At the heart of the NBA, as with all things, is a life cycle. Contending teams are born in hope and glory. At first, they struggle against the grain of what they don't yet know about themselves. They come to thrive, for a time, if they're fortunate enough to keep healthy. And then it falls apart. Some once-formidable teams erode over years and others implode in a flash. What they share is the undeniable end of things. The ticking clock of aging bodies, swelling contracts, and advancing competition stops for no one.
Except, it seems, for LeBron James.