When LeBron James sank a buzzer-beater to flip the Bulls-Cavaliers second-round playoff series in 2015, then-coach Tom Thibodeau summarized the degree of difficulty from James' game-winner over Jimmy Butler.
"He made a great play," Thibodeau said then. "That's what great players do."
When James placed an exclamation point on his eighth straight trip to the NBA Finals with a 35-point, 15-rebound, nine-assist, two-block performance for the ages while playing all 48 minutes to win a road game, Celtics coach Brad Stevens sounded similar.
"It's ridiculous," Stevens said Sunday night in Boston. "And he does it at this level and with the pressure, with the scrutiny _ doesn't matter. It's just unbelievable."
Not much has changed in three years, other than James' receding hairline.
This isn't a James vs. Michael Jordan story. This type of greatness, in any era, should merely be recognized and appreciated.
And what James accomplished Sunday night is rightfully drawing universal raves.
James and the Cavaliers will enter the NBA Finals as underdogs no matter who prevails in Monday night's Game 7 between the Rockets and Warriors. Should the Cavaliers lose, James' Finals record will drop to 3-6 _ and his critics will pounce again.
How can there be any of those left?
Look at James' conference finals averages against the Celtics while playing Game 7 without a concussed Kevin Love and with a team that the Cavaliers basically assembled at the February trade deadline. 33.6 points, 9 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 1.1 steals, 1.1 blocks.
And James, 33, hasn't missed a game this season _ 100 straight. So he's doing this not only as he's aging but as his responsibilities increased.
The team that employs James has now won six straight Game 7s, two on the road. His teams have won seven of eight elimination games, including three this postseason. And he became the 13th athlete from the four major U.S. pro leagues _ NBA, NHL, MLB and NFL _ to make eight straight championship series, according to ESPN. He joins seven Montreal Canadiens and five Boston Celtics.
Statistically, James is having perhaps his best postseason, averaging over 30 points in each of the first three rounds. Symbolically, he's doing even more.
Past that 2015 buzzer-beater at the United Center, James' teams have eliminated the Bulls two other times in this run. His streak of eight straight NBA Finals appearances began in 2011 with the Heat. That's the season after the Bulls traded Kirk Hinrich to the Wizards for nothing but salary cap space in pursuit of James.
James has led the Heat and Cavaliers to the Finals four times each now. He'll be a free agent again this summer and has earned the right to do whatever he chooses. But why would he leave the Eastern Conference? He owns a stranglehold on it that should be admired and appreciated, no matter what comes next.
