The Year of LeBron

When I think of the biggest sports headline of 2012, my mind races with so many options. The world of sports is so large, that I cannot honestly choose one story over another. 2012, like many other years, had an abundance of significant headlines, from the NBA lockout to the London Olympics. I felt overwhelmed trying to find the biggest story, and then it came to me. 2012 was a big year for NBA superstar LeBron James, despite what the majority of basketball fans think. He dominated both the national and international stage, and he did it with a kind heart and a smile on his face.

By Javier Mendez

 

As the 2010-2011 NBA season came to a close, LeBron and the Miami Heat desperately tried to live up to the hype that came with signing three of the NBA’s elite athletes to the same team. As we all know, they came up short and had to watch the Dallas Mavericks celebrate at the American Airlines Arena. With a broken spirit and a strong will to win, LeBron and the Heat trained for the upcoming, lockout-shortened season. The 2011-2012 season saw some of the greatest basketball LeBron and Miami has ever played. They dominated all season long and eventually reached the playoffs. They easily took out the Knicks in the first round then, amidst LeBron’s third Most Valuable Player award, they took out the Pacers in a dramatic seven game series. The Heat eventually reached the Eastern Conference Final to take on their rivals The Celtics. It took the Heat seven games to eliminate them and move on to the 2^nd finals appearance in a row, where they met the young and athletic Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC won the first game, then lost four in a row to solidify LeBron James as “The King.” LeBron was later named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.

LeBron celebrated the victory but had to get back to work several weeks later to prepare for the summer Olympics in London. The United States men’s basketball team then proceeded to dominate the qualifying round, occasionally beating the opposition by large margins reminiscent of the 1992 Dream Team. LeBron and his team continued the win streak and eventually made it all the way to the Medal game against Spain. They struggled against Ibaka and the Gasol brothers, but ultimately came out on top winning 107 to 100 for the gold medal.

LeBron’s once-in-a-lifetime year finally came to a close. He had achieved something that only one other person has ever achieved in the history of basketball. Now, I may anger several people with this information, but I just hope they’re smart enough to know that I didn’t make up this statistic. The only other person to have ever won a championship, two MVP’s, and a Gold Medal in the same year, was Michael Jordan. Eventually, LeBron’s amazing year led him to become Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year, an honor reserved for the most influential players of the year.