Originally posted on NOVEMBER 6, 2016
“Listen, for me, I can’t worry about what everybody says about me. I’m LeBron James from Akron, Ohio, from the inner city. I’m not even supposed to be here. That’s enough. Every night I walk into the locker room, I see a number 6 [jersey] with ‘James’ on the back. I’m blessed. So what everybody’s saying about me off the court don’t matter. I ain’t got no worries!”
LeBron James | 2013 NBA Finals Game 7 | Finals MVP Speech
Greatness: unusually or comparatively large in size; unusual or considerable in degree, power, or intensity; first-rate; exceptionally outstanding.
I’ve always had an obsession with people who choose to beat the odds and be great, no matter the circumstance, and no matter what is thrown at them. I could name professors, teachers, my mom, Lecrae, Martin Luther King, Jr., President Barack Obama, or even Michael Jackson, to name a few. One of my biggest inspirations has done it for his entire life: LeBron James. He grew up in a single parent home, bounced around several project housing in the worst parts of town, became the biggest high school sports star ever, was on the cover of Sports Illustrated before his high school graduation, named Mr. Basketball for the state of Ohio several times over, and entered the NBA at age eighteen. Nicknamed “The Chosen One” and “King James,” LeBron was expected to be as good, if not greater than Michael Jordan himself. Six foot eight inches, two hundred and sixty pounds, extremely quick, powerful and strong, incredibly athletic. LeBron is the type of dude who comes straight out of a comic book. He’s a freight train, and as so many NBA players know, it’s not wise to get in his way.
We all watched LeBron James make a huge comeback down 3-1 against the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals. The 52-year Cleveland championship drought was over. The “Chosen One” had finally fulfilled his promise and brought a hopeless city an NBA championship, but it was not without failure and several dramatic exits.
I love LeBron James. The guy practically inspired me to play basketball. Sure, he gets a lot of hatred, but at the same time, he’s one of the greatest players ever. Though knocked down in the Finals four times, he’s always gotten right back up. Every single time he’s better, faster, and stronger. LeBron is one of my greatest inspirations.
“I’m going to use all my tools, my God-given ability, and make the best life I can with it.” – LeBron James
If you’ve been here before, you know the rules: Take a seat in the auditorium of my mind, and let’s talk about a new philosophy: Greatness.
LeBron has seen many mountains in his life, and I’m sure you have too. He was born to a single parent and lived in project housing for most of his childhood. Eventually, he was introduced to sports where he excelled. He was like a superhuman, beasting and feasting on the basketball court and the football field. He ended up choosing basketball, and he and his squad of friends controversially transferred schools to go to a predominately white, Catholic school, where LeBron averaged ridiculous numbers. LeBron was the first pick in the NBA Draft in 2003 as an eighteen-year-old kid! He had been hyped up since adolescence, being featured on the covers of magazines, compared to Michael Jordan, and given hefty endorsements from companies like Nike and McDonald’s.
“My father wasn’t around when I was a kid, and I used to always say, ‘Why me? Why don’t I have a father? Why isn’t he around? Why did he leave my mother?’ But as I got older I looked deeper and thought, ‘I don’t know what my father was going through, but if he was around all the time, would I be who I am today?’” – LeBron James
For your sake, I’ll try not to be such a LeBron fanboy and detail you with every year of his life. Let’s highlight a few things:
In 2007, LeBron brought his Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals…and got swept by the much more experienced San Antonio Spurs. In the next few years, he won two MVPs as his team failed to make it to the Finals again. He grew frustrated, doing absolutely all he could to lead his home team to the big dance. He was criticized. “How can you be King James, without a championship? LeBron will never win, he’s overhyped. Michael Jordan would’ve won all those games.” In 2010, he then requested an entire hour for a sports special on ESPN called, “The Decision,” where he told the world that he’d switch teams and head to South Florida.
“I’m gonna take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat…” – LeBron James
He ended up losing to the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, but won two championships back-to-back against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Losing again to the Spurs in 2014, he decided to go back to his original team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. In a season when he became 30, most challenged that he could actually fulfill his promise to bring Cleveland a championship. Visibly, he was slowing down and looked older…all the wear and tear from four straight championship runs looked like it was finally catching up. Again, he proved everyone wrong, as the Cavaliers met the Golden State Warriors in the 2015 NBA Finals. The Warriors hadn’t won in 40 years, Steph Curry was the MVP, and they’d demolished every team in the Western Conference. LeBron lost his two critical teammates before Game 2 of the Finals. Kevin Love’s arm was broken in a previous playoff series, and Kyrie Irving suffered a broken kneecap while on defense in Game 1 of the Finals. LeBron took it upon himself to somehow win. Long story short, he didn’t, but it wasn’t without averaging nearly a triple double for the series and making the Warriors work to six games (in a best of seven series) to beat him. They hadn’t beat LeBron; they beat his team.
