LOS ANGELES — On the night of June 14, 2015, with his eyes tucked under a Cleveland Cavaliers hat, LeBron James sat at a podium in Oracle Arena with his back near the wall, the NBA Finals logo draping his silhouette. Cleveland just dropped Game 5 to the Golden State Warriors, putting them one loss away from elimination. “I feel confident,” he said matter of factly, “because I'm the best player in the world. It's simple." So simple it was hardly a statement, merely an explanation, a viable answer to the problems that awaited his team.
But the Warriors won Game 6, and Stephen Curry rocked the world for the next 11 months, dribbling cracks into the concrete of James’ elevated perch in the superstar hierarchy.