Lebron’s Coming Out Party

By Jeff Glauser
The Phanatic Magazine

It was the “did you see that moment” of the year so far in sports, the most amazing individual feat since AI carried a broken down group of nobodies on his skinny, tat-covered back throughout the 2001 postseason. And as far as one individual game, it surpasses that, as well.

Unlike Lebron, I was going to pass this one off to my teammates at The Phanatic, but it hasn’t happened yet and last night was too amazing not to pontificate about.

If you first tuned in to the Cavs-Pistons game with 8 minutes left in regulation, you would have still witnessed 18 minutes of play – almost an entire half.

You would have also witnessed exactly one person make a shot for the Cavs – and still outscore the opponent.

I must confess, I too was among the naysayers when it came to James – he’s great but not transcendent, mailed it in too many times, not truly clutch. That is until last night.

Last night, Lebron had a Coming Out party. And not the kind David Hyde Pierce just had, either.

25 straight points. 29 out of 30. A game-tying fade-away, off-balance, double-teamed three-pointer from the corner. A game-winning, time-stopping, scooping layup.

The four other guys on the floor could have simply taken a seat and purchased a popcorn and the results probably would not have changed.

If the game started in the fourth quarter (and as overtime turned to double overtime, it began to feel that way), James surpasses Jordan’s 63-point playoff performance. Guaranteed.

Another record broken: The amount of “No-no-no…YES!” exclamations Cleveland fans had while watching LBJ pull one unfathomable shot after another out of nowhere.

The Cavaliers had no right to win that game last night. Mike Brown again looked lost as a coach, inexplicably calling two timeouts in the final minute-plus of the first OT – when the team was up by four! After the first timeout, it resulted in an off-balance James’ airball (helluva play call there, Mike). After wasting the second, it left Eric Snow three seconds to heave a prayer from the other side of Michigan instead of having the opportunity to set something up at half court.

Furthermore, the win was accomplished with second-fiddle Larry Hughes hobbling his way to a quiet nine points, and without the likes of their only intimidating defensive presence, Zydrunas Ilguaskas, in the closing minutes (you can’t tell me that the Pistons possessed any fear of Anderson Varejao and his purty hairdo).

This game showed to me that, as much as he dogged it at times during the regular season, Lebron still SHOULD have been the league’s MVP. Tell me where the Cavs would be without him this year. Seriously, look at the lineup and, even in the Leastern Conference, where do they wind up?

My guess? Hoping a ping-pong ball bounces their way.