MIAMI – As LeBron James enters his 10th NBA season, title in hand, the pressure is off – for the most part. The Miami Heat forward is no longer a choker, a fraud, a slacker. Now, he’s The Man.
That frees him up to cement his legacy and chase legends such as Michael Jordan (six titles), Magic Johnson (five titles) and, yes, even Kobe Bryant (five titles).
His battle isn’t with himself, it’s with all-time greatness. He plans to run the race at full speed.
“I’m not satisfied with my career, what I’ve done so far,” James said Friday at the Heat’s media day. “I’ve accomplished a lot of things and a lot of goals. But I’m not satisfied with that.”
To hear Heat coach Erik Spoelstra talk, James will never be satisfied.
Ever.
It’s a large part of what makes him great.
“You saw the summer, right?” Spoelstra asked about James’ performance at the London Olympics. “That’s who he is. He is an ultimate competitor, and the ultimate competitors, the great ones, the historic ones, get greedy and they want more.”
James, perhaps more than any other current player, studies the NBA’s past. He knows what he has to do — win multiple championships — to be considered among the best, if not The Best. He knows what would elevate him above Jordan, Magic, Kobe, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, and maybe a couple of others. You know the list.
James claims that’s not on his mind right now.
“I don’t think about what the other greats have done,” he said. “I know the history of the game, I know what’s been accomplished in this league throughout the years. But I’m my own man and I have to make my own mark.”
Those who know James understand there’s never been any shame in his game.
And it’s that way every minute of his existence.
Ask the league’s most versatile player whether his exploits of this year – NBA title, NBA MVP, NBA Finals MVP, and Olympic gold medalist – validate him as the best player on the planet, he’ll look you dead in the eye and relate his reality.
“I’ve thought that for a long time, (that) I’m the best player,” he said. “That’s the way I approach the game, though.”
We all remember when there were major doubts about James’ game. Heck, it was just a year ago. People wondered whether he had what it takes to lead a team to a title, whether he’s clutch. His overmatched Cleveland Cavaliers were swept by San Antonio in the 2007 NBA Finals. And the next few years brought even more disappointment and heartache.
But those doubts raged to a new level after his relatively embarrassing performance against Dallas in the 2011 NBA Finals. Those doubts are long gone now.
“What it’s done for now is it’s taken a little pressure off him,” teammate Dwyane Wade said of the title. “But not too much. He’s expected to do amazing things. I’m glad I don’t have the pressure he does.”
James has never run away from the pressure. Haters, which includes some of the game’s all-time best (Jordan and Bird, in particular) basically contended James’ chickened out by joining Wade and Chris Bosh and forming the Heat’s Big Three in the summer of 2010. They considered it taking the easy way out.
James fought through the very public criticism and now he’s a champion, and he’s looking for more rings. But he says that’s more about the team’s legacy, the legacy of the Big Three and Miami Heat franchise more than his own selfish interest. Still, he’s well aware he has a chance to be considered among the all-time greats.
“I’m on the right path as far as my career,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of ups, I’ve had some downs, but this game has given me a lot and I owe it back, I owe everything to this game. So we’ll see. I think only time can tell.
“You can’t predict the future. You just have to kind of live every day like it’s your last and I’m prepared for that.”
Considering James is just 27 years old, he’ll have plenty of time and opportunity to chase the greats. Realistically, he could play at his current level for another six or seven years. After that he could still play a few more years at an All-Star level.
If he does that, and wins a few more titles, he’d have to be considered among the all-time best. And he might even rise to earn the title of The Best.
But the is a discussion for the distant future.
“As far as legacy though, I don’t think about that at this point,” he said. “I’ve still got a lot of basketball to play.”
On Monday, we looked at the 
KEITH SMART, SACRAMENTO: You have to wonder if Smart is becoming another of those guys who never gets a real chance. He had to clean up the mess in Cleveland before LeBron James arrived. Then he got a shot in Golden State, won the trust of his players, improved the team by 10 wins to 36-46 and was cleared out by new ownership, who wanted a bigger name. After replacing the soft Paul Westphal seven games into last season, Smart was retained and gets a full training camp – for a team whose ownership seems more interested in moving than winning.
RANDY WITTMAN, WASHINGTON: Wittman has an overall record of 118-238 as a head coach and never has been to the postseason. So why was he retained by the Wizards? Well, Washington was 7-4 when midseason acquisition Nene was in the lineup. And Wittman carried a much bigger stick than doormat predecessor Flip Saunders, benching established players for unproven youngsters willing to work harder and refusing to allow Andray Blatche’s cancerous attitude to poison his locker room.
assistant Jerry Sichting to Wittman’s staff. Newman will be expected to improve Washington’s middling defense, and Sichting is a former point guard who can provide offensive direction. Both add experience and savvy to Washington’s staff.
