It was on a Tuesday night in which the Los Angeles Lakers, led by Hall-of-fame bound forward LeBron James and perennial All-Star Anthony Davis, played a home game for an in-conference marquee matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans. The game was built up as a high-profiled match-up between LeBron James, and Pelicans star rookie Zion Williamson, who had missed some time during the season due to a meniscus injury during the preseason. Going into the game, most of its observers believed the match up would be a complete mismatch for the sake of New Orleans. At the time New Orleans sat on a 25-32 record and on the brink of missing the playoffs, while Los Angeles were cruising through the Western Conference with a 43-12 record, including a hot streak winning 7 of their last 8 ball games. Despite the mid-season success, the Lakers were doing everything but cruising the entire game.
The Pelicans made the match highly competitive to say the least, with All-Star Forward Brandon Ingram and rookie sensation Zion Williamson leading the charge for New Orleans scoring 34 and 29 points in the game, respectively. On the Lakers side, the team received great contribution from guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Lebron James, who combined 10 of 20 from beyond the arc that night. Yet star forward Anthony Davis struggled mightily throughout the game, shooting an abysmal 6 of 21 from the field but still chipping in 21 points by making 9 of his 10 Free Throws. From the looks of it, the Pelicans were on pace to win the game, given how well they were playing on both sides of the ball, yet the game ended up going into the Lakers hands, winning a toughly earned 118-109 game. With all the issues that harbored over the Lakers throughout the game, the defining performance of one LeBron James helped propel the Los Angeles to the win in a highly intense match up verses the underdog New Orleans Pelicans, putting together a staggering stat line of 40 Points, 8 Rebounds and 6 Assists while shooting 17 of 27 from the Floor, and 5 of 11 from downtown. Now, but truth be told, this very game speaks to another key attribute of LeBron James and his game that for so long has been maligned throughout his career: LeBron James is Clutch.
Now when looking at that statement, many viewers would be quick to point out LeBron James’ late-game instances in which he failed to close the deal in close-nit games, such as getting blocked by Knicks guard Mario Hezonja, or getting shut down by Clippers Point Guard Pat Beverly. Or even from a historical perspective, the infamous 2011 Finals series verses the Dallas Mavericks, in which LeBron had by far the biggest meltdown of any superstar in a championship like atmosphere in the history of professional sports. Such occurrences have been a defining, although negative, blemish attached to the King’s resume, one that has haunted him throughout his career at large. Yet, the narrative that LeBron James is not clutch is, to put it candidly, asinine and should not be looked at within the manner that it is. When understanding the real definition of clutchness in the NBA, it is without a doubt that LeBron James is fits this description, and to back up this claim we shall approach it is by assessing a simple question: what truly represents being “clutch”.
The thing is, the problem that most fans and observers commit is boil down the idea of being clutch to a last second shot, or the last 2 or 5 minutes within a basketball game. Now based off that criteria, even I couldn’t deny that Lebron is entirely all too far down the spectrum in regards to being clutch, but the problem with the criteriais that it is all too incomplete. Simply put, if we limit the definition of being clutch to merely last-second shots, LeBron James in my opinion does not warrant clutch consideration, but if we factor in clutch performances, then Lebron is definitely warranted of such consideration. Too many times throughout his career has he performed so well in games that the need for a last second was nullified due to his supreme dominance and control over the game. When dissecting the two aspects, clutch performances or game winning shots, both symptoms ultimately lead to the players team to a win. So, if a player hits a game winning shot for his team or produces in a game so much so that the need for a game winning shot is removed from the equation, then both situations warrant that player being consider clutch, as both said situations require that player to come up big when they are needed to.
For instance, take the game mentioned above. When watching the game in its entirety, you realize the clutch performance that LeBron James had in this match up. Given how poorly the rest of the team played, including their star Power Forward Anthony Davis, along with how well New Orleans was playing, the match clearly seemed to favor the Pelicans for much of the game. Yet because LeBron James went on a 40-point assault that very night, the Lakers were able to pull away with the game being essentially over by the late 3rd quarter. Los Angeles would wind up winning the game, not because Lebron hit a game winner for the Lakers, but because his performance was so impactful on both ends of the court the game did not require a need for a game winning shot.
Making a last second shot in a game is without questionably clutch, but when we expand its meaning and incorporate that of an individual's performance, we really start to understand the difference between which players fall short of expectations, and those who shine brightest within the biggest of moments.
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