Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James has endured a ton of criticism over the years. (AP)

No athlete in the world has taken a beating publicly from fans, the sports media and other professional athletes for not being clutch more than LeBron James.

For years ESPN talking head Skip Bayless has mercilessly mocked LeBron for not having the “clutch gene” or being afraid of driving to the hoop because he doesn’t want to shoot free throws at the end of games. Bayless often referred to the 2011 NBA Finals as the low point of James’ career when he peppered him with shot after shot. Bayless says it is nothing personal, but his criticisms are so incendiary that it has fueled a lot of LeBron haters out there.

Bayless was somewhat muted after LeBron won a championship in 2012, but the damage had already been done. Every time LeBron stumbles his critics are quick to revisit his past failures. Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah loves to poke fun at LeBron every chance he gets. Noah recently challenged James’ manhood by calling him a pussy.

It took a few years for James to finally rid of the stigma that he shrinks in big moments. The Cleveland Cavaliers’ run to the 2015 NBA Finals not only validated LeBron’s place as the game’s best player but it also grew his legend by coming two games short of winning a title with depleted Cavaliers squad. His stat line during the series with Golden State was straight out of a Marvel comic book. Take away LeBron and these Cavs — even with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love — do not make the playoffs.

What so-called experts such as Bayless and other basketball scribes fail to recognize is that LeBron has succeeded more often than he has failed during his postseason career.

In the last 15 years, no NBA player has had more buzzer-beaters in the postseason than LeBron. That’s just as many Jordan had in his legendary career and two more than Kobe.

In the 2006 playoffs, Bron’s first playoff appearance, he scored the game-winning basket for the Cavaliers on a driving layup to beat the Wizards. In 2009, he caused a minor tremor in Cleveland when he drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to stun the Orlando Magic. In Game 1 of the 2013 East finals, as a member of the Miami Heat, James scooted past Paul George and the Indiana Pacers with an electrifying left-handed layup to beat the buzzer.

There was a moment in Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals that changed a legacy. The San Antonio Spurs were poised to tie the game when the great Tim Duncan had a point-blank layup and missed. A few minutes later, LeBron hit a midrange jumper from the right wing to give the Heat a cushion with 27 seconds left in the game. It was a four-point swing that solidified James’ place in history. Had James lost to Duncan again, he would have been branded a one-hit wonder.

Winning back-to-back titles validated LeBron as a true champion. James’ stat line in that Game 7 was mind-blowing: 37 points in 45 minutes, 12 rebounds, and 5-for-10 from behind the 3-point line. His best shot probably came after the game during the on-court championship celebration when LeBron said, “I can’t worry about what everybody says about me. I’m LeBron James from Akron, Ohio, from the inner city. I’m not even supposed to be here.”

He has already won.

The latest LeBron clutch moment came in Game 4 of the 2015 East first-round game in Chicago when he reminded everyone that he is still the game’s best player and added to his growing legend. With 1.5 seconds left in a tie game, Bron “scratched” the play head coach David Blatt drew up and called his own number.

James said: “I told Coach there was no way I’m taking the ball out unless I could shoot it over the backboard and go in. So I told him, ‘Have somebody else take the ball out.’ The play that was drawn up, I scratched it. I just told Coach, ‘Just give me the ball. We’re either going to go into overtime or I’m going to win it for us.'”

That quote doesn’t sound like a player who shrinks in big moments.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Carlos Boozer is averaging 22 points and 10 rebounds in his last seven games. (GETTY IMAGES)

Don’t look now but the Chicago Bulls are beginning to look like contenders again. The Bulls manhandled the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night, 97-58, and star point guard Derrick Rose is reportedly on schedule to return to the lineup after the All-Star break.

That’s great news for the Bulls, bad news for the rest of the league.

“I see him in the gym working really, really hard. He wants to come back 100 percent, so for us we’re just trying to hold it down until he gets back,” Bulls guard Nate Robinson said about Rose, who is close to going full speed in practice.

Robinson has been a pleasant surprise for the Bulls this season. He’s averaging nearly 11 points per game off the bench (playing 21 minutes) and has energized the Chicago second unit.

Rose says he has gained some muscle rehabilitating and his jump shot has improved. If that’s true, look out!

