Jeff Green has overcome so much and now he’s in the NBA Finals with LeBron James

LeBron James has infinite moves on the basketball court, but he has just one style of play. You will never prevent him from passing when the “right basketball play” says he should, whether it’s a November regular season matchup or the fourth quarter of Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals.

James had no reason but that mindset to continue trusting his teammates during this postseason run. Talent wise, Cleveland’s roster is worse than any of the previous seven that James has dragged to the Finals during this impossible streak of eight straight appearances. Coming into Sunday, James’ teammates were shooting 31 percent behind the arc and just 42 percent from the field, basically no-showing on the road where even James’ 42-point Game 2 went unappreciated in a loss.

Because James can’t change the way he plays, he kept trusting Jeff Green, and it paid off.

Green was second on the team in scoring with 19 points in Game 7, and also chipped in 14 big points in Game 6. Despite Kevin Love’s absence with a concussion, that was enough for James and Cleveland to take the final two games and the series, the 24th consecutive victory in an Eastern Conference playoff series for James.

Green’s 19 points came with 42 minutes played, eight rebounds, an assist, a block, and 7-of-14 shooting. He knocked down just 2-of-9 behind the arc, but was perfect on his five attempts inside the three-point line.

Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue has clearly liked Green all season, trusting him in spots even with Twitter folks screaming for him to be benched. (Those folks clearly don’t affect Lue’s decision making in the slightest, of course.) They had a point — it has been infuriating to see Green ruin great ball movement by missing open jump shots for multiple teams for years on end — but you can also see what Lue likes about him. At his best, he’s a poor man’s LeBron James, playing strong on both ends of the court.

Despite only hitting a couple three-pointers in Game 7, Green was enormous almost everywhere else. Green got the starting nod in Love’s place, and he scored a few easy buckets that helped take a massive weight off James, like this one in transition.

In a game where James literally just needed a couple teammates to help him the smallest amount, Green was there to do just that.

Just the look on his and George Hill’s faces in the post-game locker room says multitudes.

This is Green’s first NBA Finals, and it comes seven seasons after the 31-year-old missed an entire year with an aortic aneurysm. During the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, Green signed with the Boston Celtics only for his physical to fail with the heart condition, something that required surgery. It threatened his life, but as Green described it, he “worked my ass off” to get back onto the court healthy and safe.

That long pause before answering the reporter’s question is telling, as Green must have thought back on the wild journey his career has taken him on. Green could have died, and now he’s sharing the court with LeBron James for 42 minutes and helping him to his ninth NBA Finals appearance. To be in that situation is astonishing and great all at once.

We’re happy for Jeff Green. Who isn’t happy for him? These are the sports stories that release the most dopamine and make us feel like we’re a part of something that’s bigger than a scoreboard filled with numbers. These are real people, with the same trials and tribulations as anyone else, overcoming them to succeed in their lives anyway.

Cleveland relies on James for everything that they do, but James can’t do it alone. On Sunday, he needed Jeff Green, and Green came through right on time.