LeBron James sits and waits at the top of the mountain, while all of his presumed challengers keep coming up short.
Friday, Sept. 18, was nearly a historic day. That’s the day the Western Conference Finals begin. For a week it looked like that series would feature the L.A. Clippers vs. the L.A. Lakers in a showdown NBA fans have salivated over for more than a year. That would mean Kawhi Leonard against LeBron James and the possibility of seeing something we haven’t seen for 35 years, with not only very likely a championship on the line (both L.A. teams would be favored over Boston or Miami), but the title of best baller alive.
And yet, 17 years after James turned pro, it sounds silly to suggest anyone else can stake a claim to his throne. But if Kawhi had bested LeBron and gone on to win in the Finals, he’d have won his third title (tying James) for his third different team (something James has yet to accomplish). He’d likely have won his third Finals MVP (equaling James). He’d have beaten LeBron twice in their three playoff matchups. Postseason success against James is ultra-rare: he’s won nearly 80 percent of the series he’s played in and only two teams have defeated him more than once, both featuring dominant ensembles over a single star: the Ubuntu Celtics and the Warriors dynasty. But this year found Leonard in a position he’d never been before.
Leonard’s first title came in 2014 with San Antonio, where he ranked just fifth in minutes played. Marco Bellinelli played more than Leonard. Kawhi earned Finals MVP that June because of his two-way effort against LeBron. Leonard, then 22, was able to grow slowly behind Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Boris Diaw. Last season he led Toronto to its first championship, after the Raptors advanced to the postseason all five years before his arrival and out of the first round the prior three: this year, sans Kawhi, Toronto played at a 60-win clip and very nearly reached the conference finals. It’s one thing to be a facilitator or a finishing piece. It’s another entirely to be the foundation, the only role LeBron’s known since he entered the league, one he maintains even now, at 35, on a team featuring a 26-year-old Anthony Davis. It’s been a remarkable run.
Four years out of high school, James led a Cleveland team whose second- and third-leading scorers were Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden to the Finals. There wasn’t another player on Earth who could have pulled that off. From that 2007 season till now, James owns the penthouse in the pantheon of today’s greatest players, and he’s never really been challenged. Maybe if Kevin Durant won a title somewhere other than Golden State there’d have been an argument, but KD partnering with Golden State after they won a title and then 73 games was like Luke Skywalker joining the Dark Side after Darth Vader cut off his hand: you understand the decision, but it changes the stakes for the character, and by “changes” I mean “kills.”
LeBron is still holding the title of Best Baller Alive, waiting for someone to take it from him
To fully appreciate LeBron’s FDR-like reign, consider when his run began the Rookie of the Year was Brandon Roy. This year’s ROY, Ja Morant, was 7. Allen Iverson was still scoring over 30 a game for Philadelphia. Kobe Bryant had yet to win a playoff series without Shaquille O’Neal. Barack Obama was unknown to most Americans. Donald Trump wrestled Vince McMahon — via proxy — at Wrestlemania 23. Frame James’ 13-year run of excellence in historical terms and it’s even more impressive.
After his 12th season, Magic Johnson was named to his ninth consecutive All-NBA First Team and finished top-three in MVP voting for the ninth year in a row. But after contracting HIV, Johnson retired. After his 12th season, Larry Bird was still good but not dominant. Boston had begun giving more shots to Reggie Lewis. After his 12th season, Michael Jordan retired from the Chicago Bulls for the second and final time. Of all LeBron’s talents, ability and durability are not the most celebrated. But they’re as amazing as any of the others. Interestingly, the one all-timer whose year-13 holds up well compared with James’ is the same player whose shoes some felt James could never fill in Los Angeles: Kobe.
That year Bryant was as good as ever. 27 points a game, 5+ rebounds, 5 assists. The Lakers repeated as champs. Bryant was All-NBA First Team, All-Defense First Team, and second in MVP voting, behind James. That was the last time the Lakers got as far as the conference finals until this season. When LeBron signed with L.A., some fans resented the move, feeling James could never succeed Kobe in Laker lore. I wonder how many have learned to let go.
Kawhi could tell LeBron better than most about not assuming anything when it comes to James’ next opponent. In a world rife with men oozing unearned confidence, the Denver Nuggets come by theirs honestly. After Tuesday’s Game 7 comeback win over the Clippers, the third game in a row Denver overcame a double-digit deficit, the Nuggets are the first team in league history to win two best-of-7s they trailed 3-1 in the same postseason. Denver is tough and tested: nearly half their playoff games have been elimination affairs, during which they’re 6-0.
Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray are both performing at an All-NBA level. The Nuggets have youth and experience on their side, with nine of their top-10 minute-earners are under 30, six of whom are 25 or younger. And yet there is also continuity. This season, Jokić, Will Barton and Gary Harris were first, second and fifth on the team in minutes; this is their fifth season together. Murray and Mason Plumlee joined a year later. Denver has every reason to feel good about themselves. Los Angeles has LeBron. Which would you want on your side?
We came so close to getting a Leonard vs. James matchup that would have pushed as many chips to the center of the table as Magic vs. Bird. Alas, equilibrium held. The pressure to be great multiplied over the years needed to build a legacy separates the wheat from the chaff. There’s a reason LeBron is number one year in and year out while most players never appear on that radar, and those who do don’t for long. Friday night will find history waiting to be made. But history, like time, waits for no one. You can’t write the story if you’re not in it. James, as always, is there. It still doesn’t look like anyone is close to stopping him.