When you are one win away from silencing millions of critics and winning the first championship of your career, it becomes a lot easier to say the right thing. LeBron James is proving that this postseason. With the Heat holding a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Thunder and a chance to close out the Finals at home on Thursday night, LeBron took some time to reflect on what went wrong during last season’s series against the Mavericks.
“Last year after Game 6, after losing once again, I was very frustrated,” LeBron said according to Pro Football Talk. “I was very hurt that I let my teammates down, and I was very immature.
“Like I said, last year I played to prove people wrong instead of just playing my game, instead of just going out and having fun and playing a game that I grew up loving and why I fell in love with the game. So I was very immature last year after Game 6 toward you guys and toward everyone that was watching.”
Admitting he acted immature is yet another step toward the LeBron James Image Repair Project, and it’s a pretty good one. He has already apologized for “The Decision,” so it’s safe to say LeBron realizes everything that happened involving his choice to sign with the Heat — including but not limited to the Three Kings celebration party — got out of hand. He also said he isn’t feeling the same kind of pressure this year that he was a year ago.
“Last year (the pressure) was much more than today,” LeBron explained. “I remember being Game 5 last year with the series tied 2-2, it just felt like more pressure, felt like it was more people here, felt like you guys (in the media) not only brought yourselves but brought your relatives all to Dallas. It just seemed more. And I may be wrong. I probably am wrong about that. But I’m just more comfortable. I think just me being more comfortable and me just trying to seize my opportunity.”
Again, this stuff is easy to say when you’re one win away from hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy. Not that LeBron said anything wrong, but if I’m the Thunder I’m using this as motivation. It almost sounds like King James is talking as though the series is over. And even if he’s not, I’d pretend he was if I was in the Oklahoma City locker room.
Photo credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE
