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NBA Finals

LeBron's patience and leadership with young cast led to Finals, reflect his maturity

Jeff Zillgitt
USA TODAY Sports
LeBron James  is shown with his sons LeBron  Jr. and Bryce Maximus  after the Cavaliers beat the Hawks in Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at Quicken Loans Arena.

CLEVELAND — The celebration took place on the court at Quicken Loans Arena and in the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room.

The Cavs had just beaten the Atlanta Hawks 118-88 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, completing a series sweep. Confetti and Eastern Conference trophy presentation on the court, and champagne, Coors Light and Corona in the locker room.

LeBron James basked in the moment on the court (selfie with his family) and inside the locker room (joy with his teammates).

But by the time he reached the dais for the postgame news conference and began answering questions, he was solemn and soft-spoken, aware of the accomplishment, aware of how much more work is required for the ultimate goal.

Twice, James said how emotional the moment was for him.

"Could I foresee this?" James said. "At the beginning of the season, I couldn't. I couldn't foresee us being in the Finals at the beginning of the season because I just knew that we just had to get better and I just saw how young we were and how young‑minded we were at that point in time.

"But I knew I had to lead these guys, and if they just followed my leadership, I knew I could get them to a place where they haven't been before."

James reacts after stealing the ball from the Hawks and driving the court for a dunk in Game 4.

James dominated this series. He had 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in Game 4, and for the lopsided series he averaged 30.3 points, 11 rebounds and 9.3 assists, becoming the first player in NBA history to average at least 30 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in a series, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

He also joins another exclusive list: He will play in his fifth consecutive NBA Finals, joining of short list of former Boston Celtics who did it in the 1960s, and he is the first non-Celtic to do it and first to do it with two teams.

"His confidence has gone to another level," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "Having watched and prepared — watching how he orchestrates and has a great command for where he wants his teammates and what's important in the moment and the confidence that he has in himself to make the right play, whether it's making a shot, making the pass. As a leader, he's grown. His confidence has grown."

This is Cleveland's first trip to the NBA Finals since 2007 – when James led the Cavs there during his first stint with the team – and the city has not experienced a championship in a major pro sports league since 1964.

James  talks with Cavaliers coach David Blatt.

Fathers and grandfathers still have ticket stubs from the Cleveland Browns' NFL championship from 51 years ago, and new generations of fans crave a title, and those older generations want to release the angst.

This is what James returned for, a chance to deliver that title to the city, to northeast Ohio.

"When I made my decision to come back here, I knew what I wanted to do, but I knew it wasn't going to be easy," James said.

The Finals begin June 4 against the Golden State Warriors or Houston Rockets, but most likely the Warriors, and if it's the Warriors, James and the Cavaliers will not be the favorites.

"Win, lose or draw, because you can't predict the future, you don't know what's going to happen, we will give our best shot," James said.

When James decided to return to the Cavs, he urged patience – though he admitted he's not a patient person – and acknowledged several times during the season that his patience was tested unlike any time in his career.

He also tried to alleviate expectations, downplaying the idea of a championship in his first season back. Rightfully so, too. It was a team with young players who had never been in the playoffs in key roles.

Go back to Jan. 13. The Cavs were 19-20 and hardly looked like a championship-caliber team, even in the East. Cavs general manager David Griffin gave his non-wavering support of coach David Blatt nine days earlier, and the Cavs had just acquired J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from the New York Knicks and Timofey Mozgov from the Denver Nuggets. It was James' first game back after a two-week break to heal a bad back and knee.

It was not a good situation for the Cavaliers.

"To be able to sit at one point during the season and see us at 19‑20 and watching my team struggle and me sitting out two weeks, they wanted Coach Blatt fired, saying we needed another point guard, will LeBron and Kyrie be able to play together?" James said. "So many story lines was just happening at that point in time. For us to be sitting at this point today being able to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals, this is special. It's very special."

Game by game, the Cavs improved. They played better defense. Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellavedova, James Jones, Mozgov, Smith and Shumpert found ways to contribute.

Cleveland won 34 of its final 43 games and is 12-2 in the playoffs, getting contributions from different players almost on a game-by-game basis. Thompson is a rebounding machine and a strong pick-and-roll defender. Smith and Shumpert are playing perimeter defense and scoring. Dellavedova and Jones are making key shots.

And it wasn't easy to win the East. Love suffered a season-ending injury in the final game of the Boston Celtics series in the first round. Irving's bad foot and knee were disclosed during the Chicago Bulls series in the East semifinals and he missed two games against the Hawks.

James broke down the season into a long, obstacle-filled five-chapter book. "One thing we haven't got caught up in is feeling sorry for ourselves," James said. "It doesn't matter if someone is out, the next man up. If someone is not 100%, then as a brother, you pick that guy up. That's what it's about.

"That's what teamwork and trying to accomplish a dream is all about, being able to sacrifice yourself and what you can do for the better of the team. That's what's got us to this point."

Now, he is four wins from a championship, a championship he wants to deliver to the city and his teammates, and yet, James – 2-3 in Finals appearances – realizes more than most players how difficult it is to win those final four games.

"I hope everyone here understands that it's not easy. It's not easy to even get to this point," he said. "It's so hard just to win an NBA game, and the fact that we've won three playoff series so far, it is very, very difficult, and if you've never been in this situation, you don't know how difficult it is."

He then referenced Theodore Roosevelt's famous speech "The Man in The Arena," about striving for greatness and living with the results as long as the effort is delivered.

"The coaching staff will give us the greatest game plan they can to win against Houston, to win against Golden State, but as far as guarantees, I can't guarantee the championship," he said. "That's not what I'm here for. I'm here to lead. But I will guarantee that we will play our (butts) off. We will, from the first minute to minute 48, or if it's overtime, 53. We will do that.

"At the end of the day, that's all I can ask for. That's all we can give. But we will be in the Finals, I can guarantee that."

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS HIGHLIGHTS

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