Shot At Redemption For Ex-Cav

By Brian Windhorst
ESPN.com

 James

MIAMI -- LeBron James is about to play the most important playoff series of his career.
Six surefire Hall of Famers will be playing in this upcoming Heat-Celtics series, but none of them has as much at stake as James does. His status is on the line, and right now there's no basis for excuse.
James' personal reputation never took a more severe hit than the fallout from "The Decision" broadcast. Yet, in an odd but tangible way, that miscue diverted attention from his basketball crime, when he tarnished his name as the league's most valuable player by playing the worst game of his career at the worst possible time. And it came against the Boston Celtics at the same pressure point where the Miami Heat now find themselves.
After eliminating the Philadelphia 76ers this week, Heat players and coaches said it wouldn't have felt right had they not met Boston in the playoffs. For James, it isn't just right; it's potentially poetic and redemptive -- or ruinous.
James fled what he felt was an unsalvageable situation in Cleveland because he couldn't beat the Celtics even with a nearly $100 million payroll around him. He came to Miami for an upgrade: more talented teammates and the promise to smash that bear trap that's swallowed him twice.
Now, with the Celtics at hand again, all of James' chips are in the middle. Win and he was right. Lose and he's in the same mud, a year older and looking no wiser. Fair or not, that's his situation. Either lead his team to being more clutch than Ray Allen, more rugged than Kevin Garnett, more crafty than Paul Pierce and more fearless than Rajon Rondo, or endure another burning summer of discontent. Only this time, the mockery will be more about basketball and not public relations.
To this day, they beg for answers back in Cleveland as to what happened May 11, 2010, when James' heavily favored Cavs lost Game 5 at home to the Celtics by 32 points as he delivered a historic dud. Cavs fans still bitterly argue and split hairs as to whether James quit on his team, choked on it or even lied to it about an elbow injury that he'd really been battling for nearly a month. They debate James' facial expressions, where he sat on the bench and what he said after what was likely the worst game of his career.