LeBron has overcome and endured through probably the worst media treatment a sports star has ever seen. Dubbed a villain during his time in Miami, Cleveland fans burned his jersey, and often LeBron is accused of only winning championships due to referee interference. Over the years, LeBron’s earned names like: "LeQuit James,” “LeFlop James,” “Witless,” “Traitor,” the list goes on…
LeBron really answered all who hated him in 2016. His time as the face of the NBA was understandably under fire. Enter stage right: Stephen Curry. Curry, son of a former NBA player, was the perfect golden boy, and ironically plays for the Golden State Warriors. He and his team came out of nowhere. Curry shattered three-point records, gave vicious crossovers, and wowed fans with his flair (including shimmying after shooting threes before the shot even goes in!). He won two MVPs, had met LeBron in the Finals already, and beat him the previous year. Already usurping LeBron’s throne, it seemed like it was only a given that Curry’s 73-9 team would defeat LeBron James again, as they took an early 3-1 lead.
A beast awoke this past summer. Somehow, James and his team blew past a tired and hyped up Golden State Warriors team. LeBron put up incredible numbers and scored more than forty points twice, and also had a triple double in the final game. With his now iconic block on Andre Iguodola, Kyrie Irving’s sealing three pointer over Curry, and Kevin Love’s last second defense on Curry, the curse, and perhaps even the greatest pressure, was lifted away from LeBron.
With tears in his eyes, he collapsed onto the court.
“Cleveland! This one’s for you!!” the 3x NBA Finals MVP shouted.
The story of LeBron James greatly reminds me of so many people in what I like to call, “The Pantheon of Greatness.”
LeBron’s mountain has changed throughout his thirteen years in the NBA. At first he couldn’t win a championship, but he did that. He couldn’t win more than one championship, and he did that, too. He couldn’t bring the cursed city of Cleveland a championship, but he did that too. No one had ever come back from a 3-1 deficit, but he did that, too. Perhaps this season, he faces his greatest challenge. Kevin Durant, 2014 MVP, defeated by LeBron in 2012, and beaten by Steph Curry multiple times, decided to switch teams and joined Curry’s super team. In doing so, he’s help to create one of the scariest basketball teams of all time. Two MVPs on a single team, both perhaps in their prime, and both players have been within a game of winning a championship, or getting to a championship. Together, they now hope to defeat LeBron and take the throne.
Here’s why LeBron earns his spot in my “Pantheon of Greatness.” LeBron doesn’t cower away from the Warriors. LeBron doesn’t decide to retire early and let them win. He decides to put on his hiking boots, he grabs a rope (supported by his teammates, and his wife and children), he uses his compass (Coach Lue), he keeps himself in shape, carries a repair kit (when injured, or feeling winded, he rests when needed), and climbs the mountain. On the mountaintop, an exhausted, but conquering LeBron, lights a fire in celebration. That’s the type of dude I respect. Only time will tell what exactly happens to LeBron and his Cleveland Cavaliers. Will LeBron or Kyrie win the MVP? Will the Cavaliers be able to defeat two superstars and former MVPs in a seven game series? Will LeBron finally decline and get seriously injured? Keep an eye out for this extraordinary mountain climber, because he’s not finished yet.
“In Northeast Ohio, nothing is given. Everything is earned. You work for what you have.” – LeBron James
Don’t be afraid of that daunting professor. Don’t be afraid of the boss at work who can’t see what you were made to be. Don’t sulk and lose your purpose and focus. Remember that each and every single success you’ve ever had was earned, and not given. Put on your hiking boots, and let’s go. Choose to #StriveforGreatness.
“I had to realize what’s inside of me,
For all the people that lied to me,
For all of the people that said I would fall off,
Oh boy, what a time to be alive.
I wrote this for everyone feel like they counted out,
You need to look in the mirror and tell yourself,
It’s time to be who I am now:
Greatness.”
Derek Minor | Greatness