With the playoffs just around the corner, there’s one thought crossing everybody’s mind. Will Lebron finally get his ring?
Lebron James, the king himself, is currently in the lead to become the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the third time in his eight-year career.
But some would say the only thing on Lebron’s mind is finally snatching his long-overdue championship ring and proving all his haters wrong.
Since last year’s final series against Dallas, Lebron has not only failed to perform to the best of his ability, and lost his chance at becoming an NBA champion, but has managed to endure another season of being ridiculed by NBA fans.
For the duration of the regular season the ‘King’ has been criticised and mocked for not only his receding hairline, but for the fact that he has no fourth quarter, no clutch and no rings.
For anyone who has watched this season, it is quite obvious that Lebron James has continued to prove himself as one of the best players currently in the NBA.
However, by looking at his recent fourth-quarter performances it appears James hasn’t learnt from last year’s mistakes; he continues to choke when the game is on the line.
For instance in Miami’s recent loss to Memphis, Lebron had 21 points for the game, however only two points in the fourth.
In another recent loss to the Bulls, Lebron had 25 points for the game and again only two in the fourth.
But most importantly, who could forget when the Heat took on the Jazz last month in a thrilling one-point game.
Lebron had 35 points for the game, 17 in the fourth quarter alone. With the game on the line, and his team down by one with 45 seconds to play, Lebron decided to pass the ball to Udonis Haslem (who may I add had just 4 points for the game) for the final shot!
Anyone who was watching that game would have been thinking the exact same thing; what was going through Lebron’s head?
These crucial fourth-quarter decisions by James are the ones that are going to cost him another championship.
If you are one of the best players in the game, if not the best, you do not pass up a game-winning shot in a situation like that.
Kobe Bryant would have never in a million years passed up that shot. If the game is on the line Kobe has the ball and takes it to the hole.
When the Lakers took on the Hornets earlier this season Kobe was shooting a shocking 3-21 from the field.
When the fourth quarter came, however, and the game was on the line, who still sunk the game winning three? That’s right, Kobe.
Some may criticise Kobe for his lack of teamwork, however if you ask any player to guard Kobe in the fourth their knees are going to be shaking.
In the fourth quarter, he is hands down the most dangerous player in the NBA, which could possibly explain his five championship rings.
Although being a Lakers fan myself, I want nothing more than to see Lebron finally get a championship.
With that being said, this will not happen unless he delivers in the fourth quarter of every playoff game.
And at the moment that does not look like a realistic prospect.
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
A great article you've linked to Eric, and it's interesting to note that 1. Lebron's shooting percentage in the clutch is HIGHER than Kobe's 2. Mentioning that Jordan once passed to Bill Wennington for a game winner. Much like LBJ laid that ball off to Haslem (who was WIDE OPEN and bricked it) Pro-Kobe propaganda from a Lakers fan, I'm not surprised!
Strongy
Roar Rookie
He blew a gasket somewhere in-between losing to Orlando in 09 ECF and joining Miami. The guy used to will Cleveland back into games and finish the job. Also, don't forget how quickly everyone was to proclaim the Heat champs after LeBron and Wade finished off Boston and Chicago last year. LeBron hit a number of clutch shots in that series but disappeared against the Mavs. Maybe coach Spo has to figure a way to keep the offence up tempo. LeBron can't create in the half court like he used too.
mushi
Roar Guru
It is very odd the Kobe mystique in the fourth quarter when every bit of evidence suggests otherwise. It is confirmation bias in it's purist form
mushi
Roar Guru
Thanks to NBA’s stats cube we can now look at clutch stats here are five guys Kobe, Durant, Paul, LeBron and Rose: Hmm formating doesn't seem to work A B C D E True Shooting%: 55.7 52.4 48.9 57.8 37.1 Assist %: 35.4 3.8 25.8 47.0 30.3 Rebound %: 17.4 13.7 9.9 7.1 7.6 Who do you think is who?
Eric George
Guest
Kobe is not the best player in fourth quarters in the NBA, Carmelo Anthony is. Kobe actually comes pretty low down the list of the most efficient scorers in the NBA (http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/24200/the-truth-about-kobe-bryant-in-crunch-time). "Since last year’s final series against Dallas, Lebron has not only failed to perform to the best of his ability..." Considering Lebron has put up freakish numbers this season, and has significantly improved his PER over what he put together last season, I'd say it's absurd to so that Lebron has failed to perform to the best of his ability this year. Additionally, LBJ doesn't need to perform in the 4th qr of EVERY playoff game, that's ridiculous. The point of playing on a team is that your star player(s) shouldn't be required to go off every match in order to succeed in the postseason. Kobe certainly didn't win the Lakers every game in the 09/10 finals, in fact Pau Gasol carried the majority of the load. Similarly, for the Heat to succeed, they only need 2 great matches from Wade, and 2 great matches from Lebron each series.