Top 3 Times LeBron's Legacy Was On The Line... And How He Responded....

Hate him or love him, LeBron James is now in the conversation for being the GOAT. I mean, four regular season MVPs, four championships, four finals MVPs, averaging 30 points at the tender age of 37, on the verge of becoming the NBA's all-time leading scorer. Only that Skip Bayless at this point could still discredit him. Anyway, some people would say Michael is still ahead of him, but it's hard to deny the fact that it's become at least a debate. But in saying that, it wasn't always blue skies and rainbows for the quote-unquote chosen one. In fact, there were three times in King James' career where adversity hit hard, where his legacy was on the line, but just through talent, willpower, and a 6'9", 250-pound frame with like 1% body fat, he responded and saved himself. Today, let's look back at these legacy-defining moments of one of the best to ever play the game. The very first game that saved LeBron's legacy was Game 6 of the 2012 playoffs, where he squared off against the Boston Celtics. Now, to have an idea about the magnitude of this game, here's a little backstory leading up to it. Everybody hated LeBron when he left Cleveland in 2010 to form a super team with D. Wade and Bosh in Miami. After spending his first seven years in Cleveland, LeBron finally had a chance to win his first-ever championship with his South Beach buddies. However, things didn't go as planned as they choked out in the 2011 finals against the huge underdogs, the Dallas Mavericks. LeBron got nuclear heat for losing in the finals yet again, and at this point, people were raising doubts of whether he's really capable of winning a championship with or without help. So anyway guys, entering the 2012 season, LeBron had no choice but to win a ring at all costs in order to save his career and legacy. The Heat finished second behind the Bulls in the East that year, and cruised through the playoffs by eliminating New York and Indiana in the first two rounds. Boston was waiting for them in the conference finals, and just like the first two rounds, the Heat looked like they were going to plow right on through after winning the first two games of the series. But then, deja vu happened for LeBron again as Boston won the next three games, pushing the Heat to the brink of elimination. When LeBron was asked about the reaction to their loss in Game 5, he was like, We wouldn't want to be in this situation, but we never get too high or too low in a series. We had an opportunity to come home and take the lead, but we didn't. So we have to go up to Boston and win a game. At this point, LeBron really couldn't afford to lose the next game because if he did, his legacy would have been forever tainted. So here we are, Game 6, on the road versus the Celtics in an elimination game. And right from the opening tip, LeBron let his haters know that there's no way he'll be losing this game. I mean, check this out. After grabbing this rebound, LeBron just took it straight to Boston's defense as if everything was personal for him. And the same thing here. It was clear that there was no stopping this freight train regardless of if you put a couple of bodies on its track. The King was all business in this one and scored 30 by halftime to silence the Boston crowd. In the second half, LeBron continued his revenge tour by scoring 15 to cap off the night with 45 points on 73% shooting. He also added 15 boards and 5 assists to secure the win and ultimately preserve his legacy. After defeating Boston in Game 7, the heat advanced to the finals where they beat OKC in 5 games. LeBron finally won a championship. But if it wasn't for his legendary Game 6 performance, he would have still been a ringless king at the time. Now, for the next career saving moment of LeBron, I actually want to highlight a couple of games. Specifically, the last 3 games of the 2016 Finals. LeBron just came back to Cleveland the year before and in the 2015 Finals, the Cavs got beaten by the Warriors in 6 games. Partly because LeBron had no backup as Kyrie and Kevin Love both went down with injuries. In the 2016 Finals rematch though, the matchup was finally even as both teams featured a healthy lineup from top to bottom. However, none of that seemed to matter in the first two games because the Warriors looked unbeatable after destroying the Cavs by a total of 48 points combined. And although the Cavs got a moral victory in Game 3, the Dubs quickly went back to their ways and squashed all momentum by winning Game 4. Now, aside from Game 3 where LeBron scored 32 points, the reason why they lost was he just wasn't playing that well. Plus, the fact that the Warriors were shooting the lights out. Once again, his legacy was on the line