2008 Woodie Awards
Sports Perspective: James becoming the next Michael Jordan
Brian Oden
In just four seasons with the Cleveland, Cavaliers LeBron James has proven his worthiness not only as a NBA star but also as a leader. As the number one overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft, James took over the Cavaliers and in three seasons took them to the finals. I look at James as the second coming of his air-ness Michael Jordan. The way James stepped in and took over a struggling team, leading them to the playoffs in a short amount of time, and also losing his first NBA finals appearance, was just like Mike.
This season, James played in 78 games averaging 40.9 minutes and 27.3 points per game, leading Cleveland into the eastern division playoffs with the second seed. With his teammates stepping up, James still remained the focal point of Cleveland when they swept the Washington Wizards in the first round. After a loss to the New Jersey Nets, James told the media "This is just basketball. I got family at home. It's just not that serious ... a loss is not the end of the world, it's just a time to regroup and find out your weaknesses." James proved this by leading Cleveland past the New Jersey Nets four games to two in the second round taking them to the Eastern Finals. In the eastern conference finals James met up with former champs Detroit.
As the 2006-2007 NBA season ended, the basketball phenom known as LeBron James had made it to the NBA finals. The finals are home to former stars Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. I feel that since James made it to the finals so early in his career, he officially solidified his nick name "King James." Jordan lost in his first finals appearance but that didn't stop him from winning six NBA titles. James was in a position to lead his team to win not only his first NBA championship but the Cavaliers first NBA title. But, the San Antonio Spurs veteran leadership put a stop to James in four straight games.
James' rise to fame has been short, but it looks like nothing
will stop him until he wins his first championship. From
there, the sky's the limit.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 10
t
posted 6/18/07 @ 8:55 AM PST
did you watch NBA? when Jordan lost in his first finals appearance?
James A. Kilkenny
posted 6/18/07 @ 10:51 AM PST
The writer of this article should wait until LeBron actually WINs a championship before anointing him king of the NBA. I agree, so far, so good. Only true once-in-a-generation ability could have led Cleveland past a team like Detroit considering all the things Cleveland lacked. (Continued…)
chris
posted 6/18/07 @ 12:32 PM PST
michael jordan did not lose in his first finals. he lost to detroit back-to-back years in the conf finals, before going on to beat the lakers for title number one. (Continued…)
Joe
posted 6/18/07 @ 1:23 PM PST
MICHAEL JORDAN DID NOT LOSE IN HIS FIRST NBA FINALS APPEARANCE. KNOW THE FACTS BEFORE YOU TRY AND COMPARE THE GREATEST EVER TO LEBRON.
cyrenaic
posted 6/18/07 @ 3:00 PM PST
Brian, first congrats. Your story pop up at the top of my Google search. That's hard to do, but you accomplished it!
Second, I see you are in college. (Continued…)
Joseph
posted 6/18/07 @ 3:52 PM PST
Your facts are wrong concerning Michael Jordan. Jordan never lost when he played in the show. He beat the Los Angeles Lakers led by Magic Johnson. I can't believe you even thought to write this article in the first place. (Continued…)
a
posted 6/19/07 @ 3:02 AM PST
wow ur a fucking idiot. you speciously illustrate lebron's path through the playoffs as some challenging feat and incredible success. "swept the wizards"???? is that even supposed to carry any weight in your argument, given that the top 2 players on the wizards had not played? "2nd seed" in the East??? 2nd seed in the east would have been the bottom in the west's playoff seeding. (Continued…)
Nic
posted 6/19/07 @ 6:51 AM PST
What the hell are you talking about? "King" James? That is B.S. He had one great game in the conference finals, and while he does not have a great supporting cast, he simply stunk against the Spurs on the biggest stage. (Continued…)
a
posted 6/19/07 @ 3:54 PM PST
wow you're an idiot. you speciously illustrate lebron's path through the playoffs as some challenging feat and incredible success. "swept the wizards"???? is that even supposed to carry any weight in your argument, given that the top 2 players on the wizards had not played? "2nd seed" in the East??? 2nd seed in the east would have been the bottom in the west's playoff seeding. (Continued…)
Jtreal
posted 6/20/07 @ 5:45 AM PST
interesting story as I am a big Lebron fan. however, you are a moron for not checking such important statements: that MJ lost in his first finals appearance. (Continued…)
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