SAN ANTONIO — The Miami Heat are facing a deficit from which no team has managed to return in the history of the NBA Finals. But in the eyes of LeBron James, that’s more of an opportunity than it is an impossible mission.
“Why not us,” James said, when asked what his pregame message would be to his teammates before they took floor for Sunday night’s Game 5. “Why not us? History is broken all the time, and obviously we know we’re against the greatest of odds. No team has ever come back from a 3‑1 deficit in the Finals, but there was a point where no team came back from a 2‑0. There was a point where no team came back from a 3‑0. There was a point where no team came back from a 3‑1 deficit in the Western Conference Finals, and then Phoenix did it [against the Lakers in 2006]. One of our teammates was on that team, James Jones.
“There is a point where no team came back from a 3‑1 or 3‑0 deficit in the ALCS, and then the Red Sox did it against the Yankees,” James continued. “So history is made to be broken, and why not me be a part of it? That would be great. That would be a great story line, right? But we’ll see what happens. I’ve got to live in the moment, though, before we even get to that point.”
A very relaxed James spoke to reporters at the Spurs practice facility on Saturday, and was comfortable, engaging and conversational when answering every question that was asked. It was a far cry from the way he had handled the pressure of losing in the Finals just a few short years ago, and he admitted that getting over the championship hump was a huge relief that allows him to be more calm now in the face of such dire circumstances.
“Well, I mean, two championships helps that,” James said, when asked about seeming more even emotionally than he has in years past. “It helps it, for sure. But understanding what means a lot to me. Understanding what’s important and understanding what’s not important allows me to kind of just live in the moment and not focus on what’s happened in the past. I can’t control the past. I can’t redo it. I can live in the present, try to affect the future and live with the results while I’m in it.”
James isn’t being naive here; he knows as well as anyone just how much the odds are stacked against a Heat comeback in this series. But he’s managing to keep it all in perspective, which could help alleviate the pressure associated with an elimination game that could potentially affect his long-term legacy.
“I was extremely upset, sad, very emotional to myself after 3 and 4,” James said, when asked to explain his frame of mind and his apparent congenial state. “I mean, you ask me, all the bad emotions you could have. Today is a new day. I have another opportunity to help this team keep our season going.
“I’m in a good place in my life,” he said. “It’s basketball. I understand it’s the media and the sport is the greatest sport in the world. I love it. It’s done so many great things for me, but it’s just basketball. I go all into it, and I give everything to this game. But right after Game 4, I was in the ice tub in the locker room, and my two boys came running in there talking about let’s play some more basketball. I was like, If y’all don’t get away from me ‑‑ it’s the last thing I want to do right now.
“But it puts things in perspective, and I’m able to have a clear head about it.”
