How did 2018 become the year of LeBron James?

It was difficult to imagine a happy ending for LeBron James after his dreadful January, and yet 2018 has improbably become the finest act of his career.

In the fall of 2008, LeBron James finally put everything together. He had just come off of his legendary Finals run, and his first valiant effort against the Boston Celtics. However, we all knew there was another level he could get to.

And then he went there. LeBron led those Cleveland Cavaliers — sporting Mo Williams as a “co-star” — to an impossible 66 wins. He dominated the MVP voting and vaulted himself to the unquestioned status of “best basketball player in the world.”

It has been ten years since that ascension, yet Lebron James is somehow managing to ascend once again. “I’m like fine wine,” he said last week.

Just two months ago we were a gaping chasm from this conversation. The Cavaliers were drowning in a sea of malaise and passive aggressiveness. But then the eviction of Isaiah Thomas allowed LeBron to hit the reset button.

The result?

An All-Star MVP award, a career-defining dunk and perhaps the best 17-game offensive stretch we’ve ever seen.

LeBron found out about the Cavaliers’ front office plans to trade Isaiah just before the Timberwolves game on February 7th. Since that moment, Lebron is averaging an astonishing 30 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists per game. All while shooting 55% from the field and 41% from three.

As a point of reference, during Russell Westbrook’s historic season-long triple-double average, he shot just 43% from the field and 34% from three. Westbrook won that MVP despite the struggles of his team because it was considered a historic statistical achievement.

LeBron is taking that achievement to the next level.

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Now LeBron finds himself in the driver seat of a storyline that has MJ-vaulting potential. If he manages to lead this rag-tag group of vets and youngsters to an NBA championship he will stand unassailable.

But to realize just how unbelievable this turnaround has been, we have to rewind to the end of last season.

Gregg Popovich anointed Kawhi Leonard. Kyrie demanded a trade. Paul Pierce began his trolling career at LeBron’s expense. We allowed a pull-up three from Kevin Durant — despite being alongside an MVP and two other All-Stars — to convince us LeBron was washed.

Then LeBron embarked on this journey without his wingman. It was as rocky as it should have been given the circumstances and yet we said Lebron was a chemistry cancer.

We said it was his fault he re-signed Tristan Thompson and JR Smith. (This is where I’ll remind you Tristan and J.R. helped the Cavaliers win a championship, and then Kevin Durant joined the Warriors. Those signings only look bad because suddenly Kyrie and Lebron weren’t enough. That’s revisionist history.)

Kevin Durant got away with fouling Lebron twice in crunch time on Christmas day. This only furthered the blasphemy.

We blamed LeBron for not winning as much as he did with another top-ten NBA player by his side. This, of course, is completely unreasonable but we had all effectively transitioned to the gospel according to Skip Bayless.

Johnny Football will one day be bigger in Cleveland than his buddy LeBron ever was.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 9, 2014

It took this unbelievable stretch of basketball for LeBron to dig himself out of this hole. And now he’s primed to make his move.

The Warriors are literally the walking wounded. Kyrie is taking a break to rest his knee. The Raptors and Rockets look dangerous, except for that they’ve looked dangerous before.

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Let’s see if he can pull it off, because if he does?

2018 will go down as the best year of his career.