How Marlon Brando’s ‘The Godfather’ Inspired LeBron James to Legendary 2016 NBA Championship Run With Cavaliers

Playing in the NBA Finals is no joke. The amount of pressure and scrutiny one goes through to reach the Finals is immense. Having the best team or the most talented player doesn’t guarantee your post-season success. Sometimes you need just that slice of luck for things to go your way.

Different players have different methods to stay focused. And it seems like during the legendary 2016 NBA Finals, LeBron James had a peculiar method to improve his focus too.

A resurfaced article from 2016 talks about how LeBron James watched The Godfather multiple times during the historic 2016 championship run. According to that article, LeBron watched The Godfather trilogy during the NBA Finals and called the trilogy “great” 

LeBron James told ESPN’s Chris Broussard that he watched The Godfather Part II before his 41-point Game 5 outburst. He claimed he watched a Godfather movie six times since the playoffs began because they helped settle him down as he was in the midst of a self-imposed social media ban at the time.

Recap: The legendary 2016 NBA Finals

The 2016 NBA Finals were one of the most memorable in recent history. It was a rematch of the 2015 NBA Finals in which the Golden State Warriors won in six games. But this time, both teams took contrasting paths to the Finals.

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On one side the Warriors would cruise to a 73-9 regular-season record. It set the record for regular-season wins in NBA history. They would roll through the first two rounds of the Western Conference Playoffs before meeting their match in the Kevin Durant-led Oklahoma City Thunder.

After going down 3-1 in the series, the Warriors would make an exceptional comeback to defeat the Thunders in seven games and qualify for their second consecutive playoffs.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, on the other hand, fired their head coach even after a 30-11 record. Compared to the Warriors, the Cavaliers had a pretty smooth journey to the NBA Finals. But they only had the Championship on their mind.

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The Warriors would take a 3-1 lead after the first four games of the series. In a must-win Game 5 in the Bay area, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving each scored 41 points to become the first teammates in Finals history to score 40 or more in the same game.

LeBron would score another 40 points in Game 6 to push the series to a winner-takes-all Game 7. The Cavaliers defeated the Warriors 93–89 in Game 7 to win the series 4–3.

Game 7 was close, with 20 lead changes and 11 ties. LeBron had a triple-double in the game and won the NBA Finals MVP as well.

Let us know in the comments below your favorite 2016 NBA Finals moment.