OAKLAND, Calif. -- LeBron James will tell you he doesn't care. He's said to reporters year after year he doesn't think about his legacy, and he'll be asked about it at the conclusion of this series. His comprehensive knowledge of the game, past greats and his constant references to where he wants to stand in the architecture of the game's elite tell a different story. These Finals are the next step in defining the legacy, even as it transforms with each game, year, failure or triumph.
James has done it all in the NBA Finals: Been the weak link (2011), the sun in a title team's solar system (2012), the central character in one of history's most dramatic series (2013), the last one pulling a wagon that proved too heavy (2014).
Then there is this championship round, capping the return to his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. Never has his story faced such a complicated set of scenarios as it does in the next one or two games vs. the Golden State Warriors. And James may have further complicated matters after Sunday's Game 5 loss at Oakland. With the Cavs trailing 3-2, thus facing the ultimate must-win games, a reporter suggested perhaps James is feeling more pressure while carrying the undermanned Cavs.
"Nah," James responded. "I feel confident because I'm the best player in the world. It's simple."
James turned 30 on Dec. 30, during his 12th NBA season. Michael Jordan turned 30 in 1993, only months before his third title and subsequent first retirement. It was only his ninth NBA season, so there is some difference in miles and opportunities between them. The key however is that Jordan won three titles after he turned 30.
James has played 1,088 NBA games -- more than 300 logged by Jordan at the same age. But no matter the physical toll absorbed this season, James always has been the physical exception to every rule. He may be in better shape than any basketball player, ever. There's so much James can accomplish over the rest of his career, especially when considering far Cleveland has gone without Anderson Varejao, a bench made up of ready-to-retire players who can't contribute and the Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving injuries.
He has been to the Finals six times, more than most players can fathom. Winning one title usually relieves the pressure (see: Nowitzki, Dirk). Winning two is a different class of player. Everything after the 2013 victory should be gravy for James. His legacy and status among the greats secure.
But that's not how it works. You can have what you think is a legacy, but it must be validated by peers, and in James' case -- the public. For his part, James has never shied away from those expectations. From the time the hype began in the eighth grade, James has embraced it. He has set the bar as "All-Time Great." The "Rushmore" conversation that's all the rage? Also welcomed by James, who understands basketball history as well as any player. He literally has "Chosen One" written on his back.
You set the expectation and people expect you to meet it.
In the moment, this series has elevated James. Even some of his most hard-core critics are blown away by the load he has carried. James has dragged this team to the Finals and two wins from the title in taking two from a 67-win team that ran roughshod through the West. It's next to impossible to criticize James for failing; he's doing everything he can. He averaged 41 points for three games before his body gave out in Game 4, and still managed 22 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists that night. He followed with Game 5's incredible 40-point, 14-rebounds, 11-assist game, a Finals feat never accomplished since they started recording rebounds. Even if the Cavaliers lose this series, there's no blaming James because reaching this moment acquits him of any "choker" nonsense.
Yet, there's that record. Should the Cavs come up short, James' teams would fall to 2-4 in the Finals. That number looks bad. The only way to spin it: Pointing out so few players ever reach the Finals, so it's difficult to amass that record in the first place.
But we don't judge players based on their ability to get to the show. We expect the greats to close the championship deal. So James is still competing against those who consistently walked off with the crown: Jordan. Bird. Magic. Duncan. Shaq. Kobe. Russell.
Let's say the fates are cruel, Cleveland comes up short this time and James never reaches another Finals (which would be a total shame). Would history be kind and put what happened in these two weeks in June in perspective? Would we remember James carrying Matthew Dellavedova and a totally green Tristan Thompson, or James Jones as the seventh man? Would we remember his second-best offensive weapon was a gunner riding a scooter shooting 25 percent from 3-point range?
Or will it simply become "James fell to 2-4 in the Finals." Will it signal a changing of the guard, with a Warriors title the next step in the league becoming even more perimeter based? Again, the Cavaliers should be even more of a lock in the East next season, with another year together -- presumably under David Blatt -- and getting Irving, Love and Anderson back and likely a revamped core of supporting players via David Griffin's salary-cap magic. There should be plenty of chances at redemption should the Cavs fall in these Finals. It should be the start of an era, not the end.
Still, asking history to be kind if this run produces less than a title, and for our standards to include perspective when it comes to someone as divisive of James is asking for a total reversal of precedent.
There is, of course, the possibility the Cavs win Games 6 and 7. What if he pulls that off?
The Cavaliers have shown that they can do the job at Oracle Arena, where a Game 7 would be played -- assuming we get that far. To win it all, the Cavaliers need two more monster -- and I mean monster -- James games. With only brief thawing periods -- the latest being a couple of 3s in Game 5 -- his jumper has been frozen throughout the playoffs. If that thing starts falling, and there will be nothing the Warriors can do to survive him. That's reality.
And James still feels he has more to do.
"Obviously, for myself," James said Sunday, "I want to do whatever it takes to help our team win, and I haven't been able to do that the last two [games]. So hopefully I can do a better job coming in on Tuesday. We all as a unit can do a better job, and we'll be fine."
A Cavs title would put James teams at 3-3, and this would be considered his crowning achievement: Little in terms of supporting cast, in many ways winning a title by himself. (That's not really fair to the other guys who have had big moments in the playoffs and this series, but they get a ring out of it. They'll live.) Everything changes for his legacy. Three championships would elevate James to a whole different level. There's a greater chance people would forget the reasons for losing the series than remembering this as his finest moment.
That's how thin the line is, fair or not. And James seems prepared for it.
"For me, I put the work in," he said Sunday. "I put the work in every single day, either when you guys are there, either when you're not there. Some of our beat writers see me. They know how much work I put into it, and I give everything to my teammates.
"When you're true to the game, it doesn't matter if it's a regular-season game or a Finals game, you just go out and trust what you put into the game and you live with the results."
The Cavs have no wiggle room, and James may be the favorite to win Finals MVP even if his team loses, which is crazy enough. But James still feels he can play better.
"I don't put a ceiling on what I can do," James said.
Everyone who has watched -- the fans who've lived and died with it, players who've given themselves to it, media recording every second -- is in awe of what James already has done.
History, however, won't be so kind if the Cavs fall short. How the story unfolds carries less weight than the result. So James isn't only fighting the Warriors and fatigue. He's also waging another battle -- one that will help determine his place in history.
