The League of Legends and NBA playoffs are both in full swing which places two Kings of their respective games in position to seize another championship. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and LeBron James have dominated since their professional careers began and are both living representations of “the chosen one”. Subsequently, the two stars dynasties align in more ways than one, beginning with their prodigal emergence onto the professional scene. Faker’s solo queue prowess resulted in much anticipation for the young seventeen year old’s debut in the league, and he didn’t disappoint racking up four kills by the 7:20 mark. LeBron was destined since a Junior to be one of the greats and he too in his debut game showed signs of a legendary career by putting up 25 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals. Since those budding days as teenage stars, the two have blossomed into living legends as competitors, but haven’t fallen off from stardom.

A Legend's Longevity

“One of the trademarks of a CHAMPION is that he can outlast you.” – Lou Brock, two-time World Series Champion

Both Sang-hyeok and James walked away with a finals championship last year despite being past what “historians” would consider their primes. Faker won his third World-title since winning his first in 2013 and LeBron’s victory also gave him the third championship of his career. The two champions continue their title quest this week with playoff matches that can further cement their careers if they perform at the highest level. LeBron did just that on Thursday night with a monstrous 41/13/12 performance in a victory against the Pacers leading his team to a 3-0 series advantage. Though Faker hasn’t played any playoff matches yet, his team’s been seeded into the finals already and is set to play KT Rolster later tonight. There’s almost no doubt Faker will match the carry performance LeBron put up last night when you consider his record in grand finals throughout his career.  

Faker holds an astounding 9-2 record in Grand Finals, the two losses both being in series where he shared time with Lee “Easyhoon” Ji-hoon and didn’t start the series. Even with that in mind, Faker is 4-0 in LCK finals and 3-0 in World’s finals — when it counts, he doesn’t lose. When compared to LeBron who has an overall record of 3-4 in NBA finals, Faker’s unblemished record becomes that much more impressive. Though their records differ, their individual performances in the postseason are elevated in the same way. When the stakes are high — when the trophies are in sight — champions condition and discipline themselves harder than any other players because they know what it takes. This leads to the consistently elevated level of play and polished fundamentals that Faker and LeBron display when the playoffs role around each season. Though the narrative that you can't doubt them if they make the playoffs has no basis in logic, the statistics from their performances do. Faker’s APP for the Summer of 2016 was 151, two months later at the world championship he finished with an APP of 173. A comparable stat from the NBA is player efficiency rating, which LeBron improved from 27.5 in the regular season to 30.0 in their 2016 championship run. Performing in the most important matches your team will play is a factor that’s underrated by many fans, and the leagues themselves when you look to MVP voting not factoring in the playoffs in either LoL or the NBA.

Heavy Lies the Crown

When your greatness becomes routine, the dramatic impact of it begins to lessen. When Faker single-handedly wins a teamfight for his team, that’s “Just Faker being Faker” and when LeBron throws down a signature one-handed dunk, it’s just an everyday occurrence. This desensitizing, so-to-say, to the impressive play of these stars creates an opening for rougher-around-the-edges, more exciting stars to emerge and snag a portion of the spotlight. Eventually, covering the greatest player of a generation can become repetitive — there has to be fresh blood, rivals to challenge their position as the best — and so we look past some of the history while it’s being made. Despite having multiple great seasons, Faker hasn’t been named MVP since winning back-to-back MVP awards during his prime in the Summer of 2013/Spring of 2014. LeBron faces a similar case, receiving four MVPs in five years during his prime between 2009-2013, but never receiving a single one since despite being in the running. The burden of being as talented as these two are is that you’ll never get your full credit as a legend until after your playing career is over. An element of Faker and LeBron’s game that will go unappreciated until after they retire is the way they elevated whatever teammates you placed around them. These unseen, mental aspects to sports at some point must be acknowledged when it comes to MVP voting and awarding the most valuable player. Late in his career LeBron started to get credit for this toward the end of his career and this is supported by stats like the Cavaliers being a 51.3 win team with him on the court and 26.2 win team without him.

However, in League players don’t often share time on and off the rift so concrete statistics on how a player affects his team aren’t available, but we can look to the season Faker shared time with Easyhoon. During the 2015 Summer split Faker played a majority of the games going 24-5 compared to Easyhoon’s 11-1, but Faker maintained a higher kill participation and share. It was also a year with a perplexing meta for Faker’s playstyle and Easyhoon was often used to fill those gaps because he flourished on the champions outside of Faker’s pool. In addition, if you apply the eyeball test to players who’ve played with and without Faker, it’s easy to see their difference in performance. Former right hand man to Faker, Bae “Bengi” Seong-ung and Easyhoon just got relegated from the LPL on Vici Gaming since leaving Faker’s side. For a current example, the improved play teamplay of Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon and Han “Peanut” Wang-ho after being added to the 2017 SKT roster is evident. This isn’t to distract from from the individual progression (or regression in the case of ex-teammates) any player who's played with Faker has undergone, but rather to highlight his impact on the rift and within a team environment as a leader. Reaching the point where your presence and knowledge from the work you’ve put into your craft immediately impacts those around you is a result of unparalleled work ethic. Becoming a leader for players like this is only natural, and as Vince Lombardi puts it “Leaders are made — they are not born. They’re made by hard effort, which is the price we must pay to achieve any worthwhile goal.” In the locker room and in our living rooms, players like Faker and LeBron represent the rewards we may reap if we pay the price to achieve our goals. Careers like this go unforgotten in the memories of those who witness them as they unfold, and one day in history as esports rises to prominence, Faker and LeBron might sit among the same set of thrones.

Sources: inven flickr, lolesports flickr,  eswiki, best.gg and basketball ref.