The Front Row

Lebron was insanely good tonight in the clutch, including the last play of the game. The clutch play began late in the third quarter when the game was getting away from them and he absolutely took over and made 10 of 11 shots to get them in position to win. On the last play, Lebron(who has an incredible feel for the game) judged that the open Haslem shot was a higher percentage play than the shot he would be able to get off; this is the only thing that matters. You can say he shied away from the moment if it makes you feel better, but everyone here knows it takes more balls and toughness to make the play he made than to fire up a shot just to please the media. The truth is that this last shot bullshit is a media game and Kobe's and Jordan's respective percentages in those situations are lower than the odds of Haslem making that shot.

The bottom line is until he leads his team to a title and by that I mean is the main reason and not just a cog in the wheel, I don't care what kind of stats he compiles throughout a game. You're ultimately defined as an all time great by what you do when it matters most. Why should he be any different? The guy hasn't proven he can close and until he does, all criticism of him is completely valid. He's the Alex Rodriguez of basketball. Far too sensitive to everything being said about him while trying to skirt the real issue of not being a clutch player.