CLEVELAND _ The goal for LeBron James in Game 4 is the same goal LeBron will have this summer whether he remains with the Cavaliers or tests the free agent market.
"How do you put together a group of talent but also a group of minds to be able to compete with Golden State to be able to compete for a championship?" James said Thursday.
"That's what GMs and presidents and certain players _ it's not every player," he added. "Every player does not want to _ sad to say, but every player doesn't want to compete for a championship and be in a position where every possession is pressure."
That is the challenge for 29 teams, but especially LeBron, who is one loss from falling to the Warriors in the NBA Finals for the third time in four years. On July 1, LeBron can become a free agent or simply opt into the final year of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. There is also a possibility that James can opt into his contract and initiate a sign-and-trade.
The method and the destination will be determined within the next six weeks but the mission is clear. Unless LeBron joins the Warriors _ never count that out _ he tipped his hand on what team drives him.
When James joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, the goal was to build a team that could beat Boston. When he rejoined the Cavs, the idea was to assemble a team that could defeat the San Antonio Spurs.
Instead, it has been the Warriors standing in LeBron's way and although the Cavs rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat Golden State two years ago, James and the Cavs front office never envisioned Kevin Durant joining a team that was coming off a record 73-win regular season.
"Obviously, from a talent perspective, if you're looking at Golden State from their top five best players to our top five players, you would say they're stacked better than us," James said on the eve of Game 4.
"Let's just speak truth. Kevin Durant. You've got two guys with MVPs on their team. And then you've got a guy in Klay (Thompson) who could easily be on a team and carry a team, score 40 in a quarter before. And then you have Draymond (Green), who is arguably one of the best defenders and minds we have in our game. So you have that crew.
"Then you add on a Finals MVP (Andre Iguodala) coming off the bench, a No. 1 pick in Shaun Livingston and an All-Star in David West and whatever the case may be. So they have a lot of talent. We have a lot of talent as well. We've been in a position where we could win two out of these three games. So what do we have to do? Do we have to make more shots? Is it we have to have our minds into it a little bit more? Is it if there is a ball on the ground we can't reach for it but you've got to dive for it?
"The room for error versus a team like this is slim to none. And I think I said last night it's like playing the Patriots. It's like playing San Antonio. The room for error is slim to none. When you make mistakes they make you pay, because they're already more talented than you are but they also have the minds behind it, too, and they also have the championship DNA."
The Warriors are up 3-0 on the Cavs for the second straight year and are poised to win back-to-back titles for the first time in franchise history. No NBA team has ever won a playoff series after falling behind 0-3.
"How do you put together a group of talent but also a group of minds to be able to compete with Golden State to be able to compete for a championship?"
LeBron could be playing his last game in a Cavs uniform on Friday, a sobering reality that is slowing setting in among the team's fan base.
James posted a triple-double in Game 3 but it wasn't one of his better games. In fact, Durant's dagger 3-pointer with 49 seconds left began with the Warriors All Star forward isolated on LeBron at the top of the circle.
When Stephen Curry set a screen, James didn't attempt to fight through the soft pick and instead passed Durant off to Rodney Hood. The play ended with Durant making a long, contested jumper over J.R. Smith.
"You knew he was built for greatness from the time that he was drafted," LeBron said. "I mean, everybody knew that besides Portland, I guess. Sorry, Portland. Sorry."
In that moment with the game and essentially the series on the line, LeBron didn't accept the challenge of guarding the Warriors best player.
Durant's best moment of the NBA Finals was LeBron's worst.
