Once upon a time there was a Superstar who essentially was a one man wrecking crew for his team. It wasn’t pretty basketball, it wasn’t really basketball at all, it was street ball or as my crew called it in our hood Killa Man basketball.
The majority of the time when a player has the ball in their hand so often and is forced to do everything the teams fails, but there are some pockets in time where they succeed and go on a magical ride.
That year for Allen Iverson was his MVP season of 2000-01.
Iverson himself wasn’t all that different, but the TEAM around him was. Iverson was allowed to be A.I., but Larry Brown put together a team that didn’t care about Iverson gunning. They knew their roles were to defend, play hard, protect Iverson and make the games bloodbaths. This was the type of environment Iverson’s thrived in because his upbringing was tough, so when other teams wilted under the pressure it motivated him to play better.
Just look at his teammates and what you will see a list of gritty, gutty, tough veterans.
Eric Snow, Aaron McKie, Mutombo, Tyrone Hill, George Lynch and Raja Bell. These are guys if you needed backup during a bar fight you would feel comfortable with your odds winning.
They defied the odds because they knew their roles, didn’t complain and made life miserable for their opponents, but then they ran into……….
If you let the Sixers tell it after A.I.’s step over in Game 1 they were on their way to winning the title, but their roster was falling apart with injuries including Iverson who was breaking down. Bruised tailbones, fracture ankles, bad backs, sore hamstringa and anything else you can think of the Sixers said they had it. It was hard enough to face those Lakers at FULL STRENGTH, but hurting as they were they had no shot.
That was Iverson only chance at a title, he simply couldn’t beat a GREAT TEAM by himself they just weren’t talented enough as unit.
Which brings us to LeBron.
First thing should be clear, LeBron is a superior player than Iverson. Part of that is the sheer size of LeBron. A.I. looks like one of us, LeBron looks like he was created in a lab (some people believe that is true). Iverson from day one was a 100MPH gunner and never really changed. LeBron doesn’t want to play like Iverson, but he has NO CHOICE at the moment but to play like Iverson, Kobe and Jordan.
The Cavs weren’t supposed to be like the Sixers. They had Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, two bonafide all-stars. Love was a 25-12 guy, Irving was rookie of the year and a deadly scorer. These guys were supposed to take the burden off LeBron so he could rest more and be more a facilitator.
But, things happen and you have to adjust.
Now, LeBron is working with a 7-man rotation and only getting 4 minutes of rest in the first three games of the series (two went to OT). JR Smith depending on the quarter is either helping him or the other team. Every part of Shumpert’s body is banged up. Delly is trying to be Steve Kerr, John Paxson and Craig Hodges all in one series & is in the hospital now for cramps. James Jones and Mike Miller are getting minutes. They are trying to turn Mozgov into Hakeem in the paint. This is not what we would call a NBA Finals worthy supporting cast.
The Warriors have a better record than that Lakers squad, but what they lack is Finals experience. They go 10 deep with their rotation, sometimes 11. I was on KNBR radio and I posed a question to the host Ted Ramey. Which player on the Cavs not named LeBron could crack the Warriors 10-man rotation? I came up with NONE. Who is the Cavs second best player now Delly? Mozgov? Delly wouldn’t even make the roster and Mozgov would be riding the bench. David Lee is an All-Star and he just starting to get some run. This is a deep and talented team that frankly should be blowing out the Cavs every night, but the Cavs have LeBron and their role players are outperforming the Warriors role players just off grit and determination. I asked Lebron about how this team compares to that Sixers one and here is what he had to say.
LeBron has shot 107 in the first three games (35.7 per game). By comparison Kobe Bryant a renowned gunner has never shot more than 35 shots in any playoff game. LeBron isn’t doing it because he wants to , he is doing because he has to, it is simply the one way the Cavs can win.
The greatness of LeBron is even while he is shooting all these shots, he is still dishing out 8 assists a game and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Which is the main reason why he might succeeded where Iverson failed. Iverson was ALL or NOTHING, when he was cooking he couldn’t be stopped, but if you slowed him down he could be his own and his team’s worst enemy.
LeBron might only be shooting 40% in the Finals, but he understands how to control the game while keeping his teammates engaged and believing they can win.
The Cavs believe they can beat the Warriors and the Warriors can’t figure out how this depleted team is up 2-1 on them.
If they don’t figure it out soon LeBron will have ANSWERED the question A.I. never could, which is how to win a title with you are the primary everything.