LeBron James and the Championship Question

Earlier this month, when the Cleveland Cavaliers trailed the Boston Celtics two games to none in the Eastern Conference Finals, the ESPN provocateur Stephen A. Smith offered a theory about the inner workings and motivations of LeBron James. “I would never accuse him or insult him by saying that he’s losing on purpose,” Smith said in a tone suggesting he was getting ready to do just that. “I just believe that, if he is going to lose, he would rather lose before the NBA Finals than lose once he got to the NBA Finals.”

James showed just how badly he wanted to reach the Finals when he played 94 of a possible 96 minutes over the final two games against Boston, tallying 81 points,. “Fairly or unfairly,” ’s Sharon B. Katz two years ago, before James added a win and another loss to his ledger, “his 2–4 record in the Finals will be held up next to Michael Jordan’s 6–0 record and the marks set by other MVPs as evidence of some failing on his part.”