Happy Birthday James! "Forever young" is still the little emperor through the wind and frost
On the last day of the 36-year-old, LeBron James failed to celebrate his birthday with a win, but the gorgeous performance of 37 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks still gave fans who liked him a little comfort.
On this special day, we will use the two numbers of "3" and "7" to make a simple inventory of James's career so far, and wish the 37-year-old Zhan can continue his excellent game status, lead the Lakers out of the trough, and also give fans more and more wonderful performances.
"3" cities
James has been in the league since 2003 and has gone through three team changes in his career to date, playing for the Cavaliers, Heat, and Lakers, and becoming the first player in NBA history to lead three different teams to a championship. Whether it is in his hometown of Cleveland, Miami with friends, or Los Angeles, which can provide a better life and business environment, he has left a deep mark on him.
Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron James was born in the small Ohio town of Akron, just a 40-mile drive from Cleveland. So when James signed up for the NBA draft as a gifted high school student in 2003 and the Cavaliers were lucky enough to draw a lottery, everyone believed they were a match made in heaven.
James was elected to the top pick without suspense and started his career with his hometown team. In the first seven seasons of his career, he was selected as an All-Star six times, was elected MVP twice, and led the team to the 2007 NBA Finals, but in the end he could not go further because of insufficient support around him.
Later, James switched to the Heat, causing many controversies, and after four years of "travel" to return home, he finally won the first championship in the history of the team for the Cavaliers.
In 2018, James left the Cavaliers again as a free agent, but this time, all the hometown fans have offered him sincere blessings, because in their hearts, they have long forgotten the gap and re-recognized their city heroes!
Miami Heat
James' announcement in 2010 that he had brought his talents to South Beach through a "decision" drew him a sea of criticism. In addition to the fact that he "turned his back" on his hometown in an inappropriate way, there is also a very important reason, which is the combination of the big three in 03, which makes people feel too "deceitful".
In a way, it was James's decision that ushered in the era of player empowerment, and the merits were varied and left for historical commentary. One undeniable fact is that James was successfully crowned in Miami, ascended to the throne, and established the league's number one signboard ever since.
During his four years in Miami, James successfully reached the Finals every year, winning two championships and winning four MVP trophies (two regular seasons + two Finals), officially opening his rule over the entire East.
Los Angeles Lakers
After winning the long-awaited championship for the Cavaliers and successfully achieving self-redemption, James unloaded the burden of his heart and made the best choice for himself and his family in the summer of 2018.
However, Los Angeles is different from Cleveland, the Lakers are more different from the Cavaliers, the Heat, there is a glorious history, fans are accustomed to magic, Sky Hook, Kobe, O'Neal, not so easy to accept a newcomer. James also suffered a groin injury in his first season in the purple-gold jersey, which interrupted his record of reaching the playoffs for 13 consecutive years and left him with a crisis of trust.
However, in the following 2019-20 season, James took the lead at both ends of the attack and defense, achieved a strong rebound, and finally with the assistance of Anthony Davis, in the "bubble" of Orlando, he defeated the crowd and lifted the 17th championship in the history of the Lakers.
Whether Los Angeles will be the end of James' career is not known now, just as no one knows what miracles he can create in the future.
"7" moments
In James's career, there have been countless classic moments, especially the seven nodes below, the most critical.
Career debut
On October 29, 2003, LeBron James made his first NBA performance at Arco Arena in Sacramento.
James, the "chosen son" of the Nation in high school, was hyped up before he set foot on the NBA, and in that Cavaliers' away game against the Kings, the "Little Emperor" proved that he was well prepared for all expectations.
Shortly after James opened the game, he received an assist from Rich Davis and hit a 16-foot jumper to score his first career point. The Cavaliers eventually lost to the Kings 92-106, but 18-year-old and 303-day rookie James scored 25 points, six rebounds and nine assists.
Before James, there were many gifted high school students who skipped college and went straight to the NBA, and James scored more on his debut than Kobe, O'Neal Jr., Garnett, Maddy, Stoudemire and many other predecessors.
"They've all played great careers and I'm just trying to show my best self." James, a fledgling, modestly said after the game.
The first MVP
In 2008-09, James' fifth season in the NBA, he finished second in the defensive player of the year vote and was named to the Team of the Year for the first time. That year, he completed a career-high single-season 93 blocks, including 23 chases.
This year, James averaged 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocks per game, becoming the fourth player to lead the team in the five major technical statistics of scoring, rebounding, assisting, stealing and blocking since the merger of the NBA and the ABA. Led by his outstanding performances across the board, the Cavaliers played a record 66-16, setting a new team record, and James was highly regarded as the most valuable player of the regular season.
At the end of the season, ESPN columnist John Hollinger commented on James' performance: "He's going through what's been the greatest personal season of all time, and it's time to give him the credit he deserves." ”
This year's Cavaliers eventually fell to the Eastern Conference Finals, but James averaged 38.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8 assists per game in the series, and his personal performance was impeccable.
