Lebron's climb to Mount Rushmore

I love the underdogs in all kinds of sports. Somewhere along the NBA playoffs, I wanted to pick the Houston Rockets me being a Houston native or Boston Celtics to reach the NBA Finals. The obvious pick, the Golden State Warriors, and Cleveland Cavaliers, don’t you think?

Would the Rockets have won if Chris Paul had been healthy for Games 6 and 7? If Golden State's Andre Iguodala had been healthy, would Paul's health have mattered? If anybody gets to complain about injuries, it's Boston. If the Celtics avoid them, they are Golden State good.

If you are the greatest shooter in basketball history, and Curry is statistically, you probably have the license to shoot when you want and from where you want. Curry chooses not to. He shares the ball, so his teammates do. Teammates that would be stars elsewhere accept their roles. They get to win another championship. That's a good role.

To beat Golden State for the title, Cleveland’s LeBron James will have to go one against the world. The difference between Cleveland and Golden State is that if you take Curry (or Durant or Thompson or Green) away from the Warriors, they still are special.

If you remove LeBron from Cleveland’s roster, the Cavaliers are the Hornets. Wait. That’s not true. Without LeBron, the Hornets beat the Cavaliers.

Every time I write something positive about LeBron I hear from people that refuse to acknowledge his greatness. Whether he is better than Michael Jordan is subjective. What’s not subjective is that LeBron is, if not the greatest player of all time, a close second.

LeBron played 48 minutes in Game 7 of the eastern conference finals. Nobody else on Cleveland or Boston played more than 42. In Game 7 of the Golden State-Houston series, nobody played more than 44.

LeBron, 33, is not a small man, and hauling his 250 pounds up and down the court is exhausting. He sneaks rest breaks the way tough kids in high school sneak cigarette breaks.

LeBron has to be on the court. When he doesn’t play, his team can’t.

LeBron will have to tangle with Green in the NBA finals, and that is not a player you go against on purpose. Although LeBron will be the best player on the court, the Warriors will have the next four – Curry, Durant, Green, and Thompson.

I can’t fathom Cleveland winning the thing. But should the Warriors sweep, LeBron’s legend is still intact. Even if you describe the flu game over and over again that engages in Jordan's hero worship, LeBron’s legend holds up there, too.

Especially when you beat a 73 win team while being down 3-1 in the finals just saying.