The Celtics have already broken LeBron James once. It feels like they're about to do it again.
On Wednesday night, we saw the future Hall of Famer in a state of vulnerability he almost never exhibits. LeBron James didn't just look tired. He looked exhausted.
Perhaps a season of carrying a flawed Cavaliers team is finally exacting a toll. It might also have something to do with the relentlessness of the Celtics, who have sent wave after wave of defenders at him all series, including Wednesday's 96-83 Game 5 victory that has pushed the Cavaliers to the brink of elimination and the Celtics within an improbable game of the NBA Finals.
Sometimes it's easy to forget James isn't actually an unstoppable cyborg. He prides himself on never projecting fatigue, but on Wednesday all pretenses of invincibility evaporated under the physical assault of the Celtics, who refused to concede the switches onto Terry Rozier that made James so deadly in Cleveland. Truth be told, James is probably also feeling the mental strain of dragging a woeful supporting cast to the finish line. Everyone else not named Kevin Love combined to shoot just 14-for-39 (.358) from the field.
And so James let us see him sweat. He panted with hands on knees. He buried his face in a towel on the bench. He lost a race for a loose ball to Jayson Tatum and then surrendered without attempting a chase-down. His breaths at times seemed gasping, perhaps a metaphor for his second stint in Cleveland winding to an end.
Cavs coach Ty Lue acknowledged that James looked tired. Celtics forward Marcus Morris, one of James' primary harassers, waited a full five seconds while a slight smile creased his face before admitting he agreed.
"Yeah," he said. "I seen it."
Isn't it surprising, came the followup? Because LeBron's energy typically appears limitless.
"We threw a lot of different bodies at him," Morris said. "He has to do a lot for that team. Everybody knows these games are coming up pretty quick. We just played on Sunday and games are coming fast. At the end of the day, man, (expletive), I'm tired. You've still got to play. He does a lot for his team. He scores, assists, rebounds. I would think he'd get a little bit tired."
The last time James faced the Celtics in this situation, he ended up tossing his headband into the stands and stripping off his jersey in the tunnel to the visiting locker room after a 27-point, 19-rebound triple-double in an elimination Game 6 of the conference semifinals.
He took his talents to South Beach a couple of months later and embarked on the run that brought him his first two NBA titles. The move was probably preordained, but the Celtics made his decision easy. He couldn't compete with the second Big Three without a super team of his own, so he built one in Miami.
He was 25 then. He's 33 now and even if the end's not exactly in sight, it's no longer hypothetical, either. The energy James has expended to keep the Cavs afloat this season could probably power a casino, but there's no way he wants his next stop to require so much of him. Just as they did in 2010, the Celtics are driving home that point, too. Because if James can't handle this squad, how's he going to fare with Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward in the mix without reinforcements of his own?
There is a danger in this thinking, of course. When James one day retires, perhaps 10 years from now, his legacy will be in part defined by his indomitable will. How else to explain seven straight trips to the Finals?
We shouldn't rule out an eighth, not as long as No. 23 still draws breath. Even in defeat on Wednesday, he still led all scorers with 26 points, while his 10 rebounds and five assists trailed only Al Horford and Terry Rozier, respectively. Those are pretty good numbers for a guy who had to answer questions about postgame fatigue.
"I had my moments," James admitted. "But I think everybody at this point is tired or worn down or whatever the case may be."
The Celtics seem to bring that kind of weariness out of the King. They did it in 2010, ending his first stint with his hometown Cavaliers, and they're on the verge of delivering a bookend knockout. Talking about it and doing it are two very different tasks, but perhaps soon the Celtics will finally allow James to rest.