In the June 17th issue of Time, in a Sean Gregory piece on “The Genius of LeBron” there is a quote by John Krakauer, a professor of neurology and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, that after watching James f.t.f.o. (the antithesis to “yolo,” I’m sure you can figure it out) in Game 3 stands out: “To say Einstein is a more evolved genius than LeBron James is some sort of nonsense.”
It has always been said in sports that it is never about the gifts God gives you, it’s about what you do with those gifts. In this latest episode of the Mysterious Case of LeBron James (16 ppg in these Finals?), our hero seems to have disappeared only to reappear and not know what to do with those gifts God seemed to have personally hand delivered to him when he was a kid.
Magic Johnson screaming into the camera, “If LeBron James doesn’t change his mindset…” Charles Barkley metaphorically speaking directly about LeBron, “I’d rather see (a great player) screw up being aggressive than being passive.”
The problem is that we’ve seen this before. As great as LeBron is, this right here, when the conversation about his place in basketball history comes into play, will be his Achilles and Thetis heel. Too often in his still short mythological career have we seen the player Scottie Pippen said could “by all means get to (Jordan’s) level one day” and Hubie Brown said “if healthy will probably go down as the greatest player to ever play,” turn into something non-superheroish; too often in meaningful playoff games and situations he has simply not been LeBron. He’s been both someone else and somewhere else.
Which makes this Game 4 yet another –– if not the –– pivotal game in more than just this series. It was said going in, especially after the way the Heat struggled in the ECF to get here to defend their crown, that the outcome of this Finals was going the be determined by LeBron.
Well, LeBron, it’s genius time. WTFRUGD?
