In January, when the Cavaliers were in the midst of losing six out of seven games, their chances of making their fourth straight NBA Finals looked slim to none — especially with all-star point guard Kyrie Irving traded to Boston and not being at LeBron James’ side for the first time since James joined the Cavaliers.

This whole year just seemed different. The Cavaliers simply did not look competitive at times and lost to bottom-tier teams night in and night out.

Almost nobody believed in James’ abilities to carry this specific team to the finals. The whole year was a mess and it looked like it would be a wasted year in James’ career. Endless reports came out about where James would flee to come the offseason.

Then the trade deadline came along and the Cavaliers seemed to have a little life. The Cavaliers traded six of their players and basically restarted. The Cavaliers decided to restart their year in the month of February.

The start of the new team, which included players like Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr., Rodney Hood, and George Hill, was a good start. They won their first three out of four and looked like the favorite to get out of the Eastern Conference. However, quickly things got back to how they were before the trade deadline.

The Cavaliers were back to being a longshot for the finals. Day by day they slipped in the standings and eventually finished fourth in the East.

Viewers wondered if James could just “flip the switch” when it came playoff time like he has in the past. Many saw it to be impossible for the caliber of team he was on, and when playoffs came, it seemed like there was no switch this year.

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost Game 1 to the Indiana Pacers in round one and looked to be dominated in the first game.

If it was not for James, the Cavaliers most likely would have been swept by the Pacers in the first round. However, they did have James, who proceeded to drop 46 points in Game 2 and single-handedly carried the Cavs to a Game 7 series win.

Since the Cavaliers struggled with the Pacers, many once again did not see the Cavs as a legitimate shot to make it out of the East, especially with the young Celtics and 76ers emerging and the No. 1 seed Toronto Raptors on the horizon.

James and the Cavs made quick work of the one seed and swept the Raptors, which left an Eastern Conference Final rematch from last year against the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics seemed dominant early and beat the Cavs by 25 and 13 in Games 1 and 2. Once again, the Cavs were written off by the audience. The fans once again gave LeBron no shot to beat the young and scrappy Celtics.

The series went down to the wire and the Celtics held a 3-2 lead. James, being arguably the best player of all time, turned in 46 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists in Game 6 to extend the series to Game 7 — in which he then picked up 35 points 15 rebounds and 9 assists to win the series, again almost single-handedly.

So here LeBron is once again in the NBA Finals with one of the worst supporting casts in the history of teams to make the NBA Finals. James needed Jeff Green to be his second-leading scorer in Game 7 vs the Celtics — and Green had needed open heart surgery in 2012.

The Golden State Warriors are up 2-0 so far in this year’s finals. But no matter what happens, this has been the most impressive accomplishment of James’ accomplished career. LeBron has led a team of young and below average players to compete for basketball’s ultimate prize.