 28 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists on 54% FG and 36% 3PT and is up 3-1.

He's absolutely the Finals MVP.

— sreekar (@sreekyshooter) October 7, 2020

They know the deal and LeBron is about to seal it. He is 15-0 when his team is leading a series 3-1 after all. The story will eventually be about his dominance on the biggest stage, especially in recent years.

LeBron James' career averages in the NBA Finals:

✅ 28.2 PPG
✅ 10.1 RPG
✅ 7.8 APG

Besides James, only one other player has averaged at least 28p/10r/7a in even a *single* NBA Finals: Kevin Durant (2018).

Durant did so in a four-game sweep. James has done this over 53 games! pic.twitter.com/2kOf8oa0mF

— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) October 7, 2020

Because when LeBron James is done playing, there will be plenty of records to talk about. Irrationally focusing on his in the NBA Finals will no longer be amongst them.