The best athletes know that trophies aren’t won in a single series or a single game — or even in a single moment. They’re won over time, in which every moment leading up to the big triumph is critical.
In the new season of sports programming network Uninterrupted’s “Trophies,” Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James and Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green will once again allow fans access into their journeys toward an NBA Championship in a series of short videos online.
The series takes fans behind the scenes with two of the NBA’s biggest basketball stars, providing an intimate look not just at their work on the court, but the small, intimate moments that add texture to the bigger picture as these athletes on opposite sides of the bracket chase a championship.
Only a minute or two in length, each weekly episode focuses on a singular thought or moment throughout the playoffs.
Former MVP James won Game 5 of the first round of NBA playoffs on April 25, after losing Game 1 for the first time in several years of successful playoff runs.
In the first episode of “Trophies,” we see him before it all began — as he’s all smiles heading into his last practice before the start of the 2018 postseason. Fans get to follow James into the locker room before the game and afterward as he expressed to the press his emotions over the disappointing loss in game one against the Indiana Pacers.
He talked about mindset, rest, and what he and the Cavs needed to do to come back with a W.
“I wasn’t expecting to play 44 [minutes],” he told the media in a press conference immediately afterward. “I hope the guys do the same thing: get their bodies and mind focused and do what we need to do to win a ballgame.”
With 15 years in the NBA and three championship titles under his belt, he knows a thing or two about what it takes to stay “even-keeled” during the playoffs, as he called it.
“I’m down 0-1 in the first round,” he added. “I’ve been down 3-1 in the finals, so I’m the last one to ask ‘how are you gonna feel in the next few days.’”
