The NBA finals are on the horizon and with it comes the eighth straight year that a LeBron James led team has made it to the NBA Finals, and in all those years of making it to the Finals, this year seems a tad bit more special than the others.

Let’s pick up mid way through the Cavaliers season. The team had just traded away many of its stars such as Jae Crowder, Dwyane Wade, and Isaiah Thomas, and in turn received new talent such as Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance, and George Hill. This arguably made the team worse than they already were, and made the Cavs even more LeBron focused than they already were. Regardless the team still strided in to the playoffs and obtained the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket.

In the first round of the playoffs the Cavaliers had a match up against the Indiana Pacers. The team was young and scrappy led by Victor Oladipo, but the Pacers were in fact no match for the Cavs and were beat in seven games. In that series LeBron averaged 34.4 points, 10 rebounds, and 7.7 assists.

In the second round LeBron was matched up against the one seeded Toronto Raptors who many people though would easily roll past the Cavs led by the All Star backcourt of Demar Derozan and Kyle Lowry. But this couldn’t be farther from the truth as the Cavs swept the Raptors once again out of the playoffs, led by Lebrons averages on 34 points, 8 rebounds, and 11 assists.

In the Eastern Conference Finals duel against the Celtics, another young scrappy team, LeBron showed us yet another example of why he is the greatest of all time. The Cavs were down two games to none early in the series and many people questioned whether or not LeBron was still fully invested in his team after all he has been through this season. But LeBron responded with one of the best 5 game stretches I have ever seen in my life. LeBron single handedly willed the Cavs to the series win even without his all star power forward in games 6 and 7.  Averaging 34 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists in the series. It’s crazy to think how LeBron is still averaging these absurd numbers on such a high stage, in his 15th season.

In conclusion, every challenge that LeBron James has been faced with this season he has overcome with flying colors. He has single handedly willed his team to the Finals like no other person could. This is the second time he has been given limes and was able to make lemonade. The last time was in the 2007 season. With virtually no help LeBron has gotten to his eighth straight NBA Finals and it is hard not to respect a man that has pure amount of perseverance that LeBron James exhibits.