Wow. Are they going to hang a 2.5 billion banner next to the 1973 title?
Back on point, I never cared much for LeBron until Ray went there and I wanted him to get another ring (or rings) and sort of had to root for LeBron, since the Heat weren't going to win without him playing well. The Decision was stupid and I understand people who resent him for that, and certainly anyone who has had their team eliminated by him repeatedly. But the guy plays the game the right way - he gets his teammates involved, he doesn't take plays off on either end, he eschews hero ball for making the sound pass, he'll take the toughest defensive assignment, etc. When he first came to Miami, he was reluctant to be the alpha dog until Wade encouraged him to do so. He's a guy who would rather put up 20 points and 15 assists than drop 50. When Ray got hot against Indiana, LeBron kept finding him, and I respect that. I hated Cassell and Big Dog sometimes because when Ray would heat up, you'd invariably see them say "now it's my turn" and they'd force up their own shots instead of milking the hot hand. LBJ has never had that problem.
Mau is correct that he did walk back on D after his last miss, I saw that too - but they were down 20 with five to go and it was over at that point, and perhaps the combination of fatigue and disappointment caused his shoulders to drop. He eventually got back in the play - the Heat got a stop and turned around in transition and James was nowhere to be seen on the offensive end either, so he eventually ran back and didn't cherry pick. You can criticize him for that play if you want and it's fair, but it's not symbolic of anything other than the moment when reality probably settled in.
