Whatever happens in the NBA Finals, whether LeBron James wins the championship or not, he's learned the secret to living a charmed life in one regard: Lower the expectations.
That's how you win in golf, impress everyone at work and keep your coaching job. In LeBron's case, it's defined his Cleveland days right down to framing success after advancing to the Finals again.
"I don't think last year I appreciated it enough, getting back to the Finals," he said Friday night after the Cavaliers beat Toronto. "This year I'm going to appreciate this. ...
"It's very emotional just to be a part of something like this. This is my sixth straight [Finals]. It means everything."
That's not how he talked in the old days. You know, like 2012, when LeBron said after making the NBA Finals with the Heat, "We haven't done anything yet." Or 2013, when he said in that same position, "It doesn't mean anything if we don't win the next [series]."
I liked that LeBron. I liked the one who openly coveted a title. He no doubt wants to win just as much now. But he's going about it in a way that has downsized its meaning and has media defining his greatness in ways beyond the only one that matters at this point.
Like: No one has been to six consecutive Finals since Bill Russell's 1960s Celtics. That's nice. But Russell isn't defined by that. He is by 11 titles.
Like: This was the 25th consecutive playoff series in which LeBron's team has won a road game. That's more than Michael Jordan. Again, a nice, impressive stat. But does anyone define Jordan by that?
Everyone knows LeBron is great. He doesn't need comparative statistics to prove that by this point. He needs more than two titles.
Or does he?
Remember his famous " ... not five, not six, not seven ... " reverie with the Heat regarding how many titles he'll win? Does that expectation get downgraded to how many Finals he'll make in his career?
This probably is LeBron's best chance for another title. Cleveland is rested and healthy after a 12-2 waltz through the Eastern Conference playoffs. There was no great team in the way to this point.
That changes in the Finals. And, to be fair, Cleveland will be the underdog again. The only Finals that LeBron should have won and didn't was against Dallas in 2011, when he mysteriously disappeared in the end.
Even as underdogs, this will be his best remaining chance for a title. He's 31. Cleveland's payroll leads the league. This really is his time, if there's going to be a next time.
Understand: This isn't a bitter South Florida rant about LeBron. He delivered here. He made the Heat the best show in sports for four years. And he left through the same door he entered, which was entirely his right.
But the public boulder he shouldered for four years with the Heat isn't anything like the burden he carries in Cleveland. That's because of changed expectations. And because the national media has accepted that change.
Winston Churchill always said history would be nice to him. Why? "Because I'm going to write it," he said.
LeBron is smartly writing a different ending.
"I'm just truly blessed," he said after beating Toronto. "I mean, the man above have given me an unbelievable ability, and I just try take full advantage of it. That's my life. It's everything, and I give everything to the game.
"To be in a position where I can go out and help a group of guys get to places where either they haven't been before or been but want to accomplish even more in their careers, it just means a lot. So a lot of emotions were just going through my head."
Here's the emotion that should matter most:
How confident is he about winning a third title before his career ends?
Sports on 05/30/2016