The Eastern Conference belongs to LeBron James

LeBron James is headed back to the NBA Finals for the sixth consecutive season. He and his Cavaliers closed out the Toronto Raptors in Game 6 with another blowout win. Although Cleveland dropped two games in the series, their four wins were by a combined 114 points. It was a startling display of dominance but also fitting for the player who has essentially ruled the Eastern Conference for a decade.

Spanning his time with the Miami Heat and his two stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron has more playoff wins to his name than any other Eastern Conference team over the last decade (by virtue of him having played for two different teams).

These last six seasons, each culminating with an Eastern Conference Finals win and a chance to chase a title, are really just the penultimate examples of how much control LeBron has had over the fate of the East.

What’s most striking is the lack of rivalry. It has always been LeBron against the field. His rising action broke the Detroit Pistons and the Boston Celtics. He became the Miami Heat. He survived the best days of the Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic and the Indiana Pacers. The Eastern Conference seemed to be up and coming this season but LeBron sent the Pistons, Atlanta Hawks, and the Toronto Raptors back to the drawing board.

Some of those teams are already knee-deep in evolution, working on their second or third iterations of style or personnel, all geared towards getting past LeBron. Looking around, it’s hard to see anyone breaking his geographic stranglehold anytime soon.

I know, but what does it really mean to own the Eastern Conference when your NBA Finals record is 2-4? Congratulations on another season of knocking down scarecrows, surviving the ear-blowing, the injury-ravaged, the one-dimensional, the hopeless and the hapless. In the grand game of legacy comparison, LeBron’s team-highs pale in comparison to Jordan, Kobe, Bird, Magic, et al.

Appreciating LeBron is not about the height of his peaks, it is about stepping back and looking at the whole damn mountain range.

LeBron is not without his playoff losses. He is not without flaw or failure. Which, honestly, makes it all the more special. He has been defeated and he has always been game for another run. Chalk up his health to a win in the genetic lottery, but that he has been here all year, every year, can not be taken for granted. As other teams have given way to age, and injuries, crippling self-doubt, explosive chemistry, LeBron has been the glue holding excellence together — for Cleveland, for Miami, then Cleveland again.

Looking at all those potential challengers that LeBron has disassembled over the past decade subtly reinforces what will define his legacy. Jordan, for a time, was unbeatable. LeBron has never really taken up residence in that dimension. He has been a favorite and a front-runner, but never really inevitable. He is compared to Jordan because they play on the wing and have at least a few aesthetic similarities. Perhaps better templates for understanding LeBron’s legacy would be Bill Russell or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Those are the standard-bearers for longevity, consistency, for visceral basketball endurance. Maybe that is the family that LeBron belongs in.

On Thursday night, the Finals will begin. LeBron will be there, front and center, chasing his third title and that golden goose of finally winning one for Cleveland. As he girds up for battle, the 14 other teams in the Eastern Conference will be orienting new front office employees, working out draft prospects, huddling in conference rooms to discuss targets in free agency and on the trade market, devising new strategies with their coaching staffs.

LeBron may win. He may lose. The outcome is uncertain, but the future is not. LeBron will be back next year, running through bricks walls and leaving it all on the court for the grind of another regular season, setting the pace for an entire conference.