To this day, the 2011 Finals are classified as one of LeBron’s biggest blunders. He averaged just 17.8 points in the series against Dallas, leading to one of the biggest upsets in basketball history.
In a recent episode of “The Shop,” James looked back on those times and credited an identity crisis as the reason for his collapse.
(via The Shop: Uninterrupted)
“My first year in Miami I was down here I was literally like, I wanted to prove everybody wrong,” LeBron said. “And I like literally lost myself in the moment. I lost myself. And I got all the way to the championship that year and lost. Afterwards I was like we lost because I wasn’t even there.”
James left Cleveland to join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. For the first time in his career, LeBron was the bad guy, and much of the NBA community was rooting against him.
Fueled by vengeance and a desire to prove them all wrong, he lost himself in the moment and failed to deliver when it mattered most. At the time, it must have felt like rock bottom for James.
But it was likely that same moment that helped inspire what came after. The very next season, the “King” led the Miami Heat to a Championship and proved to the world that he was ready for greatness.
Of course, things would only get better from there. After winning another Chip with Miami, he went back home and brought the Larry O’Brien to Cleveland in one of the greatest playoff comebacks in sports history.
Even now, late into his 30s, he continues to be an elite player whose presence alone puts any team in title contention.
In the end, it’s not the mistakes that matter, it’s how you respond to them. In LeBron’s case, what he has been able to do over the past decade more than makes up for his 2011 catastrophe.
