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LeBron’s lessons in losses: How Finals failures inspired greatest successes

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The losses were LeBron James’s laboratory. What you see now — a chiseled, grizzled, still-jumping-out-of-the-gym marvel of longevity, durability and resilience — wouldn’t have been possible without the lessons that came from those NBA Finals humiliations and reality checks.

The greatest player of his generation, James has been remarkably stubborn in his refusal to go away. He’s remained a bouncer, guarding the door and checking ID for anyone seeking to win a championship for nearly a decade. A little over a handful have gotten through, but not without his best efforts to stop them. And each loss has hardened him, sharpened him and improved him.

The mad scientists responsible for a player who stands two wins from his fourth NBA title — respected legends such as Gregg Popovich, Rick Carlisle and Steve Kerr — did so unintentionally. But James acknowledges their influence, and those of numerous others, in exposing him to flaws in his game that he says no longer exist.

“There’s nothing out on the floor that I cannot do at this point in my career. That’s all because of the competition and the adversity and the losses and everything I’ve been through throughout the course of my career,” James said. “The best teacher in life is life experience, and I’ve experienced it all.”