Lebron is now an NBA Champion

2012 NBA Finals MVP

Lebron James

Why do a lot of people hate Lebron James? Was it the transfer from Cleveland to Miami that people started calling him traitor? Kareem Abdul-Jabar also did that when he transfered from the Bucks to the Lakers and  in recent memory Shaquille O’Neal also did that but they never got the criticism and bad publicity that Lebron had. In his first trip to the finals in 2007 Lebron said he never really got the supporting cast that he needed to complement his game. Cleveland never surrounded Lebron with real quality players that made the Cavs miss the bus for the next three NBA finals in 2008,2009 and 2010.  Then came the time that he announced that he is transferring to the Heat to make his opportunities in winning an NBA title better.  Today, the promise is now realized and it just shows that his decision to leave Cleveland was correct as the Miami Heat closed out the 2012 NBA Finals with a masterful 121 – 106 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Durant dunks the ball

In closing out the Thunder, the real Lebron James came out as he put up an amazing peformance once again as he scored 26  points, hauled down 11 rebounds and issued 13 assists together with 2 block shots and a steal in an all around performance that gave him the NBA finals Most Valuable Player trophy.  Although his all around performance was the talk of the town, Lebron’s supporting cast was more than impressive this time around as Chris Bosh scored 24 points  got 7 rebounds and 2 block shots,  Dwayne Wade had 20 points, 8 rebounds and 3 block shots, Shane Battier was 3 for 7 from beyond the arc to score 11 points and the most important contributor off the bench was Mike Miller who scored 23 points on 7 of 8 shooting from beyond the arc.  Now that is what you call a supporting cast.

Lebron talks to Miller and Bosh

Kevin Durant was his usual self scoring 34 points,  hauling 11 rebounds but coming up with 7 turnovers.  Rusell Westbrook scored 19 points but was just 4 or 20 while James Harden came out from a slump to score 19 points.  Veteran Derek Fisher was 3 for 6 from beyond the three point line for 11 points but most of his points came from the time that the Heat were comfortably ahead.  Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins combined for 11 points which was not enough for the Thunder to come back in this game and series.

Westbrook disappeared after scoring 43 in game 4

The end for the Thunder came in the third quarter with 10:21 still on the clock and Serge Ibaka just cutting the Miami lead to 5 points 61 – 56 with an emphatic dunk shot. James missed a shot and Durant got the rebound and was poised to bring down the Heat lead to three points when he uncharacteristically turned the ball over.  In the return play Mario Chalmers sank a three pointer which was followed by another three pointer by Shane Battier to make the Heat go up by 11 with the score 67-56.  In the next few minutes the avalanche of points was so much for the Thunder to take as Chris Bosh scored 8 points, James 4 points and Wade two free throws. Unfortunately for the Thunder those points were not enough as seldom used and injured Mike Miller put up another three pointer to put the game beyond recall with a 25 point lead 88 – 63 as the Heat fans celebrated since the game result was moot and academic from thereon.

Chris Bosh saved his best for game 5

The Heat sank 14 of their 26 shots (53%) which tied the most number of three pointers in a finals which was done by the Houston Rockets against the Magic in 1995.  The triple double of Lebron in a close out game is the first since 2003 when Tim Duncan did the trick against the Nets. The Heat also became the third team to win the middle three games in the 2 – 3 – 2 finals format joining the Pistons in 2005 and the Heat of 2006.  This is also the first time that James, Bosh and Wade scored 20 points in the same game.

Game 5 was Miller time as 

Mike scored 23 points

Lebron can now receive lesser criticisms but only for the meantime while they are the champs and i guarantee it will all come back once the season starts once again in November. One thing for sure is that we are now in the James- Durant era in the NBA and who are the winners? The NBA Fans who hopes that this rivalry will go on for years.

James and Durant will be 

the cornerstone of the NBA in the years to come