Congratulations to LeBron James for winning his first title, while leading the Miami Heat to victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2012 NBA Finals. Therefore, LeBron James' victory as the Leader of a championship team, further solidifies and cements his legacy among the all-time greats, adding a Finals MVP trophy along with his 3 MVP Awards. Now, LeBron has proven that he is indeed an Alpha Dog level player, both in the regular season and in the postseason with an incredible playoff run to add to that. LeBron's versatility is on another level apart from the rest of the league. As for those critics that say that LeBron is not "clutch" or a "killer", as The Rock says, they can know their role and shut their mouth!! LeBron has given the ultimate validation and confirmation, that he can in fact, close the deal. In fact, he has often "closed" the game more than his star sidekick Dwyane Wade. Excluding last year's Finals vs. the Mavs, James was the more consistent player for that team. LeBron is 45% in Game-winning situations, while Wade is 33%. During the series against the Celtics, LeBron was the driving force. In the Eastern Conference Finals vs Chicago, LeBron was the ultimate weapon to destroy League MVP Derrick Rose. During the offseason, LeBron went on a mission, with full focus. He goes to Houston to train with Hall of Famer, and NBA Legend Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon to improve his low post game. The training brought great results, as LeBron cut out his jump shooting, and took more control down low in the paint. As a result, he recorded a career high field goal percentage of 53%. During a compacted, sloppy lockout-shortened 66 game season, LeBron James was the most consistent player throughout the league, especially for his team. By the way, did I mention before that this year's average FG % was 45 percent? Meanwhile, Dwyane Wade, the man that many called the main leader on the team, played anything like it, as he missed nearly half of the season with injuries, along with inconsistent play, bringing in only 22 ppg. Along with a great shooting percentage, LeBron's numbers were his typical well-rounded stats across the board, as he averaged merely 27.1 ppg, 7.9 RPGs, and 6.2 apg. LeBron turned up the Heat (no pun intended) in the playoffs, with a phenomenal 30.3 ppg, 9.7 rpg, and 5.6 apg, off of 50% shooting, with a playoff run that we have not seen for quite some time, since Prime Shaq, & Tim Duncan. During this time, he guarded everyone from Carmelo Anthony, Danny Grainger, Rondo, Paul Pierce, to Kevin Durant, and Russell Westbrook. The highlights of this run included a (40/18/9) in Game 4 of the East Semis ,vs the Pacers, (45/15/5) in Game 6 of the ECF vs. the Celtics, and a triple double (26/11/13) in Game 5 of the Finals vs. The Thunder. In the first round, he burned the Knicks with (27.2/6.2/5.6). In the Conference Semis vs. Indiana, he obliterated the Pacers for (30.0/10.8/6.2). In the Conference Finals, he went on a rampage (33.6/11.0/3.9). In the Finals, he cleaned Kevin Durant & the Thunder's clock (28.6/10.2/7.4). When someone is hungry for a title, they have a breakout season that I call their "statement" season. In this case for Michael, it was 1991 vs. the Lakers, when he vanquished them for 31/6/11 55% FG, in his quest for his very first title, and First Finals MVP. (He would soon make many more statements). That season, he went on to win League MVP (31.5/6.0/5.5/2.7), and led the Bulls through a season in which they could not be stopped. For Magic Johnson, it was 1987, when he had his greatest individual season (24/6.3/12.2) en route to his first MVP (his best MVP season). Johnson was bashed for the way he & the Lakers underperformed the previous year vs. The Houston Rockets in the WCF. This season, Magic went on to lead the Lakers to a 65-17 record on the way to putting away arch-rival Larry Bird's Celtics once and for all. For the Finals, Johnson averaged (26.2/8.0/13.0). These are just the few of many great examples, where a player is on a seek & destroy mission, where they blow the competition, and leave a trail of bodies behind. These are the kind of seasons, where a player has that standout, defining season, where they make their mark as the undisputed "Best Player in the NBA" by winning League MVP, while leading his team to a title, then earning "Finals MVP", to stand as the best in both regular & postseason. This season, LeBron James definitively, and undeniably made that claim, as he put his ultimate stamp on the league as the best in the world. This year, along with the rest of his consistency during his career, has launched LeBron higher into the upper echelon of NBA Greatness. LeBron's legend will only continue to grow.
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