The world on his shoulders, a legacy on the line, a city about to asphyxiate with excitement ... and one bad wrist.
LeBron James delivered. Up three points after a Kyrie Irving shot put the Cavaliers ahead of the Warriors 92-89 with under a minute to go in Game 7, LeBron James caught a pass and rose to finish it once and for all. Draymond Green fouled him, and then, chaos. James landed on his right wrist hard, risking serious injury to his shooting hand. He grimaced in pain as teammates and trainers rushed to him.
Everything that has ever been in Cleveland history popped up. Everything. All the horrible endings, all the cruel twists of fate, all the terrible Browns seasons, everything came rising to the surface. It was there. James had to shoot the free throws to stay in the game, but that opened the door for James to miss both, giving the Warriors just a 3-point deficit.
Instead ... the man with so much on his shoulders stepped to the line, missed the first, but then iced the second.
That was it. Four-point game. Steph Curry would miss again, and the Cleveland Cavaliers would go on to win 93-89 and clinch their first NBA championship.
For James, it absolutely destroys every preconceived narrative about him being a choker, or not one of the all-time greats. He stepped up with a hurt wrist, no matter how injured he really was, and knocked down the clinching free throw. James scored 11 points in the fourth to go with three rebounds, one assist and arguably the best block in NBA Finals history.
