Heading into the Finals, James seeks vindication
Whenever he wants to feel humbled, LeBron James pops in the tapes of the 2007 NBA Finals. No matter what, the outcome never changes. He got swept. San Antonio simply outclassed Cleveland four years ago in the title series, and that still serves as a colossal source of motivation for James - who makes no secret that he's fueled by slights and disappointments.
Whenever he wants to feel humbled, LeBron James pops in the tapes of the 2007 NBA Finals.
No matter what, the outcome never changes. He got swept. San Antonio simply outclassed Cleveland four years ago in the title series, and that still serves as a colossal source of motivation for James - who makes no secret that he's fueled by slights and disappointments.
Since then, he's won two MVP awards and earned somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 million. Still, nothing fills the void created by those four losses.
Here comes his chance to change that.
James is heading to the Finals for the second time, after he, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh carried the Miami Heat to a wild series-clinching comeback victory in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference title series in Chicago. The season's final challenge is the Dallas Mavericks, who visit Miami in Game 1 of the Finals on Tuesday night.
"I think about it all the time," James said of that 2007 series. "I even go back and watch some of those games and see how I wasn't that good of a player, especially on both ends of the floor. You just try to use those moments. I feel like there's no way I should be out on the floor and the team that I'm on can't win a game in a series. I use that as motivation. . . . I've got a lot of motivation."
What's transpired in the last 12 months - being called a quitter by his former fans in Cleveland, getting knocked for a supposed inability to finish, the continual hits the Heat have taken for the moves they made last summer - have only topped off that tank of motivational fuel for James, and he's done his part to silence some of those criticisms with an array of sensational playoff finishes.
Among the highlights: The 10 straight points against Boston to wrap up Game 5 over the now-dethroned East champs in the second round. The nine points in an 11-2 run that decided Game 2 of the East finals against Chicago. The combined 71 feet of three made jump shots in a 97-second span late in Game 5 against the Bulls, including the shot with 30 seconds left that put Miami ahead for good after it had trailed by 12 late in the fourth quarter.
Afterward, he called Thursday's finish the best few minutes of his life.
"We know what kind of player he is," Bosh said. "We know how bad he wants to be in this situation. He's back in the Finals. He's been here before. He has that pain. He carries that pain with him everywhere he goes. It's going to help him. It's going to help us as a team."
Rockets choose McHale
Hall of Famer Kevin McHale has agreed to take over the vacant head coach job with the Houston Rockets.
The Houston Chronicle reported that McHale has agreed in principle to a three-year deal.
McHale was picked over Boston assistant Lawrence Frank and Dallas assistant Dwane Casey.
It's an interesting choice considering McHale's lack of previous success as a head coach. He has a career record of 39-55 in two previous stints with Minnesota. After being fired in 2009, he has been an analyst for TNT and NBA-TV.