May 31, 2007, the birth of the LeBron James myth

Until May 31, 2007, LeBron James had been used to fantastic performances, and sometimes historic as he pulverized the records of precocity. The prodigy confirmed game after game the expectations, hopes and flattering comparisons. But never had he reached such mastery, such domination, such a degree of maturity as in this Game 5 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit. At 22 years and 152 days old, the King will produce the first great game of his career, the founding act of his legend.

The peeling of his performance leaves dreaming. The context first: a Game 5 of conference finals. Then the opponent: the Pistons, 2004 champions and 2005 finalists. The place of course: the mythical Palace of Auburn Hills. Finally, there is the stat line: 48 points at 18/33 on the shoot, 9 rebounds, 7 assists.

The numbers, however thick, do not reflect the visual impression left by the young Cavs winger. The Pistons, known for their defense, were helpless against such a prodigious talent.

“We tried everything and everyone,” Chauncey Billups recalled for The Undefeated. “Tayshaun Prince was on him for a long time, then LeBron caught fire. Rip Hamilton went for it, so LeBron caught fire. So I decided to go…I had to put pressure on him, try something else. He smoked me… We honestly tried everything, but with great players, it happens.”

LeBron in Michael’s footsteps

The mark of the great player is imprinted when the opponent has no solution, or rather the player finds a solution to each challenge of the defense. This is how great champions have marked their time.

In our summary of the time, we wrote that LeBron James was now “in the very closed club of superstars. Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant and even Dwyane Wade last year (in the 2006 Finals) had these moments. Those moments when you become a star of your sport. Those moments when everything you touch turns to gold.”

The Pistons tried to contain him by taking him on two, blocking him on the baseline, switching defenders. Quietly and effectively, LeBron James adapted.

“Nothing was easy, we put him on the floor. Really. And he got up, not saying anything. He kept doing his thing. I respect him. It’s probably the best performance against us,” said the Detroit point guard, MVP of the 2004 Finals.

Steve Kerr, who was in a good position to use that term, couldn’t hold back the word “sacred” after a basket to tie the game at 107-all with 1:15 left in the first overtime.

“It’s amazing. This is Jordanesque.”

A testament to greatness

Indeed, how can you not think of Michael Jordan when such a gifted kid scores 29 of his team’s final 30 points? In this double-overtime game, the wingman was the only Cavalier to score a basket in the final 18 minutes of the game, for a total of 25 straight points!

In the following days, American commentators will debate to classify this game in the history of the greatest performances of all time. ESPN will talk about it as a performance that “will be talked about for years”, a “testament of greatness” similar to Reggie Miller and his 8 points in 9 seconds, the 63 points in Boston or Michael Jordan’s “Flu Game”, or even Magic’s 42 points in the Finals in 1980.

LeBron James, on the other hand, has yet to make a decision.

“I haven’t established a ranking because I’m still playing,” he explained before the last game at the Palace a few years ago. “After that game, I was exhausted. I gave it my all in that game, leaving everything on the floor. I had been in the zone before, putting up big stats, but I always kept in mind winning.”

Fifteen years later and with the necessary hindsight and especially the games, titles, records that LeBron James has achieved since then, we can consider that our title at the time, “A Star Is Born”, was justified but did not let us imagine what would await us in the following years. In the end, it was not a star that was born on that famous May 31, 2007, but much more than that: a myth.