The King is Crowned

After waiting nine years, LeBron James has finally won the NBA Title.  James has taken 9 years to reach his ultimate goal, but in his second season as a member of the Miami Heat, the organization captured their second NBA Title after experience a devastating loss in the 2011 NBA Finals just one year ago. In last years NBA postseason LeBron was non-existence, folded under pressure, and became known as the "Frozen One" instead of the "Chosen One". Due to the lack of inability to perform by LeBron, the Miami Heat lost in the NBA Finals to the Dallas Mavericks in a come-from-behind 3 game win streak to claim the NBA Title.

Originally LeBron James looked to be a home-town hero and bring an NBA championship to the Cleveland Cavilers, as he grew up only 40 miles away from Cleveland in Akron, Ohio. The Cavs were able to make it to the NBA Finals in 2007 but fell short as they were swept by the Sanantonio Spurs in a lopsided series dominated by the Spurs. During the 2009-10 NBA Playoffs LeBron and the Cavs were ranked as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but failed to live up to the expectations of being the No. 1 seed. In the Eastern Semifinals, the Cavilers suffered in a unfortunate 4-2 series loss to the Boston Celtics. After having his second best season in his NBA career, LeBron James also won his second straight MVP Award. LeBron added these two MVP awards to his other accolades as James was a 6-time NBA All Star, NBA scoring champion (2008), 4-time All-NBA First Team, 2-time NBA All-Defensive First Team, an NBA Rookie of the Year (2004), All-Rookie First Team (2004), and a 2-time NBA All-Star Game MVP. Even though, at this point James seemed to of reached his full potential, being the No.1 draft pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, sports analysts and fans expected LeBron to captured at least one NBA Finals trophy. After an outstanding 2009-10 season, LeBron James made the decision of a lifetime.

Unlike any other professional athlete who decides that they want to play for a different team, LeBron James decided to make his move on an hour long, live, televised segment on ESPN known as "The Decision". On Thursday, July 8, 2010 LeBron shocked the world, and devastated his home town, and broke the heart of Caviler fans as he said the words "I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat." This decision brought together the NBA's newest Big Three as Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James came together to play for the Miami Heat. Many scrutinized that James was now playing on Wade's team, but as we all know now LeBron has taken over as the face of the franchise. On July 9, 2010, South Beach became the site of a welcoming party for the new Big Three. This welcoming party was much more of a pep rally for the Miami Heat, as James continued to amuse the media and put more pressure on the Miami franchise. LeBron did not state that he came to South Beach just to win one NBA Title, but stated that he came to win eight NBA Championships. With all this pressure on LeBron, he became more of a criticized athlete in his first season as a member of the Heat due to the pressure and hype to win the NBA title in just his first season in Miami.  

From day one, LeBron has been compared to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. The one huge difference between these two and LeBron is that they never worried about what said about them, and just showed all of their emotions and talent on the court. Before last night, LeBron James could never be compared to Jordan or Bryant as he never had a NBA Title under his belt. Even today, James cannot be brought up in the same category as other NBA Hall of Famers and future Hall of Famers, until he wins at the least 4 more NBA Titles just to catch up to the Lakers Kobe Bryant. Since leaving Celevland, LeBron has captured one NBA MVP, 2 time NBA All-Star, 2 time All-NBA First Time, 2 time NBA All-Defensive First Team, NBA Champion, and NBA Finals MVP.

This year the Miami Heat's supporting cast helped in a huge way to win the franchises second NBA Championship. In the postseason the Big Three did their part in each of the four series, the surrounding players did their part as well. Between Mario Chalmers, Shane Battier, Mike Miller, and Norris Cole; they all stepped when their number was called. If not for the supporting cast, the Miami Heat would not have won the NBA Title nor get through the Eastern Conference Finals against the experienced Boston Celtics. The reason for such an outstanding performance by these individuals in The NBA Finals, they all fed off of the double team on LeBron James, which left these outside shooters available for the open shot.

Has LeBron finally silenced his critics? Does he had the clutch gene? Would he have won a title if he didn't have Wade and Bosh? Many people argue that any superstar would win a title if they had two other star athletes on their team. Will LeBron be considered one of the greatest NBA players ever once his career is finished?

Congratulations to the 2012 NBA Champion Miami Heat