Mavericks Win NBA Title; Players' Tweets Give Credit to God
It isn't uncommon for athletes to give praise to God following a victory, but when LeBron James posted a Twitter comment about God's timing early Monday morning following the Miami Heat's 105-95 loss to the Dallas Mavericks he created quite a stir.
“The Greater Man upstairs know when it's my time,” he Tweeted. “Right now isn't the time.”
These comments followed a finals series in which James averaged only 17.8 points per game, as opposed to the 26.7 points per game that he averaged during the season. The nearly nine point decline in scoring that occurred during the finals is the greatest drop of any other NBA player that ever scored an average of 25 points during the season, as reported by ESPN.com.
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Miami's Dwayne Wade finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists, but had five turnovers. Chris Bosh scored 19 points and had eight rebounds. Bosh was filmed falling to his hands and knees in frustration after the game on his way back to the lockerroom . Though LeBron James cannot be held solely responsible for the team's shortcomings, he is receiving a lot of criticism for both his play and his inability to appropriately address the media.
Warranted or not, ESPN commentator Mike Wilbon criticized James' Twitter post, stating that he didn't like the way the Miami superstar was “hiding” behind God's timing instead of accepting responsibility for the way he played.
“You control some stuff,” he said, “and I hope the man upstairs has got bigger things to worry about than NBA games...[James] is skilled enough, passionate enough, talented enough, to control that, to a great degree, himself...That doesn't strike me well.”
The 10 point win for the Mavericks was the largest margin of victory of any of the six games in the finals. Neither team at any point during the finals had a lead greater than 15 points, which is the first time that's happened since the 1999 series between the Spurs and Knicks, according to ESPN.com. In a number of different ways this series was one of the closest finals in recent NBA history.
While things didn't end well for “King” James and the Miami Heat, the Dallas Mavericks’ Jason Terry was flying high and offered up some of his own praise to the King of Kings for the way the series ended.
“We played hard and prayed harder its all jesus we coming home dallas,” Terry posted on his Twitter account several hours after the game was over. In interviews he has been consistently vocal about his faith, often making it a point to give God praise and credit for his team's successes before addressing the questions being asked of him.
Terry spent the beginning of every game of the finals in a humble place, the bench, but in game six he scored a game-high 27 points (followed by James and Dallas' Dirk Nowitski with 21 points each) and helped propel his team to the win and possession of the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. Nowitski earned the title of Finals MVP, though many commentators are emphasizing that it was Dallas' team effort that overthrew the big three of James, Wade, and Bosh.
Regardless of what others may think about what he posted, James was right: it isn't his time. The Dallas Mavericks were able to put together a team effort to take down one of the best and most polarizing teams in all of sports. Throughout the series the Mavericks have largely handled themselves with grace and humility, and they continue to do so as they take their trophy back to Texas.
