LeBron Isn’t Like Mike, Never Will Be Like Mike, and That’s Working for the Cavs

CLEVELAND — LeBron James took over, as is his wont.

He reached down, tapped “play” and the sweet stylings of the O’Jays filled the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room. Soon, James was singing along to “Back Stabbers”—a curious choice, sure, though there was no need to psychoanalyze his selection. Really, James just likes the O’Jays.

Nor was there any need Wednesday night to psychoanalyze the Cavs—no matter how many doubts they had raised in recent days.

This was a team in perfect harmony, with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving providing the points, and James the playmaking, in a 116-78 rout of the Toronto Raptors. With that, Cleveland retook control of the Eastern Conference Finals, three games to two.

Crisis averted.

Game 6 is Friday night in Toronto.   

The momentary tie in the series had triggered the usual overwrought reactions, as if no contender ever lost consecutive road games (they have), and as if the Raptors were not a legitimately good team (they are).

Along with the panic came the cliched cries for James to “take over,” to summon his inner Rambo and single-handedly disembowel the entire Raptors roster. Same as it ever was.

It’s 2016, James is a 13-year veteran, a four-time MVP, a two-time champion and yet we are still debating his mental makeup and demanding he “Be Like Mike.”

James is one victory away from his sixth straight NBA Finals—a feat last achieved by the 1960s Boston Celtics—and yet people are still trying to squeeze this era’s greatest star into another man’s mold.

We are swimming in advanced stats and SportVu data, yet we remain stubbornly beholden to scoring totals to determine worth. We want our basketball stars to dominate with dunks and jumpers. Count the pointzzz.

It’s an understandable expectation, born of decades of Jordan highlights (and Bird highlights and Kobe highlights…), and it persists because we know what James can do when the mood strikes. We have seen him drop 45 points on the Boston Celtics (in the 2012 playoffs), 49 on the Orlando Magic (2009) and 48 on the Detroit Pistons (2007).

Yet LeBron has always been more Magic than Michael, forever seeking the smart play, the crack in the defense, the open …

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