LeBron James is the smartest player in the NBA, and maybe one of the smartest of all time. The King knows who his opponent will be in the NBA Finals, and he knows that it is going to take more than just him to compete with them.
LeBron has been playing out of his mind during these playoffs, propelling his team to 10 straight wins leading into Game 3 against the Celtics. In this series, LeBron was toying with the Celtics, Tristan Thompson dominated the boards, and Kevin Love held his own both in the paint and beyond the arc. The one missing piece was Kyrie Irving, who was struggling to find his shot in Games 1 & 2, and LeBron being as calculated as he is, knew that he needed the 2nd best player on his team to get out of his funk. Steve argues that LeBron decided to take a backseat in Games 3 & 4 to send a message to Kyrie that it was time to step up and be a star. It took a little longer than LeBron probably planned, but Kyrie finally answered in Game 4 dropping 42 points to give the Cavaliers a 3-1 series lead.
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