Well before his 2020 title run with the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James had shared his take on the oft-discussed Greatest of All Time debate that we can't seem to stop talking about. After leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to victory in the 2016 NBA Finals, King James felt confidence enough to stake his claim for the No. 1 spot atop NBA's pantheon.
"I was super, super ecstatic to win one for Cleveland because of the 52-year drought," James said on "More Than An Athlete" when looking back on that series. "...The first wave of emotion was when everyone saw me crying, like, that was all for 52 years of everything in sports that's gone on in Cleveland.
"And then after I stopped, I was like -- that one right there made you the greatest player of all time."
Now, LeBron seems to be doubling down on that sentiment, but with an additional piece of evidence: his most recent Larry O'Brien Trophy.
"The conversation is [always going to] be had and it's great for debates because they want to compare eras, compare players and who they've seen," LeBron said in the latest episode of "Road Trippin'" with Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye and Allie Clifton. "The one thing that I know for sure is that I've been a part of two teams [that have] won the two hardest championships in NBA league history.
"The 2016 Cavs coming back from 3-1 versus a 73-9 team, being down 3-1 versus one of the best teams that's ever been assembled... and then what we went through in the bubble. And if you were not in the bubble, you don't quite understand it. You will never ever understand how hard it was to win that championship, to be able to motivate yourself... this is literally out of your whole comfort zone. No family, I didn't see my family for eight-and-a-half weeks."
LeBron went on to explain that everything he had grown used to in life — and routine is very important for athletes, as my sports psychologist brother always tells me — was no longer there. No normal sleep routine. No personal chef. No family time.
"For me, I'm a routine guy," LeBron said. "And when my routine is knocked off, it's like, it's hard for me to center myself... I'm literally in the bubble at time, in my room, literally seeing the walls, it's like "The Shining." Just like, blood coming down my walls. I go in the hallway, it's like two kids on a tricycle. I'm like, holy sh--, what is going on, I want to leave."
Ok, so the last part may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it's a great visual nonetheless. Just picture LeBron on the tricycle and the Morris brothers holding hands at the end of the hallway... gives you chills, no?
But now that we have that aspect of his quote out of the way, it's time to consider the more intriguing part: were those two Finals victories, in fact, the two most difficult wins of all time?
The 2016 series against Golden State definitely poses a good argument, and LeBron's outrageous stats (29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.6 steals and 2.3 blocks per game) and highlight moments probably won't get too much pushback from the NBA community.
The 2020 Finals is a much more interesting series to debate over. Some would agree with LeBron and, to his point, we can't truly know what it was like to go through that whole experience. But on the other hand, many have gone so far as to say that the whole 2020 postseason should come with an asterisk. WEEI's Rich Keefe explains his reasoning in the video at the top of this page. New York Times basketball writer Marc Stein had a newsletter back in April titled "The N.B.A. Should Crown a Champion. But Will the Title Count?" in which he lays out numerous arguments, including this one from superstars' perspectives:
You have to wonder, though: How would we really look at Giannis and the Bucks, in our rings-are-everything sports culture, if they emerged victorious from a regular season and postseason that fell short of the N.B.A.’s 82-game and 16-playoff-win norms? How much credit would LeBron get for the leading the Lakers to such a crown? What sort of minimum playoff structure would it take, for Kawhi and the Clippers (or anyone else), to satisfy the masses that this was a representative season?
And while LeBron obviously sees it as a more difficult task and a subsequently more impressive outcome, many may disagree. That's at least what Twitter has shown me so far in response to the clip of LeBron's take on his Finals wins.
The counterpoints, though, include all the intangibles that have nothing to do with basketball. A raging pandemic. An unprecedented playing format and environment. Social justice distracting players (and rightly so) on the court when there was a bigger battle being fought on the outside.
The other thing you have to consider is the list of other NBA Finals that could qualify as the most difficult to have won. How about in 2011, when the Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat in the Big 3 era, defeating LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in an upset? What about in 1997, when Michael Jordan pulled off the second Finals win in what would be another three-peat, with the infamous "Flu Game" nearly rendering him unable to play?
It's an interesting argument that may be just as difficult to answer as the G.O.A.T. debate itself, but that's what makes it so fun to discuss.
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