MIKE WOODSON, NEW YORK: Of the six coaches we have reviewed over the last two days, Woodson has the best qualifications. He has been coaching for so long that many forget how good a player he was. Much of his time as an assistant was spent under Larry Brown. He guided the Hawks from laughingstock to contender and was not afraid of confronting players. And he salvaged last season for the Knicks, reminding the roster that there are two ends of the floor.
of them to work miracles.
MIKE DUNLAP, CHARLOTTE: There were more than a few folks whose response was “Who?” when owner Michael Jordan and GM Rich Cho decided to hire Dunlap ahead of more established names such as Jerry Sloan and Nate McMillan or a long-time assistant such as Brian Shaw. But none of those bigger names appeared totally committed to the huge climb back to respectability that Charlotte is facing. The Bobcats were a laughingstock last season (let’s not forget they are beginning this season with a 23-game losing streak and have a roster with plenty of promise but no idea how to win.
Maybe that makes Dunlap a good choice for this group, which has eight players 26 or younger. Virtually all of his background is in the college game, save for a two-year stint as a player development assistant with Denver from 2006-08. And his only Division I experience as a head coach came last year, when he replaced cancer-stricken Steve Lavin at St. John’s midway through the season.
TERRY STOTTS, PORTLAND: Smart hire or retread? Stotts has a fantastic resume as an assistant, riding shotgun on George Karl’s strong squads in Seattle and Milwaukee and Rick Carlisle’s championship in Dallas. But when given the reins in Atlanta and Milwaukee, he hasn’t fared well (115-168). It seems like he’s been around forever, but at 54 he is actually younger than Dunlap.
JACQUE VAUGHN, ORLANDO: Vaughn spent 12 years as a backup point guard, a position that often provides a direct path into coaching. He played for NBA Finals teams in Utah and San Antonio. Some of the guys he played behind include John Stockton, Jason Kidd and Tony Parker. Some of the coaches he played for include Jerry Sloan, Doc Rivers and Gregg Popovich. He spent three seasons as a player and two as an assistant in San Antonio, where his approach left an impression on Rob Hennigan, then a member of the Spurs’ front office and now the Magic’s GM.
Vaughn outlasted fellow finalists Michael Curry and Lindsey Hunter in an exhaustive multi-interview process that was not completed until free agency was well under way. He actually was hired while Dwight Howard was still on the roster, but his hiring was clearly a move toward a future without the superstar. This is Vaughn’s his first head coaching job, and he is making somewhat of a leap as he was several rungs down on Popovich’s staff, behind Mike Budenholzer and Don Newman.
The Shell Answer Man is a column theme that was inspired by my 8th grade journalism teacher Bill Ehrlich, who taught me as much about basketball as he did about journalism.
With a knee injury like Rose’s, the return date hinges upon the progress of his rehab and the strength of the knee. And considering how much cash the Bulls have tied up in Rose for the next 5 years, they’ll be smart and err on the side of caution. If their offseason is any indication, erring on the side of caution seems to be the philosophy.
I will start this answer by saying that I believe Miami will most likely repeat. When I preview the season, I’ll discuss this in more detail, but one thing is for sure. This year’s Heat team will function and look much different than last year’s team.
The answer to this question depends entirely on whom you’re speaking to. I think that both sides have some mixed emotions about how it looks so far.
From what other players have commanded on the open market, Harden can certainly make a case that he deserves max money. If the Thunder give it to him, they’ll be paying the luxury tax. As opposed to the Lakers, the Nets, and the Knicks, Oklahoma City owner Clay Bennett has to worry about the luxury tax. It possible he could be close to being below the tax line if they amnesty Perkins, which is a possibility, but it doesn’t solve everything. He doesn’t have the revenue sources that the Lakers, Nets, and Knicks do. The Thunder have until Oct. 31st to sign Harden to an extension or he can be a free agent next year. The Thunder are far too smart (insert Knick/Jeremy Lin joke here) to lose Harden for nothing. If they don’t sign him, I would expect them to shop him hard for a premium package of young players and picks for the sole purpose of cutting costs.
offseason. The Chicago Bulls, who have the NBA’s best record over the last two seasons, will be without their best player.
BLAKE GRIFFIN: The All-Star forward hurt his left knee during training with Team USA in July, right after he had signed a five-year, $95 million extension with the Clippers. Protecting their investment, Griffin was pulled out of the Olympics and underwent arthroscopic surgery.
shadow over his potential contract extension. The sweet-shooting combo guard appears to be one of the franchise’s cornerstones and has had preliminary discussions with the Warriors, who are adopting a wait-and-see attitude in advance of the Oct. 31 deadline.
AVERY BRADLEY: It’s hard to believe that a player with 536 career points is on this list, but Bradley ended last season as Boston’s starting shooting guard, having supplanted Ray Allen with his dogged defense. Unfortunately, his season ended prematurely due to separations of both shoulders that required separate surgeries.
