James leads Cavaliers barrage into Game 7
Echoing the thoughts of 11-time NBA Champion Phil Jackson, you should never tug on the cape of Superman. In Games 5 and 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals, LeBron James showed exactly why you should never supply him with any added motivation.
Jackson, who witnessed Michael Jordan have his cape pulled plenty of times during his career, said after Game 2 that if the Cavaliers want any chance of winning this series, LeBron would have to take his game to the next level.
Similar to Michael Jordan in the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals, down 2–0 to the New York Knicks, Jordan heard the noise from the media. Critiquing his play, wondering why he was out at an Atlantic City casino after a loss.
“It did something to Michael Jordan,” Jackson said. “You learned something about pulling the cape of Superman. It’s not a good idea. He was a man possessed after that.”
The Bulls went on to dominate the rest of the series — winning the next four games in convincing fashion. Jordan finished the series averaging 32.2 points per game.
After the Cavaliers’ Game 2 loss, Jackson suggested that James was too passive in Games 1 and 2. He attempted only 38 shots in the first two games of the series and the Cavaliers found themselves in a 2–0 hole.
“I think it’s going to take something for LeBron to step into that,” Jackson said. “Put his cape on and say, “I’m going to take over a lot of this series, doing things beyond my level or normal capacity.’ He’s been a team player up to this point but I think he’s going to have to step beyond that.”
Those comments, made 10 days ago, couldn’t seem any more accurate at this moment in time. The Warriors made the mistake of tugging at the cape of Superman, and now there will be a decisive Game 7 at Oracle Arena for all of the marbles.
Following a Game 4 loss, and a scuffle between the Warriors emotional leader, Draymond Green, LeBron made comments during his postgame press conference that suggested his cape had been tugged when James revealed to the media that Green had allegedly called the four-time MVP a word that rhymes with itch. LeBron wanted the world to know he wasn’t going to stand for it.
“Draymond just said something that I don’t agree with,” LeBron said after the Game 4 loss. “I’m all cool with the competition. I’m all fine with that, but some of the words that came out of his mouth were a little bit overboard. Being a guy with pride, a guy with three kids and a family, things of that nature, some things just go overboard, and that’s where he took it, and that was it.”
The very next day, following the announcement of Green’s one-game suspension, Klay Thompson made a comment on James that he probably wishes he could take back.
“I guess he just got his feelings hurt,” said Thompson, the day after the Warriors had taken a commanding 3–1 lead in the series.
Thompson’s father, Mychal Thompson, added fuel to James’ fire following Game 4 as well.
“LeBron couldn’t have survived in the 80s with the physicality and the words guys said to each other back then,” Thompson said, according to The Mercury-News’ Diamond Leung. “We all respect LeBron’s ability…but man, sometimes he acts too entitled like he’s supposed to get everything he wants.”
Now, it seems as if Klay Thompson’s right-hand man, Stephen Curry, and his wife, Ayesha Curry, are the ones expecting to get everything they want.
With just under five minutes left to play in the fourth quarter of a pivotal Game 6, Curry lost his composure when picking up his sixth and final foul of the night.
He ran toward the referee, pleaded his case and then stomped around like a child who was just told he had been cut off from the cookie jar for the next few weeks. Curry, who had never been ejected from a game in his life before last night, just lost it. He took his mouthpiece, which is usually not in his mouth anyway, and angrily threw it with force towards the Cavs’ bench.
The mouthpiece ended up hitting Andrew Forbes’ shoulder, the son of Cavs minority owner, Nate Forbes. Curry quickly realized the massive mistake he had just made and went over to Forbes to apologize.
But this was a meltdown that should never be forgotten. Regardless if the Warriors win or lose this series, Curry has not played like a back-to-back MVP and it’s bothering him and his wife more than anybody else.
So much, that his wife took to Twitter following the game to bash the NBA. Alleging that the league is “rigged” and the refs were behind the Cavs’ Game 6 victory. She quickly deleted the tweet and apologized for losing it in the heat of the moment. Claiming, “tweeted in the heat of the moment because the call was uncalled for.”
James, on the other hand, has played like the four-time MVP that he is. James has looked like the second-coming of Michael Jordan, if not better, in this series. In the past two games, Game 5 and Game 6, with his back against the wall in two must-win games, James has dominated. But that shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody. The man is still clearly the best basketball player on the planet.
James’ numbers in his last nine potential elimination games do all the talking for him. He’s averaging a ridiculous 35.8 points, 12.1 rebounds and 6.4 assists on 51 percent from the field in those contests. The last thing the Warriors could’ve done ? Give the best player on the planet even the slightest bit of extra motivation.
You bet James has heard every last remark. Whether it be what Warriors players have said, or what their family members have said about James, it’s made him angry. The Warriors, just like those ‘93 Knicks, are quickly learning what happens when you tug on the cape of Superman.
In each of the last two games, James has scored 41 points. He’s dominated the Warriors in every facet of the game. He’s not only leading the Cavaliers in every major statistical category — he’s leading both teams.
So, with the scene shifting back to the Bay for one last game, James is confident and more hungry than ever to prove his doubters wrong. You can make the debate that James will win Finals MVP regardless of the outcome of Game 7. Carrying his team on his back, down 3–1 against a historical juggernaut, James’ Cavaliers became just the third team in NBA history to force a Game 7 in the Finals when down 3–1.
The one thing the Warriors cannot do during the two off-days in between Game 6 and Game 7 — continue to tug at the cape of the real MVP of the NBA. And I can’t envision a scenario where they say anything because James has dominated this series since those comments were made.
Now, all James has to do is dominate one more game and get some help from his teammates, and this championship will be known as his single greatest accomplishment, at any level, in his 15+ years of playing the game of basketball.
James is confident, poised and ready. The only lingering question at hand — are the Warriors and Curry ready for the haymakers coming their way on Sunday? Under the brightest lights, with the Larry O’Brien Trophy on the line, we’ll come to learn exactly what the alleged greatest team in NBA history and its back-to-back MVP is made of.