Head coach Tom Thibodeau is not going to rush Rose back into the lineup, and he wants to make sure the face of the franchise is completely sound before he even gets into full scrimmages at practice.

In the meantime, the Bulls are holding it down until Rose returns. The team has won five out of seven and even much-maligned forward Carlos Boozer is playing well. Boozer is averaging 22 points and 10 rebounds in his last seven games, and his frontcourt partner Joakim Noah is averaging a double-double (12 and 10) for the season.

The Bulls held the Hawks to just five points in the second quarter and led 48-20 at the break. Ivan Johnson had a basket for the Hawks with 2:54 left in the first quarter, and Atlanta did not score again until Al Horford’s tip with 5:15 left in the second. The Hawks missed 17 consecutive shots during the drought while getting outscored 14-0.

They finished the 2 for 21 from the field in the second quarter, with Smith making a free throw and a jumper for Atlanta’s other points. The Hawks shot 20.5 percent on 8-of-39 shooting in the first half. Josh Smith was 3-for-10 and Horford 2-for-8 in the first half.

The Bulls set a record for the fewest points allowed, eclipsing the previous mark of 59 by Orlando last March 19. Atlanta’s 20 points in the first half also set a Chicago record for the fewest allowed in a half, bettering the 22 scored by the Knicks in 1999. The Bulls also limited New York to five points in the second quarter of that game.

”We have to play a certain way,” Thibodeau told the Associated Press. ”When we came out I thought Joakim and Carlos set the tone.”

Noah wasn’t surprise by the defensive performance.

”I wasn’t shocked, but our mindset was more be ready for the first 5 or 6 minutes of that third quarter. We had been in positions where we were up by 25, 26 points and lost before. So we feel no lead is big enough,” Noah said.

After winning his third consecutive NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard has clearly established himself as the best stopper in basketball.

Howard was second in the league rebounds (14.1) and fourth in blocked shots (2.3), and his presence in the middle allowed the Magic to be the fourth-best defensive team in the league in points allowed (93.7 points). He made NBA history last season when he led the league in rebounding (13.2) and blocked shots (2.8) in consecutive seasons (2009 and 2010). The 6-foot-11, 275-pound All-Star center was a near unanimous choice as the league’s top defender, garnering 114 of a possible 120 first-place votes.

Howard becomes the first player in NBA history to win the award three straight years. Other multiple winners of the award are Ben Wallace, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning, Dennis Rodman and Sidney Moncrief.

OneManFastBreak.net ranks the five best defenders in the NBA (regardless of position):

1) DWIGHT HOWARD, Orlando Magic, center
Howard stops and alters shots like a great goalie in hockey. Orlando’s entire philosophy on defense is to funnel all the scorers to Howard, and more often than not Howard ends up protecting the basket with his incredible jumping ability and intimidating raw power. No big man in the league defends the paint better than Superman II.

2) KEVIN GARNETT, Boston Celtics, forward
When KG joined the Boston Celtics in 2007, the Celtics instantly became the best defensive team in the league. Garnett is a unique talent who covers a lot of ground with his length, but he plays with tremendous passion and intensity that filters down to his teammates. Garnett plays the pick-and-roll better than anyone in the Association, and is also an incredible weakside or help defender. He rarely plays out of position on defense, and he never backs down from a challenge. When given the opportunity, he certainly can defend all five positions.

3) RON ARTEST, L.A. Lakers, forward
Age may have robbed Artest of his quickness but definitely not his power. Ron-Ron uses his hands very well, and he has extremely strong hands. At 250 pounds, he likes to put his body on opposing scorers to take away their air space and thrives on physical contact. But his biggest strength is probably his reputation, as most players are afraid to go at him.

4) TABO SEFOLOSHA, Oklahoma City Thunder, guard
If basketball fans can flashback to the 2006 NBA playoffs, that was the year we were introduced to Thabo and his defensive prowess. As a rookie with the Chicago Bulls, Sefolosha gave Dwyane Wade fits with his quickness and length. One team who was paying attention to Sefolosha’s defense was the Thunder, who picked him up in the 2008-09 season and he has become a regular starter with OKC. Because Sefolosha doesn’t “wow!” anyone with his stats, he tends to get overlook by the media. But you ask all the great scorers in the league, from Kobe Bryant to D-Wade, they’ll agree that Thabo is a first-team all-defender.

