For many of those who will never forget James display of arrogance in his Miami welcome party, it is becoming too tiring to root against the 3-time MVP. Yes, he may have been guilty of tossing the ball like a hot potato when games are on the line. But now, James looked much like he has kicked the bad habit already.
In their series against the Boston Celtics, he demanded the ball in the closing plays. He does not easily settle for jump shots and was more keen on forcing issues by driving hard to the basket. And that paid off in as they survived the whole 7 game series against their Boston nemesis.
Lebron has shown recently that he is not just a physical freak of nature. He has shown that he has grown more mature, and sadly for most haters, more ready, more deserving, more hungry for his first NBA Championship.
In the NBA Finals Game 2 against OKC Thunder and Kevin Durant, he showed that maturity yet again, scoring 6 of his 32 points in the final quarter. He was willing to take a crucial 3-point shot in the dying seconds where he missed. But fans will forgive him for that, and haters will not consider that a good sign.
As Miami Heat stole one in Oklahoma and grabbed the home court advantage from the young OKC Thunder, James is getting closer than ever to his dream championship. But even with that, he already knows there is no cause to celebrate, that there is so much work to do. He answered interviews in measured, respectful tone, showing that he has finally come of age. For rivals, that is dangerous.
