The Cavs season is over, and LeBron James is coming to grips with reality
The Golden State Warriors finally finished off the Cleveland Cavaliers last night in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, but the Cavs’ inability to make it to Game 7 had nothing to do with a lack of effort from LeBron James. In one of the most historic NBA Finals performances from a numbers standpoint, James led both teams in points, assists and rebounds. He is the first player in the history of the league to do so.
Still, there’s no denying that these 6 games, and the post-season in general, has taken a toll on James’ energy and body, and he reiterated that point to a reporter after last night’s loss at Quicken Loans Arena. The question was centered around James’ strict workout and conditioning regiment, and whether or not LeBron ever looks back on it, and asks himself “was it worth it?” after a losing effort.
LeBron began answering the question as if he were casually speaking to one of his friends in confidence. He mentioned that sometimes he feels that sometimes it’s better to miss the playoffs entirely than to make the NBA Finals and lose, which isn’t something most NBA superstars would admit for fear of heavy criticism. He would clarify his comments a few seconds later and say that any time he begins thinking that, he usually quickly “locks in” and rids his mind of those thoughts, but it was too late, the following tweet and its contents had pretty much already gone viral.
Deep stuff from LeBron pic.twitter.com/hbddP3aSbA
— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) June 17, 2015
This in no way means that LeBron James would actually rather miss the playoffs than compete for the ultimate reward: an NBA Championship. It merely means he’s human, and sometimes, like we all do, it takes an extra level of focus, concentration, and inspiration to remember why we do what we do, and put ourselves through the struggles we put ourselves through.