On Tuesday, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers lost in the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors.
By most level-headed accounts, this was an expected result. The Warriors were the most dominant team in the NBA during the regular season while the Cavs were essentially single-handedly banking on the brilliance of LeBron James to carry a team of role players to a title. The deck was ridiculously stacked in Golden State’s favor and it took a historic effort by LeBron to even make this into a competitive series.
And “historic” doesn’t really do justice to LeBron’s 2015 Finals.
LeBron James averaged 35.8 PPG, 13.3 RPG, 8.8 APG in the series
He falls to 2-4 in the NBA Finals pic.twitter.com/YT6o2Vcf6M
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 17, 2015
LeBron James is the only player in Finals history to lead all players in points, rebounds and assists pic.twitter.com/hq8ZV2W3Ct
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 17, 2015
And yet, when LeBron lost the Finals and fell to 2-4 in his career Finals appearances, it didn’t take long for the Hot Takes to roll in. Chief among the Hot Takers was Chris Chase of USA Today, who wrote this beautifully crafted diatribe that would have Skip Bayless weeping for joy:
No one doubts LeBron is the greatest player of his generation. But, at this point, he’s the only player ever to earn that honor who hasn’t dominated the NBA Finals while in his prime — a prime that’s ending sooner rather than later. Is it his fault for not making his teammates better? Is it his team’s fault for not getting him better teammates? These questions are irrelevant and will stay irrelevant if LeBron ends up with a pedestrian amount of NBA championships. There’s no nuance involved in questions about legacy. It’s about numbers, pure and simple.
You heard it here. Rings decide legacy. Derek Fisher’s basketball legacy is greater than LeBron James’s is at this point.
However, Chase wasn’t merely content to count championship rings and call it a day. No, it also matters how one gets their championships and we all know that LeBron murdered Cleveland on live television and thus his Miami championships are less legitimate or something:
And then there’s the matter of how LeBron won his titles. It was as a mercenary in Miami, after he stabbed Cleveland in the back on live television and created a super-team. The move was unbecoming of a champion and though LeBron has matured since then, that sojourn to South Beach is still remembered negatively.
Again, all of this criticism comes after a performance that was one of the best singular performances in NBA history.
Twitter, which is quick to call out such inanity, came down hard on the sizzling take. Check out some of the better responses below.
The HOTTEST of hot takes here from @chaztopher. So hot you can't even hope to grasp it. http://t.co/EvBwbcJDHd
— Peter Mertens (@psMertens) June 17, 2015
@chaztopher that was a terrible article
— Will Rr (@AlvySingrAbides) June 17, 2015
@wmdavid66 Just don't understand how same guy's opinion can swing so wildly in span of two days. @chaztopher
— Jodie Valade (@JodieValade) June 17, 2015
@chaztopher You should be ashamed of yourself.
— Michael Dervin (@mdervin) June 17, 2015
We all need to thank @chaztopher for breathing life and substance into @PFTCommenter's parody.
— SbV8 (@JesseFredeen) June 17, 2015
ITS A HOT TAKE WORLD AND YOUR JUST LUCKY ENOUGH TO LIVE IN IT pic.twitter.com/L1CsEsqEzD
— PFTCommenter (@PFTCommenter) June 17, 2015
Remember the above tweet when reading this gem.
@Joey_Powell I don't "hot takes" means what people think it means. I believe what I write. No one says everyone has to agree.
— Chris Chase (@chaztopher) June 17, 2015
