You know how they say you’ve got to see hockey live to really appreciate it?
Same goes for LeBron James. But for different reasons. Not because you get a better feel for his speed, his strength, his athleticism. Which, yes, are all freakish.
Actually, it’s quite the opposite.
He stands around a lot.
That’s different than waiting around a lot, which James and the rest of the Cavaliers are doing now after sweeping the Raptors, twiddling their thumbs as the Celtics and Wizards finish the other NBA Eastern Conference semifinal series.
No, we’re talking about during a game. My most vivid memory of seeing the greatest basketball player on the planet perform in person is of him doing absolutely nothing.
Or fairly close to it. I’m pretty sure he was breathing.
James stood near midcourt, getting ready to go back on defense after throwing a pass. Not a crazy, wild, drive-and-dish Magic Johnson blind over-the-shoulder pass. Just a simple chest pass to Kevin Love. I don’t remember what happened on the play, if Love missed a 3 (he was 0-for-5 from deep that night), or if Love passed it to Tristan Thompson or someone else in the paint.
It didn’t matter.
It was a beautiful thing, this standing around stuff. Something you don’t get the full impact of watching on TV. Something your high school JV coach would kick you out of the gym for.
Of course, if James didn’t take over at the appropriate times and Cleveland hadn’t won that routine early-season game against the Denver Nuggets I might feel much differently.
My takeaway from the very top row of the Pepsi Center on Nov. 7, 2014, was that James is as efficient as he is spectacular. I did my best to keep my eyes on the court and not the big screen and verified that, yes, he is The King … of no wasted motion.
James scored 22 points with 11 assists, seven rebounds (all defensive), a steal and a block as the Cavs won 110-101. All seven Cleveland players in the game for 20 minutes or more scored in double-figures.
James was in the game 40 minutes that night, the most of anyone on either team. He played hard most of that time. He played smart all of it.
This was his first year back in Cleveland, back home in Ohio after the infamous taking of his talents to South Beach. This is the season that ended with James and four guys from a YMCA in Australia losing in the Finals to the Golden State Warriors in six games.
With Love out and Kyrie Irving missing all but Game 1 due to injury, James had little time for in-game breaks. The big debate was whether he should be the series MVP despite losing — losing while leading both teams in points, assists and rebounds.
In the rematch last year, Irving and Love played, and Cleveland prevailed in seven games. As the Warriors and Cavs have swept their first two playoff series, round three is a foregone conclusion to most.
All this waiting around lets us contemplate things like who should get this year’s MVP award. Certainly, Russell Westbrook’s triple-double over the course of an entire season is an incredible feat, and that gives voters a legit reason to choose someone other than James, who has won it four times.
Now that Cleveland finally has its championship, there’s less Lebron James hate out there. There’s more acknowledgement that he’s the greatest player of his generation, and when all is said and done he might be the best ever. (Don’t ever try to convince a Michael Jordan fan of that, though.)
“Westbrook, (James) Harden, (Kawhi) Leonard, (Steph) Curry are having great careers and with continued high level of play could make my list (of all-time greats), but LeBron is still the best today,” said Abe Villanueva, one of my more objective hoops junkie friends. “Criteria? That’s where the debate is. Titles won? MVPs? Playoff appearances? By positions? Favorites? It’s all part of the formula.”
Hanging out at halfcourt, resting, isn’t a metric, at least not yet.
But maybe we can all agree that conserving your energy in November can pay off in June.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.
