The Cavs felt the pressure from the moment James returned-every stumble documented, dissected and exaggerated. There’s a burden that comes with vying for the title of Greatest Of All Time-an expectation that every game should end in victory, and every season should end in a parade. “We’re like, ‘Dude, will you sit down? We’re trying to sleep!’” Marshall says, laughing. Because it requires you to go and give everything you have, and you don’t do that unless you love something or love someone.” It can’t be consistently something where there’s no love, there’s no joy, there’s no passion. Life is so much bigger than basketball, but basketball is our life. “He understands that basketball is not everything. “He’s natural,” Cavs veteran James Jones says of James. Among modern-day superstars, only Shaq fused those traits so seamlessly, an MVP doubling as the class clown. To be one of the most fearsome players in the game, and simultaneously one of its most overtly joyful, is rare indeed. James Harden performs like a tortured artist-could we even see a smile behind that bohemian beard? Kawhi Leonard is almost assuredly a cyborg. Russell Westbrook scowls and snarls and stomps. Hey, I can’t believe I just did that, either. Jordan had his impish moments-a sly grin, a coy shrug-but they were less expressions of joy than gestures of subtle ego-flexing. If he smiled, it was probably because he’d just removed someone’s still-beating heart and tomahawked it through the rim. Kobe Bryant cast himself as a ruthless killer-in the mold of his idol Michael Jordan-and got his five rings while beating everyone (teammates included) into submission. If he was having fun, only he knew for sure. Tim Duncan won five titles with a metronomic efficiency and an infamous stoicism. Joy and fun are distant parts of the lexicon. Yet it’s often not the case in this testosterone-fueled arena, where players are judged based on their athletic prowess and dunks are rated by the humiliation they inflict. It all seems preposterously obvious-success and joy should go hand in hand. “I used to think, ‘Maybe you’ll be a standup comedian if basketball doesn’t work.’” “He’s always been an entertainer,” Joyce says. As a high school senior, James converted a breakaway, between-the-legs dunk and promptly took a joyful lap around the court, igniting a packed house at the University of Akron gym. That’s good to see, that he can still have fun with it.” And he understands he can entertain a little bit and make this stuff good. “He’s always been fun,” says Dru Joyce II, who coached James at Akron’s St. That hand-slapping celebration in Boston came right after James obliterated Marcus Smart’s layup with a two-handed block from behind. He’s a nuclear-powered bulldozer disguised as a smiley emoticon. And in the moments in between, occasionally goofy. On the postgame podium, he’s been loose, engaging. With the clock running and the ball in his hands, James has been laser-focused and lethally efficient. James is looking to lead the Cavaliers to their third straight NBA Finals appearance since rejoining the team for the 2014-15 season. The Cavs will be heavily favored, regardless of the opponent, which means James could soon be making his seventh straight appearance in the NBA Finals, with a shot at his fourth championship.Īt 32 years old, with three rings in the safe and permanent residency on the NBA’s all-time scoring and assists lists, LeBron James has plenty to be happy about. James will lead the Cavaliers into the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday, their third straight and his seventh, and we’ll soon resume the weighty debates over legacy and greatness and which part of Mt. “Man,” former teammate Donyell Marshall says, “that dude’s the biggest kid there is.” When the mood strikes, James might break into a ridiculous dance on the sideline, or swipe french fries from a kid sitting courtside, or high-five a throng of raucous Celtics fans, or start a bottle-flipping contest on the bench. But you’ll also flat-out laugh on a fairly regular basis. Hang with LeBron, and you’ll bear witness to basketball history. The winning is nice, sure: the trips to the NBA Finals, the shirtless, sun-scorched parades, the fame and fortune-all enjoyable. LeBron's spontaneous nature and on-court antics show a player who is more than just dominant.
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