LeBron James joined the Miami Heat to play with a better team and win NBA titles. Now it's up to him to deliver. The biggest game of LeBron James’ career awaits him Thursday. It’s the highest stakes (Game 5 of a deadlocked NBA Finals), the biggest stage (a global audience of surging ratings) and the most pressure (magnified by his listless, eight-point debacle in a Game 4 loss) he’s dealt with since bursting into the national consciousness as an Akron high schooler.
At some point in his life LeBron James tattooed “Chosen 1” across his body, so it’s not like a night like this, a moment like this and the demands of a game like this come as a surprise. This is what he has supposedly built his life toward.
Twenty-six years old, as talented of a basketball player as anyone has ever seen, and this is when the check comes due on all those millions, all those endorsements, all that fame and adulation he’s received.
This is no longer about promise or potential. This is the time to stand and deliver. Two MVPs are nice. An Olympic gold is cool. Global icon is fun. Basketball legends are built through championships, however, and a player of James’ immense ability can’t continue to fade into the background during the lonely moments when the biggest games are determined.
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