James, bothered by back spasms in recent weeks, finished with a 30.0 scoring average and became the first Cavaliers player to lead the league in scoring. For the finale, LeBron James rested his back — and sat on his scoring title. Cleveland’s All-Star forward spent the game in street clothes, resting up for a first-round matchup with Washington. The 23-year-old had his best statistical season in his fifth year as a pro, averaging career-highs in rebounds (7.9) rebounds and equaling his best in assists (7.2). James is the first player to average 30-7-7 in one season since Michael Jordan in 1988-89, and he joined Jordan and Oscar Robertson as the only players ever to do it.
| Source: nba.com, yahoo.com, getty | From LeBron_NBA_20… | ||
Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson recently called James “overrated” and Washington’s Gilbert Arenas wrote in his blog that “everybody wants Cleveland in that first round.” James, who sat behind the Cavaliers’ bench, has laughed off the remarks, but it’s safe to assume he’ll use them for motivation. Ever-opinionated Hall of Famer Charles Barkley criticized the Wizards for trash-talking James. “The Washington Wizards have got to be the dumbest team in the history of civilization,” Barkley said in a conference call. “For them to rile up LeBron, who’s the second-best player we’ve got in the NBA … that’s just stupid. I thought [the Wizards] had a chance to win that series. I don’t think that anymore.”
Photos Copyright Notice: Copyright 2007 NBAE via Getty Images. Photos by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images, Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images, Gary Dineen/NBAE/Getty Images.