INDEPENDENCE: Thirteen years and two championships in the NBA have taught LeBron James how to handle anticipation and anxiety. Facing his second elimination game in 72 hours, James was relaxed Thursday morning.
That is, until the t-shirts were mentioned.
Fans attending Thursday’s Game 6 will receive a black t-shirt instead of the traditional wine and gold that have been handed out at each of the last nine home playoff games. This is of no concern to James, but he was still asked about it.
“Listen, I’ve got a lot to worry about than some damn t-shirts going around the arena,” James laughed. “I’m trying to be calm here. You guys trying to raise my blood pressure over some t-shirts.”
James certainly has more important things to worry about, such as figuring a way to hand the Golden State Warriors consecutive losses for just the second time this season. His gameday routine was scheduled to include an afternoon movie and a nap. The nerves and adrenaline won’t come until tonight.
“The game will come and then the game will pass, so it makes no sense for me to be too anxious about it right now,” James said. “When the game gets here, I’ll be ready to go. I’ll be anxious then, but that’s when I run out on the court with 20 minutes until game time. Other than that I’m pretty calm.”
He didn’t always handle it that way, but he isn’t sure when it all changed. The likely answer is during his four years in Miami when he won titles, lost titles and rallied from a 3-2 deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs in one of the more memorable Game 6 Finals finishes in history.
James is hoping for another Game 6 victory tonight and one more flight to the Bay Area. He laughed when asked if his sons, Bronny and Bryce, had any advice or a game plan for him.
“Nah, they don’t care,” he said. “That’s the last thing they’re thinking about, man. That's the last thing we talk about in our family, in our household is what I do. It's so much bigger than basketball in our household."