Among the many reunions in this NBA Finals, perhaps none will be as important to crowning a champion as the reunion between Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra. The two worked together four seasons, which ended in four trips to the NBA Finals and two NBA championships. It was rarely easy or undramatic during The Heatles Era, but with LeBron and Spoelstra meeting in the Finals, the inevitable questions came about what is different about LeBron these days? According to Spoelstra, the only thing that is different about LeBron is the jersey he wears and the teammates he has, the greatness has always been there.
“It’s a true testament to his greatness to be able to sustain this type of success year in and year out,” Spoelstra said during NBA Finals Media Day. “Different uniforms and everybody, new players and new teams going after him, it’s a real testament to that commitment. He’s seen everything at this point in his career. It’s just about winning and his ability to do what he does at his age is incredibly uncommon. But there’s a lot of work that goes behind the scenes to be able to maintain that.”
Spoelstra now has to plan an NBA Finals gameplan around LeBron James again. But this time, he has to strategize how to minimize that greatness rather than maximizing it.
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