King James Gospel
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Dan Gilbert Reveals Cavs’, LeBron’s Plans

By Quenton S. Albertie

Feb 18, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin talks with the media before the game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 18, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin talks with the media before the game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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“LeBron, you can just see – I think anyways – he has a certain calmness to him. Sort of that calmness, confidence, leadership. LeBron James, he doesn’t bite his nails anymore. I don’t know if anybody ever noticed that, but he doesn’t. I think that’s for a reason. He just feels like the veteran leader… So, we got to get four more” — Dan Gilbert on LeBron via ESPN.com

Rewind to 2014 when LeBron returned but there were already plenty of rumors about it already being decided. After Wade showed that his physical decline was irreversible, or so we thought, and Bosh still proved incapable of being an equal member of the Big Three as they lost in six games to the Spurs in the 2014 NBA Finals. After moving trucks were spotted outside his home. After his wife reportedly wanting to move back to Cleveland to raise their third child, and being homesick.

He announced his return on July 11, 2014. After the plane ride back to Miami with D. Wade on July 10, the end of the NBA’s moratorium period and when teams can begin signing players, LeBron was already decided. Though Kyrie’s max extension was announced on July 10, he accepted the offer on July 1.

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I’m not claiming to have inside information, but who can make an on-the-spot decision to sign with a different team? Remember The King’s meeting with his favorite teammate Zydraunus Ilgauskus, who asked LeBron to come back during the ceremony his jersey retirement? I’m just saying. /

On top of that, Kyrie wanted people to know he wasn’t LeBron, was tired of the pressure. Why would he come back with certainty to a losing team. For Andrew Wiggins? At the time, David Griffin said Kyrie had a commitment to bring a championship to Cleveland. Sound familiar?

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Looking at the tattoos on their left shoulders reminds me of looking at the logos of superheroes. LeBron, Captain America. Kyrie, with the Hamsa Hand, Winter Soldier. For those that don’t know, in the comic books, Winter Soldier was trained by Captain America as a teenager and sometimes acted as Captain America. He was a skilled assassin who did advanced reconnaissance, had a cybernetic left arm, and superhuman abilities then became brainwashed. The Hamsa Hand would seem to have nothing to do with that. Except that Kyrie plays like a brainwashed assassin; his coat of arms symbolizes peace while he’s out there slicing through his opponents. Like the hat he placed on the podium during their Game 6 postgame press conference indicated, they’re Originals, not a remake. /

Now the Cavs had their original Originals, but did Wiggins really have a game that made him different? Like, LeBron is unique because of the combination of his everything. Kyrie because of his handles, pull-up shot, and finishing around the rim. Wiggins had no specialty to solidify his role and duplicated a lot of LeBron’s abilities, not original.

Enter Kevin Love, the first power forward to be unstoppable from both the perimeter and an insatiable rebounder, being second in the threes made for the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise and first in total rebounding percent for the team he started his basketball career with. He was an original. He was breaking team double-double records, 30 point scoring records, dropped a 30-30 game. Love was a beast. He was even doing it against great teams while being the primary option.

He was an improvement over the template LeBron was bringing from Miami. Irving who was younger and healthier,  would be the King’s primary general, like Wade, taking command and being a leader on this team. Chris Bosh had spaced the floor and shown offensive ability few could boast of but the Heat were always killed on the boards. Not with Love, who would space the floor even more. Kevin Love’s problems in Minnesota were well-documented. He wanted to be on a winning team and also to be paid like a superstar. But he wasn’t. The Wolves would likely only trade him for the number one pick, or the right package. Wiggins was both.

LeBron, Kyrie, and Love being on the same team was something that you could have seen coming from a mile away if you really looked at it. Then the hard part came, playing with each other. I’ll skip the gory details and say that their first year was unpleasant but miraculous, and then they all seemed to be figuring it out and it was unfortunate. 2/3 of the Originals watched The King battle the Warriors alone, against their versatile offense full of stars. He almost pulled it off with help from Matthew Dellavedova, Tristan Thompson, and Iman Shumpert but just fell short. It was heartbreaking. It was also inspirational, historical, legendary.

