LeBron James’ NBA Finals conquest was the most classic moment of his storied, 13-year career. Many haters have flipped their rhetoric and granted him redemption since coming back from a 3-1 hole to knock off the Golden State Warriors for the championship. Whereas before it was all about how wasn’t Kobe or MJ, now they’ve begun to sing the King’s praises.
One such way of doing this, in a recent Reddit conversation, was finding the similarities between James’ recent rise into rare NBA air and a certain bible passage. Here’s Deuteronomy, 11:31, King James Version:
“For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.”
There was certainly a feel of the biblical in “the land” last week as Cleveland was overtaken by hordes of humanity enraptured with joy following James’ Finals MVP performance, whether or not he “pass[ed] over Jordan” while doing it. A region dried up in the sports glory department over a lifetime for most of their fans, Northeast Ohio has an easy time — mixing metaphors here for a second — seeing the Akron-born James as the returning Prodigal Son chosen by higher powers to reverse the curse of the state’s sports teams. Cleveland is now a very different place to dwell therein.
