Michael Arace commentary: James takes his game to higher level
Last week, the Cleveland Cavaliers won four games and LeBron James averaged 30.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 2.3 steals. James has become such a cultural icon -- as an insurance pitchman, a sneaker salesman and a tosser of powdered chalk -- it is easy to miss what he is doing on the basketball court. But look at those numbers.
The Cavs (57-13) will carry the NBA's best record into their game against the New Jersey Nets tonight. James will carry in averages of 28.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists. He has always been a prodigious producer. That much is taken for granted. But look a little closer. James' game is taking on a higher sheen.
This season, James is above his career averages in field-goal percentage, three-point percentage, free-throw percentage, rebounds, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio (not to mention points). What we have here is the most imposing physical specimen in basketball, and he is increasing in efficiency.
This is not by accident. James has heeded the lessons provided by a previous generation of NBA stars, namely Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, James' boyhood idol.
Bird never took his shooting for granted. He practiced daily, year-round. He had a personal ballboy to feed him during his lonely, pregame routine. James has Cavs assistant Chris Jent as a shooting partner, and they can be found on the court at any and all hours. Jent understands the mechanics and he can offer advice. James listens.
Johnson went home every summer and honed a new skill. He would show up at training camp with an extra inch in his leap or, lo and behold, a viable three-point shot. Johnson never stopped improving.
6 feet 8 and 250 pounds, and it seems to us in Ohio that he has been that size since kindergarten. What is beautiful is James wants to use his copious gifts to their greatest advantage, and he will embrace an Eastern philosophy of exercise to augment his focus, balance and flexibility. Darryl Dawkins didn't do yoga.
James grasps this principle. Yesterday, there was a story in The Plain Dealer that described James' yoga program, which has been two years in development. James is
Jordan was on the cover of Sports Illustrated by the second month of his rookie season, in 1984. As was the case with Bird and Magic, who famously pulled the league out of the drug-addled 1970s, Jordan was an instant superstar (not as common then as it is today). Unlike Bird and Magic, Jordan had to go through a trying process before he won an NBA title. It came, finally, in his seventh season, when he was 28 years old.
James is going through a strikingly similar process. He is world-famous. He is Nike's golden boy. He is wealthy enough to set up his descendents until the end of time. He is arguably the best player in the game -- but he has not won the big one, a circumstance that put James in a compromising position. He has had to lean on management and yet avoid the appearance that he is running the front office. He has had to balance his loyalty to his hometown team against the relative strength of the roster. He has had to maintain his "face of the franchise" status while considering his legacy -- which screams for a title, be it in Cleveland or somewhere else.
Outside of a Yankees-cap scandal here and there, James has handled this tightrope walk with aplomb. He makes us forget he's 24. He makes us ponder that he is actually improving. At the Beijing Olympics, his selflessness, savvy and court sense indicated a new maturity and assured a gold medal for the United States.
And now, in James' sixth NBA season, we can see a glint in his eye, over and above his usual raw joy. Maybe it's the yoga. Maybe it's the notion that he is flanked with a capable supporting cast, one that fits well together, one that has a chance to win the title. Toward that end, James is playing the best basketball of his life, and that is saying something.
Michael Arace is a sports reporter for The Dispatch.