because here he was, with a star-studded healthy team on the brink of elimination once again after promising that he'll bring a championship to Cleveland. To put it simply, losing was not an option. In Games 5 and 6, LeBron scored 41 points in both outings to force a Game 7. And in that last game of the season, he racked up a triple-double to carry the Cavs all the way back from being down 3 games to 1. Now, to wrap your head around what just LeBron did, here are his averages in those last 3 games. LeBron almost averaged a triple-double by scoring 36.3 points, grabbing 11.6 rebounds while dishing out 9.6 assists. He was also quite efficient on offense by shooting 40% from downtown and 50% from field. And uh, aside from shooting well on offense, LeBron also tallied 3 blocks in each of those games to show that defense can really win championships. It was truly a career-defining moment for LeBron when he won his first championship for his hometown. And when reporters asked Richard Jefferson about the King's confidence, here's what he said right after the game. I've never seen a man in my life tell an entire state, get on my back, I got you. Get on my back and I'm going to carry you. I don't care if we fail, I'm going to wake up the next morning and I'm going to start working out and prepare for the next year. He was like, I'm going to come back home because I promised them that I would do something. And he carried us the whole way. LeBron really did carry the Cavs in that finals, just like the time when he carried the Lakers inside the 2020 bubble. This was another career-saving moment for LeBron because if you remember, before the 2020 playoffs, the last time the Lakers made the playoffs was way back in the 2012-2013 season, when they were still led by Kobe. On top of that, he did it with less help than usual, because if we're going to take a look at that lineup back then, everyone was basically a C-plus player at best, aside from Anthony Davis. I mean, their third leading scorer was Kyle Kuzma, who just averaged about 12 points a ballgame on 43% shooting from the floor while coming off the bench. But before I almost forget, to make this even more of a big deal, LeBron was doing this kind of heavy lifting at age 35. So anyways, after missing the playoffs for six consecutive seasons, LeBron turned things around for the Lakers as they finished first in the West with 52 wins. In the playoffs, LeBron and the Lakers continued the rampage, plowing through Portland, Houston, and Denver. Though LeBron was managing his minutes in preparation for the finals, the King still showed that he could still hang with the young legs with highlight plays like these. Sheesh guys, that's just unfair. Anyway, when it was all said and done, LeBron led the Lakers and defeated the Heat in six games while averaging monster numbers. I mean, 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 8.5 assists, while shooting at a ridiculous rate of almost 60% from the field and above 40% from three. Once again, LeBron delivered when it mattered the most. And this championship not only saved his career, but it also cemented his legacy as the closest to ever compete with Michael Jordan's. Aside from bringing the 17th championship banner to the Lakers and winning his fourth chip along with his fourth finals MVP, LeBron also cracked the record books with his historic performance in his finals like being the first player in NBA history to win an NBA Finals MVP with three different franchises, surpassing Derrick Fisher for the most games played in playoff history, and joining MJ as the only player in NBA history to at least win four finals MVPs and four regular season MVPs. LeBron is probably the most polarizing player in NBA history. Some argue that he's already surpassed MJ as the GOAT, while others hate him to death for constantly switching teams and acting as the GM. But regardless of which side you're on, we can't count out things he achieved in his career, and sometimes we just have to take a step back and appreciate his greatness while he's still around. In the end, LeBron just wants respect, and this was his strong message right after winning his latest championship with the Lakers. I told Jeannie when I came here that I'm going to put this franchise back in a position where it belongs. Her late great father did it for so many years, and she just took it on after that for me to be part of such a historical franchise is an unbelievable feeling, not only for myself, but for my teammates, for the organization, for the coaches, for the trainers, everybody that's here. We just want our respect. Rob wants his respect. Coach Vogel wants his respect. Our organization wants their respect. Laker Nation wants their respect. And I want my damn respect too.