LeBron’s goal: Still to be the game’s best

After the hating-the-Heat phenomenon that followed his decision to leave Cleveland for Miami in 2010 _ and the manner in which he made that decision _ James said last season was about getting back to the basics of basketball. He surrounded himself with friends and family whenever he could. He tried to ignore at least some of the round-the-clock coverage of all things LeBron. He was going to be happy again, no matter what.

It worked.

The two knocks about James a year ago were that he couldn’t close games, that he couldn’t rise to the ultimate moments and that he couldn’t win a title. He debunked all of that _ the 45-point game in win-or-else Game 6 at Boston in the Eastern Conference finals, the one-legged 3-pointer when he was cramping against Oklahoma City that helped the Heat win Game 4 of the finals, and then, the triple-double in the season’s last game.

James went to the bench with 3:01 left in that game, and within moments, started dancing and jumping around, waving his arms and grinning.

Happy, personified.

“The best thing about last year is we got all the way to the mountaintop and then we crossed over,” James said. “So now I know what it takes to get there and actually get over the top of that mountain.”

James is on the verge of entering even more rarefied NBA air.

He enters the season 47th all-time in scoring, with a chance to move up to around No. 30 if he posts average-for-him numbers over the next 82 games. Among active players, he’s ninth in scoring, and each of the eight names above him on that list have completed at least 14 NBA seasons. James has completed nine.

“LeBron takes no days off,” Heat forward Udonis Haslem said. “After winning the championship, he goes straight to the Olympics, then comes back and is straight into the season. It’d be easy for him to make excuses and take a practice day off. But not this guy. No days off. He’s nonstop, he’s motivated and he brings it every day.”

With James, as most basketball fans know, scoring is just part of the story.

He’s 10th among active players in assists. James enters the season with three more assists than San Antonio’s Tony Parker _ a point guard who has played 117 more games than James. And James‘ average combined points, assists and rebounds per game (41.7) is considerably ahead of the No. 2 active player on that list, that being Heat teammate Dwyane Wade (36.4).

“LeBron is very talented on the court and he’s probably the best player in the NBA,” Heat forward Rashard Lewis said. “But I don’t think people know his personable side. He’s a great guy, loves his teammates, is very sharing, is always bringing gifts into the locker room for his teammates. He’s a funny guy, a class clown, but when he steps on the court he’s all about the game.”

And he insists nothing has changed in that respect.

The Heat are generally considered favorites to win another title this season, though the external expectation does little to faze James. At this point, he knows championships will define whether it was a good year or not, much as it was for the stars before him like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, some of the few on whom the spotlight has shone brightest.

“The target, that doesn’t change for me,” James said. “I’ve had a target, champion or not champion, since probably `05. And now that we’ve won one, the target, it’s no different for me.”

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