Lebron in Crunch Time: What Separates Him

Over the years, you notice players who seem to have what is called the clutch
gene. Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, and Carmelo Anthony are a few that come to mind.
These are players that can hoist up a game-winner, and you're surprised if they miss the
shot. Take Kevin Durant, repeatedly, against the Mavericks. KD can hit a 30 foot, fade
away, contested 3 from the right wing as time expires to win the game. He can back-cut
his defender at half court and pull up for a game-winning mid-range jumper as the ball
comes off the tips of his fingers at the pinnacle of his 610 frame and gets a seemingly
impossible shooters roll over the contesting arms of Shawn Marion as it falls through the
orange to win game 1 of the Oklahoma City Thunders 2012 first round series. Then
theres Kobe. Kobe is known for his clutch gene. We all know about the falling-left, top
of the key, three off the backboard over Dwyane Wade. Lastly, theres Melo. One of my
favorite moments in basketball was when Carmelo Anthony hit a go-ahead three in
overtime against the Bulls in Madison Square Garden from the same spot he hit a 3 in
regulation to send the game to overtime in the first place. A clutch gene is rare. You
have to have a special player that will step up in a big moment and be willing to face the
criticism of missing the shot, or inherit the glory of hitting the shot. Thats why these
three players are special.
When you look at Lebron, and how he performs in the clutch, he tends to have a
bad reputation. He has lots of ups and downs. A down would be the recent game 1 of
the Finals against the Warriors. With 44 points, 8 boards, 6 assists, and only one
turnover, Lebron shined in regulation. He was virtually unstoppable, but in overtime, he
had 2 points (Clevelands only 2 points) and 3 turnovers. It gets even worse when you
learn that the 2 points came off of a layup in garbage time that was basically handed to
him on a silver platter when Andre Iguodala raised his arms and opened up to the
sideline to let the King go untouched to the basket.
An up would be game 4 against the bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals. The
Bulls had taken a 2-1 series lead when they stole a game in Cleveland then came back
home and got another win. The Bulls were on their way to a commanding 3-1 lead with
momentum on their side, tied with Cleveland at 84 with 1.5 seconds left in regulation.
David Blatt had initially drawn up a play for James to be throwing the ball in, to which he
replied, Theres no way I'm taking the ball out. James proceeded to stand on the low
block with Matthew Dellavedova inbounding the ball. He got into Jimmy Butlers chest
and released to the corner to nail a 3 as the buzzer sounded to immediately give the
series momentum back to the Cavs. The play that was drawn up, I scratched it said
Lebron after the win.

Moments like these, when your superstar and hometown hero vetoes the play
drawn up by the head coach, calls his own number, and drills a game-winning 3 to give
his team playoff life back, are moments you have to sit back in awe and admire such
greatness; but other moments, such as the colossal collapse in game 1 of the finals are
when you question the greatness of King James. This, to me, is what separates Lebron
from rising from an all time great, to the greatest of all time. If Ray Allen didn't hit the
most clutch shot of his career against the Spurs in game 6 of the 2013 Finals, Lebron
wouldn't have been able to live down missing the 3 that allowed that shot to even
happen. Lebron has everything; height, weight, talent, speed, agility, strength, you name
it, but when it comes down to crunch time, he cant seem to consistently get the job
done. When asked who they'd rather have taking the last shot in the clutch, 26 NBA
players had to choose between Jordan, Kobe, and Lebron. 88% chose MJ, 12% chose
Kobe, and a whopping 0% chose Lebron.
The problem isn't that James doesn't shoot well when the game is on the line.
Lebron's numbers on go-ahead shots in the last 10 seconds of regulation and overtime
are better than Kobe Bryants. The problem is that he disappears. No matter how James
has been playing the rest of the game, he goes into this passive, too-unselfish mode in
crunch time. When staring a loss in the eyes, Lebron seems to want no part of it. I think
this is why people put him under the microscope when it comes to crunch time (Well,
besides being the best player on the planet).
This is a circumstance where the numbers dont lie, and Lebrons numbers in
crunch time are phenomenal. However, when it comes down to it, he does tend to go
MIA when the going gets tough. When James learns to get going consistently in crunch
times, he will have a legitimate shot at being called the greatest of all time.