With the Cavaliers in an 0-2 series hole in the NBA Finals, LeBron James is once again the subject of criticism.
James put up a team-best 19 points in Game 2 and leads Cleveland with 42 points in the series, but people are still coming after him. The four-time NBA MVP always has critics due to his underwhelming 2-4 mark in the NBA Finals, which is close to falling to 2-5.
Knicks president Phil Jackson wasn't overly critical of James, but he said he has to change his game for the Cavaliers to claw out of their NBA Finals hole. Jackson touched on whether or not he believed James could pull a 1993 Michael Jordan and mount a comeback like the Bulls star did against the Knicks.
"It did something to Michael Jordan. You learned something about pulling the cape of Superman. It's not a good idea. He was a man possessed after that,"Jackson said via the New York Daily News. "I think it's going to take something for LeBron to step into that. Put his cape on and say, 'I'm going to have to take over a lot of this series, doing the things beyond my level or my normal capacity.' He's been a team player up until this point, but I think he's going to have to step beyond that."
James has always drawn comparisons to Jordan throughout his career and has had a spotlight on him since his teenage years. The two-time NBA Finals MVP, however, blocked out the need to "take over" a series.
"I think for me to go out and be who I am and play as true to the game and as hard as I can and try to lead this team, that's who I am," James said via The Score.
He continued: "Not anybody else. I'm not Michael. I'm not Ali. I'm not nobody else that's done so many great things for sport. I am who I am, and if I'm able to go out and put together a game like that, it wasn't because I was possessed. It's because I worked on my craft all season long and that's the result of it."
After a 110-77 embarrassment in Game 2, the Cavaliers are going to need some kind of magic to bounce back as the series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 on Wednesday.
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