The Miami Heat have made it three consecutive trips to the NBA Finals after a Game 7 win over the Indiana Pacers Monday night, marking a chance for redemption for LeBron James as he once again meets the San Antonio Spurs for the rights to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy as champions.
Back in 2007, in James' first finals appearance, the Cleveland Cavaliers were swept by Tim Duncan and the rest of the Spurs. Following the final Game 4 of that season's Finals, Duncan ran into a 21-year-old James in the hallway, hugging the young star and giving him possibly one of his most humbling moments of his career.
"I love how you are with your teammates. Stay that way man, stay that way," Duncan whispered into James' ear. "This is going to be your league in a little while. I appreciate you giving us this year."
After that embrace with Duncan that night in 2007, James looked out into cameras and gave a sobering statement.
"I definitely need to get better," James said at the time. "I have to be 10 times better."
Now, four MVP trophies and one NBA championship later, you can say the league truly belongs to James.
"I'm a much better player," James said Monday, thinking back to the last time he saw the Spurs. "I'm 20, 40, 50 times better than I was in '07."
James may not be at the peak of his career, but he's certainly getting close, and the rest of the league should be scared of what's to come. Not only is he the best player on the Heat, but he's widely considered to being the best in the world.
In Monday's Game 7 victory, James was once again the leading motor for the Heat scoring 32 points while grabbing eight rebounds in a blowout 99-76 win over the Pacers.
By the second quarter is when James took control, dropping 12 points and two assists, keeping the Pacers at bay for the rest of the game.
"LeBron was like a coach on the floor," Wade said. "To call sets, to put us in situations where he felt like I would succeed early on was pretty good ... he understood, as all of us [did], we weren't going to win this game with just LeBron being amazing."
The NBA Finals kicks off Thursday with the San Antonio Spurs visiting the Miami Heat in South Beach. The rest of the schedule for the NBA Finals is as follows:
Game 1: Thursday, June 6, at Miami, 9 p.m.
Game 2: Sunday, June 9, at Miami, 8 p.m.
Game 3: Tuesday, June 11, at San Antonio, 9 p.m.
Game 4: Thursday, June 13, at San Antonio, 9 p.m.
Game 5: Sunday, June 16, at San Antonio, 8 p.m.
Game 6: Tuesday, June 18, at Miami, 9 p.m.
Game 7: Thursday, June 20, at Miami, 9 p.m.
*All times Eastern
ABC will broadcast all of the games nationally.
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