LBJ's Disappearing Act

Despondent LeBron

It's happened before. LeBron disingegaged from a game during crunch
time. LeBron alone in a corner with all of the action swirling around
him like a tornado and he is somehow not involved. LeBron making
tentative decisions and bad passes that show he's mentally checked out.
LeBron not being LeBron, the world's best basketball player.

It happened during Cleveland's series last year against Boston,
twice. It also happened in Game 4 of the Finals, as the Heat withered
in the face of yet another Dallas comeback. Instead of a sweep,
we now have a very intriguing and exciting series with a very compelling
stretch run still to be had.

After the Game 3 win, after LeBron's beautiful backwards pass to Bosh
that set up the game winning jumper, a reporter asked LeBron what was
going on ? Why hadn't scored much in the 4th Quarter of the Finals Series.
The reporter framed the question in terms of superstars growing in these
moments, why is it that he hadn't done much. What's going on ?

His response showed how well in-tune LeBron is with not only with
the finer points of game of basketball as a whole but with how the
media perceives his talents.

"You're only focusing on one end of the floor." He went on to explain
how he had played very good defense, how he had all of those assists.
He lectured the reporter to study the film and come back and ask him
a better question.

The problem is, after LeBron's Game 4 performance, the same question was
the better question. Why is it that LeBron had totally disappeared
in the last 5 minutes of the Game. Why is it that he seemed not only
not aggressive and hesitant, but at points disengaged on offense,
on defense; why was he, totally disconnected from the game around him.

Eight points is not going to cut it for LeBron. Not from LeBron the
facilitator, not from LeBron the defensive stalwart, not LeBron the
Iron Man of his team. As a superstar, he's supposed to do all of those things and more.
Simply put, he has to score more, he has to drive more,
he has to be more aggressive, on both ends of the floor. He has to go back
to being King James, the most talented player in the world.

Until LeBron does something to get himself back into it, until he exerts
his will in these Finals and enables the Heat to beat out a very strong
Dallas team, we will always wonder why it is that he disappears during the
biggest moments, when the championship is on the line.

It may be unfair, as Scott van Pelt of ESPN stated, that LeBron's legacy
is updated daily as if it were a Facebook status. But this is the age
that LeBron lives in. This age of constant communication, of Facebook and
Twitter, has helped to elevate LeBron's universal status. It's up to
him to make sure that his status doesn't get knocked down and out for
the count, fairly or not.