Ahead of Game 3 between the Thunder and Pacers this week, Lakers superstar LeBron James gave some key advice to this year’s Finals participants. Looking back on his career, LeBron shared some words of wisdom from Pat Riley on how to succeed at the NBA’s highest level of play.
“If I had to give one piece of advice: as much as it is annoying, you take full advantage of it because it’s not promised you can get there every year or multiple years,” said James on ‘Mind the Game’ podcast. “You just got to take full advantage of it, but also keep the main thing the main thing. That’s one of the things I learned from Pat Riley, he would always say like ‘Listen, we’re here for a reason, we’re here to do a job. Enjoy it, but keep the main thing the main thing.’ If you’re able to do that, I think it gives you a little bit more than if your opponent is not keeping the main thing the main thing.”
LeBron went to Miami to win his first championships, and he found a lot of success under Pat Riley, who taught him everything he knows about being a winner. It was Riley who first told him about the importance of maintaining focus during the Finals, which can often be littered with distractions of all kinds.
For James, the Finals are the hardest part of the season, and while he finds it highly enjoyable, it can also be hard to appreciate the moment when it involves so much theater and presentation that it can become distracting.
“Like, we’re here to do a job. We’re right here. These are going to be the hardest four games that we could win in your life. There’s never gonna be a harder time than right now. So let’s just try to keep the main thing the main thing, enjoy it, have fun, it’s gonna be a little different. It’s gonna be like All-Star weekend if you’ve been there. I’ve heard NFL guys say they hate the Super Bowl. There are guys that I’ve seen who said even when they won it, they hated the Super Bowl because it didn’t feel like a game. It felt like a business. It felt like it was just a ‘bring us here’ dog and pony show. It didn’t feel like a regular game, and sometimes it could feel like that throughout the Finals, but it is fun, I’ll tell you that. It is very fun.”
As a 4x NBA champion, few have experienced the Finals more than LeBron. He’s been 10 times during his career, including eight consecutive years from 2011 to 2018. Each series came with a different set of challenges for James, but he’s made the most of his opportunities with averages of 28.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 7.8 assists in 55 games in the NBA Finals in his career.
From the Mavericks to the Spurs to the Golden State Warriors, LeBron has faced several Finals opponents in various situations. More than most, he knows what it takes to succeed, and it requires a serious level of dedication, focus, and commitment to the craft, among other things.
While James and the Lakers are not currently playing in this year’s Finals, he’s watching as a fan like the rest of us, eagerly waiting to see who will be the newest NBA champion. This time, it’s between the Thunder and the Pacers, who are both inexperienced at this stage of the playoffs. Just like LeBron did, they are learning how to survive on the fly as they navigate through the wild Finals experience for the very first time.
