The NBA is a commercial league, and everything is for profit. For this, James sees it clearly and further than many people. He knows the rules of the game and knows how to play the game well.
If you want to be taken care of by the alliance, it must be in the interests of the alliance. Like Jordan at the peak, after the magician and Bird faded out of the rivers and lakes, he has become the most shining star and the facade of the alliance, and his every move has a great influence. However, Jordan’s contribution to the league is too great. It can be said that players can get such a high salary now thanks to Jordan, so everyone will not have any opinions if he gets a little care. There is no absolute fairness in this world.
The most important thing is that Jordan’s own hard power has passed, and the league can win everyone with a little applause. Even if the league doesn’t help, he can win all his opponents in the playoffs, so the controversy caused by Jordan in the past is not that big.
In this regard, Jordan’s regular season data, playoff data and finals data show a step-by-step obvious upward trend, which is evident. Other players are better than Kobe and James. Although the playoff data is also better than the regular season, the increase is not obvious, and the finals are even more difficult.
For big players, they are not as enjoyable as perimeter players, so they naturally get less care.
By the time the OK team ruled the Lakers, their dominance was still slightly inferior to Jordan’s. Do you think the league didn’t take care of them? There are still some more or less. However, in the 2002 Western Conference Finals, the series between Kings and Lakers, the referee failed to control the game, which can be said that both sides were not very good, and it also caused great controversy later.
Later, in the era of James and Curry, including the team where Thunder Sanshao was located, Durant, Wei Shao and Harden (including after joining the Rockets), these people were taken care of to varying degrees. These things are already clear to everyone, so I won’t repeat them here.
James is a very clever man, and his cleverness is reflected in many aspects. As mentioned earlier, he saw through the essence of the alliance very early, and it is one thing to learn and play this game better than anyone else.
On the other hand, on the court, especially in the series of playoffs, we can see it through many things.
If every series in the playoffs is full, there are seven games. James often tests and observes his opponent in the first game, and finds out the routines of the opponent, and of course, the routines of the league and the referee.
Many times, opponents won the first game against James’ team, but they often couldn’t laugh at the end, especially after James joined the Heat.
For this strange phenomenon, there is only one explanation, that is, James’s understanding and observation ability is too strong. He didn’t really exert himself in the first game of the series. He will find the weakness of the opponent’s tactical routine through observation and start to defeat his opponent with his strength in the second game.
One of the classic examples is the 2012 finals. Although the Youth Army Thunder won the first battle, James, who was aiming at the championship, quickly found the weakness of the Youth Army and led the Heat to win his first championship trophy for 40% in a row.
Some people say that Rondo can remember each other’s tactics and make a magical move to let Cousins successfully defend the opponent in the bottom corner. James can also remember each other’s tactics and find a solution after the first game of the series.
There is also a classic case. In the 2013 finals, James’s Heat also lost in the first game, and there were several big scores to lose. There were many factors that Popovich was tricky and difficult to deal with, but in the end, James dismantled them one by one and finally won the tiebreaker.
After losing the first game of the series, there are too many cases in which James’ team bounced back and beat their opponents. In those days, he reversed the Bulls and Pacers in the Heat, and later reversed the Rockets where Harden was after the Cavaliers reversed the Pacers and Celtics, and arrived in the Lakers.
The most classic finals case is the 2016 finals. After the first four games, the Cavaliers were 1-3 behind, but James seized the opportunity of Green’s suspension. The most important thing was Bogut’s reimbursement, so that he and Owen could take turns to attack the inside line, and he knew the referee’s penalty scale and the league’s need for greater interests. They seized the weakness of the Warriors and beat them hard, and finally successfully reversed the game.
James reached the finals ten times, four of which won the championship, and the four wins were:
In 2012, he defeated Thunder 4-1.
In 2013, he defeated the Spurs 4-3.
In 2016, the Warriors were defeated 4-3.
In 2020, beat the Heat 4-2.
And lost six times, respectively:
In 2007, he lost 4-0 to the Spurs.
In 2011, 2-4 lost to the Mavericks.
In 2014, 1-4 lost to the Spurs.
In 2015, 2-4 lost to the Warriors.
In 2017, 1-4 lost to the Warriors.
In 2018, 0-4 lost to the Warriors.
Except for 2011 and 2015, the six finals defeats were all defeats, and there was no resistance at all, and all of them lost by a big score. Although such a big defeat was also found among other stars, it was very rare to be so dense.
Even in the two wins in 2013 and 2016, there were times when there were big scores. The sixth game in 2013 was a narrow escape, while the 2016 was a Jedi counterattack, but it was considered controversial.
In this regard, some people have concluded that James met a strong enemy in the finals. When he won, he could only win a little, but when he lost, he was defeated. There are the following reasons:
(1), the quality of the will is not good, and it is tough, but it will soon give up if it is found that it can’t be carried. There is no spirit of fighting to the end, and there is no courage to fight to the last soldier.
Tough, that is, when the score is tight, James can often help the team win the game, because his style of play makes the team’s offensive output stable. As long as the opponent is unstable at the critical moment, his team is likely to win.
But once James’ team can’t defend its opponent, it is easy to be defeated and give up defense.
Every star has been defeated, but James has played more games and certainly more.
(2) With the help of the referee, if he loses too much, he can’t blow it back, but a tight game can help him win.
There are too many examples, and it’s not just him who has this problem. Almost every star has it.
(3), eat the eastern dividend, you can break through by organizing a group in the weak east, but when you meet a strong enemy in the west, you will show your true colors and have no resistance.
In this regard, some people give an example to illustrate what will be the result of James’ record in the west. In 2007, James’ record can only rank sixth in the west, so the Spurs, who ranked third in the west in the first round, will be swept out. In other words, James, who can win the championship in the east, can only travel in the first round in the west. The contrast between reaching the finals and the first round tour is really too great.
The reason why James lost more and won less in the finals was because his opponents were too strong. He met Duncan and Curry in the top ten in history, as well as Nowitzki and Durant in the top twenty.
And his opponents are have no martial ethics, Duncan’s team is actually a multi-giant configuration, Parker is the first in France, Ginobili is the first in Argentina, and both teams have the strength to beat the US team, so you can imagine how strong they are! The Spurs are actually a group team, and it is normal for James to lose to them.
Not to mention the Warriors, two MVP groups, Curry and Durant, as well as the first 3D soup god in history and the sixth person, Iguodala, who is the best in history, who can stand up to the universe?