This is what happens when you’ve lived up to the hype and glory of being The Chosen One. When you’ve turned emotions in Ohio sideways and back with The Decision and The Letter.

When you’re LeBron James, back in the NBA Finals for a fifth consecutive year.

You can fuel some serious debate.

Is King James better than ever?

“If you put it all together, yeah,” the Cleveland Cavaliers star told reporters this week. “As far as my mind, my body, my game, you put everything in one bottle, it’s probably the best I’ve ever been.”

So there. He said it himself.

Years ago, such a comment might have been used against James as evidence of some sort of ego trip. But we should know better now, as Game 1 looms for the Cavs at the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night. This is a wise, dedicated man with more experience, merely speaking the truth.

James, 30, not only hit the most clutch shots and put his team on his back during this run to the Finals, but he has been more impressive than ever this season because of the manner in which he has demonstrated how much higher the ceiling existed for his leadership.

He quite literally guided the Cavs to the Finals – and through the adversities of a 19-20 mark near midseason, combined with key injury losses – when there was no other answer.

That’s why Jalen Rose, the ESPN analyst and former NBA guard – who calls James, “The most unselfish superstar in the game” – is in the better-than-ever choir.

“A coach’s dream,” Rose told USA TODAY Sports.

David Blatt, the much-ridiculed, first-year Cavs coach, must be sleeping well.

Or, as Rose put it, “LeBron’s essentially telling him, ‘Happy Birthday,’ every day.”

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SOURCE: USA Today
Jarrett Bell