Still, what of Menace? Love, though miffed by some of LeBron’s comments, showed a commitment to winning. He signed a five-year deal in the offseason that conveyed a sense of belief that the Cavs could win championships for five straight years. I mean after LeBron’s inspiring 2015 NBA Finals appearance how could you not believe that with the additional talents of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, the Cavaliers would win titles until LeBron reached a significant decline? Menace auditioned for the Originals, and he was accepted. “One of the first things I told him was ‘Over the next five years we are going to get to know each other better, and that’s going to make a better relationship and product on the floor'” Love said. Clearly, the Big Three were in it for the long haul.

Lil Kev is an alter ego, like King James or Uncle Drew. In terms of the Avengers, Menace reminds me of Thor. After being banished from the kingdom he was in line to rule, the thunder god lost his powers on another planet, though he was still above regular human strength. Then, Thor got his hammer back when he needed to most, and never relinquished it again.

Putting together the basketball version of the Avengers was a plan, and was now complete. After Love and Thompson signed a five-year deal, I wondered if that was the official window for these Cavs? In the first year of the new deal, the Cavs reach the NBA Finals and Dan Gilbert all the sudden talks about four more appearances. Four more appearances that Love and Irving specifically (and Tristan Thompson) will already be under contract for.

James, though often rumored to be considering leaving, has invested a lot in his Avengers superteam and it’s paying off. He clearly wants to surpass Jordan’s championship total, with a five-year dynasty seeming planned. This team is just getting started. The individual games’ of the Big Three is so original they can all go down as legends, icons, Hall of Famers.

Their “sidekicks” are possible Ring of Famers. Tristan Thompson definitely as the all-time offensive rebound leader playing for the dynasty team, the team’s less eccentric version of Dennis Rodman. J.R. Smith can go down as a Cav who broke multiple three-point scoring records to keep the Cavs on pace with teams such as the Warriors while playing likevKlay Thompson, with a “2K” twist. Iman Shumpert might not break records but like Tony Allen or Avery Bradley has become renowned as a defensive specialist.

Add in quality veterans, a couple of true centers, and a talented group of backup guards and make them all loveable, professional, hard-workers? This isn’t a team you want to leave.

Sure, other teams might give LeBron things to think about. The Phoenix Suns have Eric Bledsoe, who is like LeBron’s little brother and a legitimate member for a Big Three. They’re also renowned for how they improve players’ health. The Los Angeles Lakers have L.A. of course. That could be the type of marketing move LeBron needs as a business mogul and for a student of the game like James, donning the purple and gold could be heavily appealing. The Miami Heat have Dwyane Wade, Pat Riley, the flashy Miami lifestyle that seems to fit his tastes, his basketball style, and they have familiarity.

Still a lesson from Riley is ironically why LeBron will stay and it’s the most valuable advice he’s received. Genius often tasks those who are burdened by it with overthinking. This has doomed LeBron in his basketball career as he always has tried to do the right thing. So where does he play basketball. In his home state of Cleveland, with his best friend in Miami, his little brother in Phoenix, or with possibly all four of his best friends in L.A.? If the right thing isn’t clear you need a broader goal, to accomplish the main thing. “What is the main thing”, Riley says, because the main thing is always the main thing”.

According to David Griffin, “the most important thing in his life is winning a championship here, and he feels incredible pressure to deliver. He is consumed by it” — David Griffin on LeBron via SI.com

For LeBron, the main thing is bringing a championship to Cleveland. That is his primary task no matter if it takes up the entire five years to win one. Main thing 1a, as all NBA fans should know, is to surpass Michael Jordan as the greatest basketball player ever. Some people say all he needs to do that is more championship rings. He already has the records, the accolades, the stats, the talent. Maybe four rings would be enough for the public to say that but leaving history up to chance when you’ve worked your whole life to make history, makes little sense to me.

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Seven rings would definitely put him ahead of Jordan. Five rings for his teammates and for the franchise would put them conversation with teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, and Boston Celtics. If you’re Irving or Love, five rings puts you in the conversation with Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan. That’s why, according to Gilbert, they have four more to go. His team is doing it for LeBron. But they’re now doing it with him, and him with them. They’re playing for him but also for themselves and the city. LeBron is playing for them, for himself, and for Cleveland. LeBron is exuding a sense of calm on his way to the last battle of the war. Captain America has the Avengers flanking him on either side of the frontline; the best superteam he’s ever been on. The Originals.

“[LeBron]’s at peace. This is team basketball. He has help and he knows it” — Mike Mancias, LeBron’s trainer, via ESPN.com

LeBron is also at peace because he doesn’t feel like his options are limited. He knows what he can do. And yes, he knows he’ll have help.