What we have known now, for almost a week is that LeBron James will now partake in his 6th straight NBA finals appearance, and will attempt to win his third ring and rectify his 2-4 record that everyone seems to hang on. Today we look at what this NBA Finals means for him in victory and in a loss.
In a victory
If LeBron were to take the 2016 NBA Finals ring back home to Cleveland, he would forever be cemented as the greatest and most Cherish-able player in Cleveland sports history. Not only would it affect his legacy in Cleveland history but NBA History. For the first time in his career, if he would to win his third ring, especially vs what seems an impeccable Warriors team people would finally cement him as a top 3 player ever like he already is in my eyes. With the third ring, in the eyes of most ring counters, he would have now established himself as a winner even with his more win to loss NBA finals ratio. We still haven’t seen the best LeBron this playoffs, which is scary to imagine. If he gets his first ring with Cleveland, like Miami, he will start the chain for 1-2 two more and the whole monkey he can’t win at home will be off his back.
In a loss
Dear lord, I don’t even wanna think about this, but sadly losing is an option. If LeBron were to lose this series, he would then go down as 2-5 all time the NBA Finals, which would be disgusting to look at. Although it might happen, it most likely wouldn’t be his fault. Regardless, ignorant ring counters would forever hold this against him. If the loss, on top of that stigma, that he can’t bring one to his home city, the monkey on his back to do it just gets bigger and bigger. I also am worried to see what would happen to not just his, but the whole teams ego and confidence losing back to back finals to the same team. Lastly, if he were to lose, a number of people would for sure say Curry is better than him.
Bottom line is, it’s really a must-win scenario for LeBron whether he is the underdog or not.
