LeBron James finally did it. He brought back an NBA title to Cleveland, giving the Cavs their first championship in franchise history. Now that he’s accomplished his primary goal, what is James’ motivation? He wants to be the greatest of all time. He wants to surpass Michael Jordan.
“My motivation is this ghost I’m chasing,” James told Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins. “The ghost played in Chicago.”
James contrasted his career with Jordan’s to Jenkins:
“My career is totally different than Michael Jordan’s,” he says. “What I’ve gone through is totally different than what he went through. What he did was unbelievable, and I watched it unfold. I looked up to him so much. I think it’s cool to put myself in position to be one of those great players, but if I can ever put myself in position to be the greatest player, that would be something extraordinary.”
James is one of the all-time greats, that’s for sure. But he still has more work to do if he wants to be the greatest. Jordan went an undefeated 6/6 in NBA Finals series. Like Jordan, James has been to the Finals six times. However, he has three championships, not six.
James also spoke about what this most recent championship — against a 73-win Golden State Warriors team — means to him:
“This was bigger for me than the first and the second,” James says, “because of everything it represents.”
James admits that he had his doubts when facing a 3-1 deficit vs. the winningest regular season team of all time:
“You’re down 3–1,” he says, “and nobody has ever come back from 3–1. You’re facing a team that won 73 games, and you’re going back to their home floor, where they just won 54 in a row. Self-doubt creeps in.” James’s wife, Savannah, asked if he was O.K., and he responded with a dissertation about a turnaround jumper that Tristan Thompson sank late in the second quarter. Thompson never makes that shot. James believed it was a sign. The Cavaliers would surely win the game and tie the series. “This is a tough loss,” he said. “But there’s a light still shining.” He picked up his phone, the one with the Larry O’Brien Trophy as the screen saver, and sent a group text to the entire team:
“No matter how we got to this point, we’re here now. . . . We have to go to Golden State for Game 5 and we have to come home anyway. So why not come home and play a Game 6. . . . Let it go, play hard, be focused, follow my lead, and I’ll make sure you get home for a Game 6.”
This championship was a major moment in LeBron’s legacy. It was perhaps the greatest performance of his career, and he was rewarded with a championship for his brilliance.
