King Me

This cover from 6 seasons ago may actually be more relevant now,
should the Heat continue their winning ways.

Like many people, I never really cared for the title that LeBron James carried from the moment he entered the league. In seven seasons with the Cavaliers, James led them to the NBA Finals once and another additional trip to the Eastern Conference Finals - but was never able to win a title there. Granted, he didn't have the best teams around him, but elite players (no matter who is around them) get viewed strictly on their rings. The nickname "King James" hasn't been earned just yet.

But I feel that it is about to.

James and company are on the brink of making it to the NBA Finals, where they would likely face the Dallas Mavericks (barring a collapse). As long as the Heat make the Finals, I believe they will be a favorite over Dallas - despite the roll that Dirk is on right now.

And the main reason for them being the favorite is LeBron James.

James didn't win 2 MVPs in Cleveland on accident. He won them because he was the epitome of the award - the most valuable player to the Cavs, who would have never been in that position without him (this year's utter collapse shows how important James was to the Cavs).

To start this year, Lebron and company struggled to find a rhythm together and often had a tough time closing out close games - with none of the Big 3 stepping up to be "The Guy" in those situations. This includes three close games against the Bulls, games which didn't feature clutch shots by Wade or James, but rather Kyle Korver and Luol Deng. The Heat went 0-3 against the Bulls, losing by a combined 8 points.

The playoffs has been a new season for the Heat, who are now 11-3 in the playoffs and looking for their third straight 4-1 series win if they can close out the Bulls on Thursday. While James' averages don't necessarily show any big improvements from regular season to playoffs (outside of the one less turnover a game he is averaging), he is passing the eye-test as a leader down the stretch of games now.

There will be detractors who say that the Heat should be doing this and that James shouldn't get recognized for what he's doing. After all, in his ill-orchestrated "Decision", he did make a heel turn and join Pat Riley's suddenly "evil" Miami Heat to join fellow All-Stars Wade and Bosh. With that talent, everyone expects the Heat to win the title.

However a team may be composed, it shouldn't matter. Teams are designed through free agency, draft and through trades. People are annoyed that the Heat designed the core of their team through free agency, even though that really just applies to James and Bosh because Wade was drafted by Miami. And for the most part, at least under the Paxson era, much of the Bulls core was built via draft. The championship rings they get for winning championships don't change based on how you build you team.

The aforementioned early-season issues in the regular season were celebrated wildly by the public with each passing def-Heat. Many (including myself) questioned whether it would take a season or two for them to gel and get into championship form.

While they are still 5 wins away from that goal, I feel like they have a much better chance than I ever gave them credit for. And the reason for that is Lebron.

His reign may be about to be starting before the NBA's very eyes.