At the start of the N.B.A. playoffs, LeBron James began reading Jerry West’s autobiography, “West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life.” It was a story he could relate to. Despite being a transcendent figure in basketball — he is, after all, the inspiration for the N.B.A. logo — West, like James, had often been criticized for his losing record in the N.B.A. finals.

If James gathered any advice in preventing another letdown in his seventh finals appearance, it proved prescient as the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a three-games-to-one series deficit against the Golden State Warriors to capture their first N.B.A. championship. For James, who scored 27 points and had 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the Cavaliers’ 93-89 Game 7 victory on Sunday, it was his third title in his sixth straight trip to the finals.

The victory not only helped James deliver on his promise of bringing a long-awaited title to Cleveland, but it assuaged the criticisms from the hordes who had made dissecting his playoff performances a social media pastime.

The laws of the N.B.A. championship can be fickle. It is fitting that a legend like Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics leads all players with 11 titles, against one finals loss. But sometimes players earn rings — or do not — more as a matter of circumstance. After all, West was 1-8 in the finals and is still known as Mr. Clutch.