There are very few players in the history of the league who have more experience in the NBA Finals than Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. In fact, LeBron is tied with Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the third-most NBA Finals appearances in league history with 10.
Of course these days, the Finals are a much different experience than in earlier eras with all of the media attention and obligations. There is so much more that goes into it than just getting on the court and playing and in the latest episode of the “Mind the Game podcast” with Steve Nash, LeBron gave his most important piece of advice to anyone who ever has the privilege of making the NBA Finals:
“Over the years, I definitely talked to [my teammates] about it, like how do you manage your time because there’s idle time. Like you said, it’s two days in between and there’s one day that you fly in just to do media. They really just block off the whole court and there’s tables set up and you’re sitting there. It’s like All-Star Weekend all over again and it can be annoying. If I had to give one piece of advice though, as much as it is annoying, just take full advantage of it because it’s not promised. Like you said, it’s not promised that you can get there every year or multiple years, you just gotta take full advantage of it, but also just keep the main thing the main thing. That’s one of the one things I learned from Pat Riley, like he just always would say, ‘Listen, we’re here for a reason. We’re here to do a job. Enjoy it, but keep the main thing the main thing.’ And if you’re able to do that, I think it gives you even a little bit more than if your opponent is not keeping the main thing the main thing. So that’s what I’ve always tried to keep my guys focused on that. Like we’re here to do a job, we’re right here. It’s gonna be the hardest possible four games that we can possibly win in your life. It’s never gonna be a harder time than right now, so lets just try to keep the main thing the main thing. Enjoy it, have fun, it’s gonna be a little different, it’s gonna be like All-Star Weekend if you’ve been there. And I’ve heard NFL guys say that they hate the Super Bowl. There’s guys I’ve seen that said, even when they won it, they hated the Super Bowl because it didn’t feel like a game. It felt like a business. It felt like it was just bring us here, dog and pony show and it didn’t feel like a regular game. And sometimes it could feel that way throughout the course of the Finals. But it’s fun, I’ll tell you that. It’s fun.”
With so much going on and all of the extra attention both from the media and the fans, it can be so easy to get lost and lose focus of why you’re there. This is why LeBron believes it is imperative to keep the main thing the main thing, which Pat Riley surely learned during his time as head coach of the Lakers when they made the NBA Finals seven times in eight years.
The lights are the brightest and the attention is the highest at this time so keeping your head on straight and focusing on the task at hand is most important, and that is what James believes can help a team be successful on the NBA’s biggest stage.
Lakers’ LeBron James doesn’t believe a small-market NBA Finals should matter
While LeBron James has spent many years with both the Lakers and Miami Heat, two of the largest markets in America, he also spent half of his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, which is not a major market. So seeing the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers in this year’s NBA Finals is no big deal to him.
James believes the market size shouldn’t matter and feels it is more about the storylines of the teams and players involved that drives interest and doesn’t want any disrespect going towards great teams that came from small markets.
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