On this very day, 11 years ago, LeBron James failed to win his 1st NBA Title even after his desired move to Miami Heat from Cleveland Cavaliers, and his reaction spoke volumes about how fans wanted Dallas Mavericks to pull off an upset. In the post-game interview, he targeted those who especially wanted him to fail.
It was the same date and same day when the Dallas Mavericks won their 1st NBA Title defeating the “Big 3” of the Miami Heat. It was ‘upset’ that many never predicted, and even though the Dallas franchise was celebrating their Championship, news of LeBron James failing grabbed headlines in the media. Dirk Nowitzki and Dallas Mavericks won the Championship in 6 games, while Miami Heat failed to live up to the hype.
LeBron James’s move to Miami was heavily criticized as a “desperation move” and watching it “NOT” getting the desired result made critics more aggressive and target the King. LBJ was playing Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh which made them huge favorites, but their failure was celebrated in the end.
11 YEARS AGO TODAY
LeBron gave this memorable postgame interview after being eliminated from the NBA Finals.
"All the people who are rooting for me to fail, at the end of the day, they have to wake up tomorrow & have the same life that they had before they woke up today." pic.twitter.com/IVEjIziYgK
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 12, 2022LeBron James was facing the media after the loss and answered an obvious question. He reacted to the loss and even targeted critics who said to be celebrating the Miami Heat loss. But James and co dominated the league for the next 3 seasons also, winning 2 titles in the process.
LeBron James and Miami Heat came back strong after failing to deliver the title in 1st season
LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined hand with Miami Heat Marquee player Dwayne Wade. While Miami assembles the best trio in the league of that time, many targeted LeBron James for making the move just to win a title. Dwayne Wade won the title with Shaq back in 2006, and Miami ensured that they could repeat the glory days.
LeBron carried the Cavs team to the 2007 NBA Finals but lost the series in 4 straight games. He didn’t make it to any NBA Finals after that until he moved to Miami. As expected they stormed through the Eastern Conference winning a series against the 76ers, Bulls, and Celtics all in 5 games each. As they were favorites in the Finals against Dallas Mavericks, many wanted to see “David” Mavericks win against the “Goliath” Miami team.
It means LeBron could lose his 2nd NBA final also, and people could target him for the “opportunist” move. Fate was not with the Miami side and no doubt the Mavs played brilliantly in the finals, but LeBron and the team lost the series in 6 games. James averaged 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists per game in the finals, which was below par of his high standards.
Reacting to the loss and critics LeBron said, “All the people who are rooting for me to fail, at the end of the day, they have to wake up tomorrow & have the same life that they had before they woke up today.” He also added that he is gonna continue living the life the way he wants to live.
A perfect-fitting answer to the critics was in the later seasons though where LeBron and Miami defeated young Oklahoma City Thunders in the Finals, handing LeBron his 1st NBA Title and even 1st Finals MVP Trophy. In his 4 seasons with Miami Heat, James made it to 4 NBA Finals winning 2 in between.
LeBron James 2015 NBA Finals Stats
Game 1: 44 PTS 8 REB 6 AST
Game 2: 39 PTS 16 REB 11 AST
Game 3: 40 PTS 12 REB 8 AST
Game 4: 20 PTS 12 REB 8 AST
Game 5: 40 PTS 14 REB 11 AST
Game 6: 32 PTS 18 REB 9 AST pic.twitter.com/1sFpKIRofk
Currently, LeBron has 4 NBA Championships with 4 Finals MVP trophies to prove his point. He even won the Title for Cleveland Cavaliers in his 2nd run with the Franchise and that silenced most of his critics. King did all he can and delivered 4 champions with 3 different NBA teams.
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