The Lebronacalypse was postponed...

I want to start this post out by saying for the record; Lebron James confuses the hell out of me.

He plays for 3 and a half months like the first coming. For the first time I actually feel like I'm a witness to something great, in fact as the Jordan fanatic I am, I actually uttered the words " He could go down as the greatest basketball player of all time. Better than MJ."

Here's what I was thinking. Lebron this season has been better than anyone I remember watching other than Jordan. His defense is better than Magic's ever was. His ability to get to the rim anytime on anyone, is more useful to his team than Bird's vaunted shooting. He's become one of the top 5-10 defensive players in the league and certainly the most consistent perimeter defender this year. Has anybody else succesfully guarded Chris Paul, and David West and Paul Pierce and KG in the same game? Does anybody besides Dwight Howard block more shots from the weak side? Has anybody ever been more of a home run threat on cross court passes? That game against The Raptors, when he had 7 dunks in the first half was crazy... In the words of Bill Simmons he looked like he made the leap this year.

Then he went to Boston on national TV and destroyed them. Took Pierce out of the game while scoring 38 in a 15 point victory. Simmons was ready to declare the Eastern conference done for the next 10-12 years. I thought all signs pointed to this. Until I saw that he had to play Kobe on MLK day in LA. What better coming out party? You take down the champs in Boston and a few weeks later destroy the challengers and declare it's Lebron's league now. The Lebronacalypse had begun to seem like a reality.

On an old video about Jordan they have an interview with Magic. He talks about how for years, Larry Bird and he were waiting for Michael to come up and take the crown and the championship. And then Magic says, boy did he come and take it.

I figured Monday was going to be Lebron's moment to come and take it. Everyone in the league has been calling him it's best player since the opening tip of the season. The Cavs are very much in the mix for the # 1 seed in the East, so every game counts. It's Martin Luther King's Day, right before the inaugeration of the first African-American President, the only Politician Lebron openly supported. And most importantly you're playing the #1 team in the West, a team there's a realistic chance you might face in the finals. And their star player just happens to be Kobe Bryant. The current holder of the title, best player in the NBA.

So I figured you could pencil Lebron in for a 40-50 point night and possibly a triple double. I'd hoped for a close game where Lebron and Kobe would guard each other in crunch time. Or at least for a Cavs blowout that Lebron padded his stats in. And then I had decided it will be over. If Lebron goes into LA and asserts his will over Kobe and the Lakers, a new era has started. The Lebronacalypse. A period of time where he's such a good player that wherever he goes they'll win 50-70 games depending on his teammates, then in a 7 game playoff series he destroys the other team. Every year for 10-12 years. I was warning friends about the supposed secret pact Wade, Bosh and Lebron made in China about going to the Knicks in 2010. I was telling people the Lebronacalypse was coming. I even called my friend Cam( a Lakers fan, and a guy who argues Magic was better than Jordan) to taunt him and remind him to watch Lebron as often as he could because " we're watching something special."

Then Lebron comes out and shoots 9 for 25 in a blowout loss. Yes, He was in a shooting slup. Yes, it's only one game. Yes Kobe is still a lockdown defender and it's hard for anyone to score on him. Still, Lebron looked like Superman getting exposed to Kryptonite and you could see it. So maybe Lebron still needs another year until he's ready to come up and take the title of game's best player.

Kobe played an almost identical game with a dislocated finger. For some reason he also decided to tell us about how he tried to shoot the ball off his non dislocated fingers. Thanks for the clear up there Mamba, I was thinking you shot the ball off the finger it hurt most on. Silly me. But the fact remains he scored 15 of his 20 after intermission. At the half the game was close. Then Kobe stepped up and Lebron couldn't duplicate the effort. This, along with the fact that Kobe made the 3 that saved the Redeem Team, makes me have to reassess my best player playing right now rankings and possibly give the Mamba back the top spot.

Lebron nailed his first buzzer beater, last night in Golden State. Most people probably were excited by it. I was a little surprised the Cavs needed a buzzer beater to beat the GSW but it doesn't matter. With time expiring Lebron took a 17 foot fallaway jumper and nailed it. The Cavs were down 104-105 so if he misses this shot they lose an embarrassing game. Those shots to me are the true game winners. If a game is tied and you miss, you go to overtime. If you're down and you miss, you lose. I think that's one of the reasons everyone remembers MJ's original shot at Cleveland in 88. The Bulls were down and it was the final seconds of the deciding game of a first round series. MJ hits the shot and the Cavs season was over. If he missed it, the Bulls season would have been over. So Lebron hits this shot and I'm supposed to be all impressed. But honestly I was just wondering why he faded away so much.

It's entirely possible that Lebron will continue to tease NBA fans and basketball lovers like this. Showing glimpses, and fading all season. It's possible that he'll continue to play amazing well by the numbers this season and then kick it up a gear in the playoffs. It's possible he makes the finals and wins, or loses. I don't know anymore. I have no doubt he'll become the best player in the league in the next 3-4 years. I just wonder if he'll ever reach his potential.

T