HOWARD BECK NY TIMES
Legacies are generally determined after the fact, written by others, imposed on the subjects without their input. For the last three years, LeBron James has endured daily revisions to his legacy, a chorus of critics framing his career based on a single game, a single series, the shots that swished and those that missed, never waiting for a fuller picture to emerge.
James at last seized control of his own narrative Thursday night, leaving nothing to chance and no more room for debate. He drove hard, shot brilliantly, scored every critical basket and finally pushed the Miami Heat past the San Antonio Spurs for a 95-88 victory in Game 7 of the N.B.A. finals.
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James came here three summers ago in pursuit of championship glory, to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in a superstar lineup for the ages, to start collecting championships — “Not one, not two, not three ... ” he infamously declared in July 2010. The banners are indeed starting to accumulate, with James earning this second title despite diminishing returns from his co-stars.
With Wade slowed by an injured right knee, James carried a greater burden this June than he did a year ago. And he faced a tougher, more seasoned opponent, a decorated Spurs team with three Hall of Fame talents in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
It took seven games, including a furious comeback and an overtime in Game 6, to earn this moment. And then it took everything James had in the final minutes of the final game. ... They did it by becoming only the fourth team to win Games 6 and 7 at home after facing a 3-2 deficit. It was the first time in this series that either team won two in a row.
“The toughest series we’ve ever been in,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said.
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It was a heartbreaking conclusion for the Spurs, who came within seconds of winning the championship in Game 6. Duncan was aiming for his fifth title, which would have placed him alongside Kobe Bryant for the most by any star in the post-Jordan era. This was his first defeat in the finals, and it hit hard.
Sitting on the postgame podium, Duncan looked inconsolable. He stared down at the table, his left hand on his head, and paused frequently between phrases. He bemoaned his “bad decisions” and missed shots, in particular two point-blank shots that could have tied the game at 90-90 with about a minute to play.
Still, Duncan was mostly brilliant, finishing with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 4 steals. ------
This was just the fourth seven-game finals in the last 20 years, and it was as riveting as any of them, for the personalities it featured and for the way it unfolded.
The Spurs and the Heat alternated victories for six games, neither team able to shake the other...
Then came an epic Game 6 — the Spurs coming within seconds of the title, the security ropes set and the trophy waiting. Then a Ray Allen 3-pointer, an overtime, a Heat victory, a celebration postponed, a series pushed to the nail-biting brink. ------
Outside the Heat’s locker room, Pat Riley, the man who persuaded James, Wade and Bosh to become teammates three years ago, was receiving congratulatory hugs, handshakes and pats on the back from everyone near him.
HARVEY ARATON NY TIMES
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Everyone should understand by now that [LeBron] James is only clearing his throat, settling into the prime of his emotional maturity. In all basketball-related ways, he is no man-child anymore. The numbers alone — 37 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers in 45 minutes of owning the ball and the burden — fail to explain his dominance of Game 7.
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It was the sheer force of James’s all-court versatility and his Jordanesque obsession with exerting himself on every play that finally gave Miami separation from the Spurs. Dared to shoot the jumper, he made five 3-pointers. And after a leg-weary Tim Duncan missed a short jump hook ...that would have tied the score, James drained the Spurs of a pulse with a 19-footer from the right side that gave the Heat a 92-88 lead with 27.9 seconds left.
“I mean, I watched film, and my mind started to work and I said, O.K., this is how they’re going to play me for the whole series,” James said. “I looked at all my regular-season stats, all my playoff stats, and I was one of the best midrange shooters in the game. I shot a career high from the 3-point line. I just told myself: Don’t abandon what you’ve done all year. Don’t abandon now because they’re going under.”
The Spurs finally knuckled under when Manu Ginobili, on the baseline, tried to pass the ball behind him to Duncan. Stepping into the passing lane, James got the steal.
“LeBron was unbelievable,” Duncan said.
Duncan is best known as pro basketball’s most stoic superstar, and the world watched him suffer late Thursday in a way that was almost too painful to watch. After missing the jump hook — “a bunny” to him — and a tip-in, he slapped the floor in frustration while setting up on defense. He sank to his knees after Kawhi Leonard was late switching back on James for the clinching jumper...
He had so badly wanted to build on the four-title résumé of his 16 seasons with the Spurs and had come close enough to feel the trophy on his fingertips in the final minute of Game 6. ...“Game 7 is always going to haunt me,” Duncan said.
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James [is] a transcendent star out of the Magic-Michael mode. [His] critics are all quiet now. He had the last word.