Love for LeBron: Coach, teammates sing James' praises

MIAMI -- Those who don't like LeBron James might not change their opinion of him even with an NBA championship on his resume. But to the people of South Florida and his own locker room, James already is, well, The King.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh spoke glowingly of James before Miami and Oklahoma City met in Game 5 of the NBA Finals Thursday night. They said the criticism of James the player and person are off-base.

"It's unfortunate that somebody who has the qualities that he has would be critiqued as negatively as he's been because he embodies so many of the things you would want from a professional athlete," Spoelstra said. "He's never been in trouble. He's a team guy. He's a pass-first guy. He's a scorer, a defender, a two-way player, a great teammate. He's honored all of his contracts. He has a dream that he's been trying to chase, but he's been doing it within a team concept.

"Even the qualities he has off the court. He's such a likable guy. Anybody that's ever come across LeBron, you like him after the first 10 seconds. That's just the way this world works: You can't win unless you win."

James was hoping to change that last part and win his first NBA title Thursday night, which would end talk about him not being clutch or someone who will never get a ring.

The Heat led Oklahoma City 3-1, and Miami had history on its side: Teams with a 3-1 Finals lead have never lost the series, going 30-for-30.

But James wasn't taking any chances. The man whose nickname is King James said he was approaching it as if it were a must-win Game 7.

Throughout this postseason, James has tried to say the right things. He took a lot of flak for "The Decision" and the way he left Cleveland, boasting that Miami would win "multiple championships," and after losing Game 6 of the Finals to Dallas last year, he said the people who rooted against him had to go back to their lives and their problems.

On Wednesday, James acknowledged he was "immature" for saying that but that he isn't necessarily worried about how he's perceived.

"People are going to have their opinions about me no matter what," James said. "That's one thing I can't worry about. That's one thing I told myself coming into this season, that people are going to have their opinions about me, what they think about me, what I should do, what I shouldn't do and so on and so on. For me as a basketball player and me as a leader, I just have to go out and do what I'm capable of doing."

It may not stop many from considering James a villain, but Bosh and Wade scoff at that.

"A lot of the stuff out there that's said about him, it's not true," Wade said. "That's people who don't know LeBron James. And that's where he can go to sleep at night knowing he's the person that he wants to be, that his mother can be proud of, that his kids can be proud of."

Bosh put it this way: "If you don't like him, something is wrong with you. He's a good dude."

On the court, James has cemented himself as the best player in the NBA during this playoff run.

He went into Thursday night averaging 30.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists in the postseason, earning high praise from NBA legend and five-time champion Magic Johnson.

"I would say top 10 performances of all-time in terms of the playoffs," Johnson said. "Now he just has to close the deal, and I think then the performance maybe will move up from there."