Personal first crown
The 2010 decision put James under tremendous pressure from public opinion, and the 2011 Finals defeat to the Lone Ranger multiplied the pressure.
So before the start of the 2011-12 season, James used the offseason to precipitate himself, including learning from Olajuwon and practicing his back skills. James, who lowered his posture and continued to expand his skill pack, finally ushered in an explosive season, and finally won his third place and the first regular season MVP trophy of his career with an outstanding performance of 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
More importantly, James extended his explosive form into the playoffs. Especially in game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, in the case that the Heat were about to be eliminated after losing another game 2-3, he frantically cut 45 points and 15 rebounds, leading the team back to life. That game was also described by the New York Post as "the decisive performance of the career."
The Heat eventually managed to advance to the Finals and successfully reached the top with a 4-1 victory over the Thunder. It was the first championship of James' career, and from that moment on, he began a whole new phase in his career.
61 points career night
As the owner of the NBA's countless scoring records, one might naturally think that James' 60+ game has happened many times. However, James has only had one such performance in his entire career (although he has scored between 50 and 59 points in 11 games in his career).
On March 3, 2014, in the Miami Heat's 124-107 away win over the Charlotte Bobcats, James staged the best individual scoring show of his NBA career, shooting 22-of-33 in the whole game, including the first eight three-point shots, and finally slashed 61 points.
Prior to this, James' career-high scoring record was 56 points, set on March 20, 2005, during the Cavaliers' game against the Raptors, while the Heat's previous all-time record was set by Glenn Rice on April 15, 1995, also 56 points.
On that ball, James scored 24 points at half-time, and then frantically swept 25 points in the third quarter, and when the game went on to 5 minutes and 46 seconds before the final game, James broke the record by breaking the record by breaking the three-man defensive layup.
In an interview after the game, James said: "Thank God for giving me incredible basketball talent, and I just try to make the most of it every night. I got the trust of my coaches and teammates, and everything that followed was a matter of course. ”
This Is For You!
James has won four championships so far in his career, the most significant of which is not the first career title in 2012, but the 2016 victory for the Cavaliers.
That win had several extraordinary significance. First, it was James and his Cavaliers' successful revenge on the warriors against their opponents in the previous year's Finals;
Second, that year's Warriors were once considered to compete for the best team of all time — they broke a series of NBA records in the regular season, including the peak Bulls' record of 72 wins over the best record in the regular season;
In addition, the Cavaliers fell behind 1-3 at one point, and finally won 4 consecutive games to achieve a reversal. It was also the only big reversal in NBA Finals history when it was 1-3 behind;
And the most important point is the history of the Cavaliers, and the first four major league championships in the entire 52-year history of City sports in Cleveland!
So when the Cavaliers beat the Warriors in Game Seven of the Finals and successfully achieved a zero breakthrough, James yelled at the camera, "Cleveland, this is for you!" At that time, that scene has also become an eternal classic in the history of NBA and even the entire American sports history.
The youngest is Mr. 30,000 points
LeBron James holds the record for almost all the youngest scorers, from the youngest Mr. 1,000, Mr. 2,000, Mr. 10,000, Mr. 20,000, all the way to yesterday when he played the Rockets, becoming the youngest Mr. 36,000 points in history.
But in this series of records, 30,000 points remains the most important milestone, because in the entire history of the NBA, only 8 players have scored more than 30,000 career points (including James).
So, in that Cavaliers away game against the Spurs on January 23, 2018, when James officially entered the 30,000-point club, it was definitely one of the most memorable moments of his career.
At the same time, that game also made James the first player ever to score more than 30,000 points in his career, while also having at least 7,000 rebounds and 7,000 assists.
After the game, NBA legend Kobe Bryant pushed James to congratulate him: "From Akron to 30,000 points, LeBron James, my brother, do a good job!" ”
Beyond Kobe Bryant
From an 18-year-old rookie to a 37-year-old veteran, James has created countless miracles in his more than 18-year career and completed the transcendence of one legendary superstar after another.
And if you want to find the most important node in this transcendence journey, it should be on January 25, 2020, he surpassed Bryant and rose to the third place in the NBA's all-time scoring list. Although before this, surpassing childhood idol Michael Jordan also had a special significance for James, after all, Jordan had a limited number of appearances in the battlefield, and the gold content was not as good as that of Kobe Bryant.
It was a Lakers away game against the 76ers, with Kobe Bryant's former owner on one side and his hometown team on the other. In a tribute to Kobe, James specially put on a pair of Mamba custom version of sneakers with the words "Mamba 4 Life 8/24/KB" written on it.
And shortly after James completed that historic breakthrough layup, Bryant also congratulated him via Twitter: "Keep going, LeBron James, have a lot of respect for my brother!" ”
That was also the last tweet that Bryant sent before he died.