5) KIRK HINRICK, Chicago Bulls, guard
Suns coach Alvin Gentry says that Kirk Hinrich is the best on-ball defender in the league. That’s high praise for a guy who doesn’t get enough credit for his ability to make it extremely tough on perimeter players to score. Call it The Hinrich Maneuver. Just ask Wade, who always struggles against the former Bull and current Hawk. Atlanta became a much better defensive team when they acquired Hinrich.

6) GERALD WALLACE, Portland Trail Blazers, forward
Wallace finished 13th in the rebounds (10.0) in 2009-10, which is very impressive for a small forward. He also ranked 17th in steals (1.5) and 42nd in blocks (1.09) that season. He earned the nickname “Crash” for his penchant for crashing to the floor, the stands and the basket padding. Wallace is a solid one-on-one defender, but he is even better as a weak-side defender. His stats were down in 2010-11, but that was mainly because he moved to a new team and he is barely getting used to Nate McMillan’s system. Give him a full year and he should fill up the stat sheet.

7) KOBE BRYANT, L.A. Lakers, guard
Because of injuries and wear-and-tear on the body, Kobe has lost some of his aggressiveness on defense. But when Phil Jackson needs to apply the glove on an opposing team’s scorer, he often calls on No. 24. Bryant’s best attribute is his preparation and intelligence. He does his homework off the court and scouts his competition.

8) RUSSELL WESTBROOK, Oklahoma City Thunder, guard
During Team USA’s scrimmages in Las Vegas while they prepare for the FIBA World Championship, head coach Mike Krzyzewski teamed Westbrook and Rajon Rondo in the backcourt against a team comprised of college standouts. Westbrook and Rondo were so good defensively the collegians could barely get the ball past halfcourt. Westbrook is the point man of OKC’s defense. He sets the tone because of great ability to redirect an offensive player and his incredible skill to jump the passing lanes.

9) JOSH SMITH, Atlanta Hawks, forward
Smith has grown into a borderline All-Star player and his defense sets the tone for the Hawks. His former coach, Mike Woodson said, “You think back six years ago, Josh Smith has come a long way. I tip my hat to him because he’s worked over the years and has developed into a player.” Smith averages eight rebounds, nearly two steals a game and is one of the best shot-blockers in the NBA from the forward position.

10) JOAKIM NOAH, Chicago Bulls,
When Noah was sidelined with an injury, the Bulls struggled. When he returned, the Bulls became one of the beasts in the East. Noah plays with great energy and anchors the Bulls’ defense. He not only defends his position, but he also helps his teammates. He is among the league leaders in rebounds (10.4) and blocks (1.5) and loves to compete.

All throughout Game 2 of the Cavaliers-Bulls first-round series, a game won by the Cavs 112-102, Noah was showered with boos and chants of “No-ah sucks! No-ah sucks!” from 20,000 Cavs fans at Quicken Loans Arena.

When given an opportunity to take back his “Cleveland sucks” comment, Noah added more fuel to the fire.

“You like it? You think Cleveland is cool? I mean I never heard anybody say ‘I’m going to Cleveland on vacation.’ What’s so good about Cleveland?” Noah asked reporters during the postgame news conference after Game 2.

As for the boos, Noah said it’s not the first time nor the last time he’ll hear it from the opposing team’s crowd.

“My whole life I’ve been booed,” said the 25-year-old emotional leader of the Bulls, who heard his share of disparaging noise when he played at the University of Florida.

“In college, I was getting booed a lot,” said the two-time national champion. Today, the-guy-we-love-to-hate label has followed him in the NBA.

“Boston … they don’t like me over there. And they don’t like me over here [Cleveland] either,” Noah noted. “It’s OK. I have my friends. I don’t care.”

Noah, the son of former tennis star Yannick Noah, is not fazed by the negative attention. In fact, he seems to embrace it like a comic book villain.

He played a great game Monday night and was a big reason why the Bulls kept the game close until late in the fourth quarter when LeBron James took over and scored 14 of his game-high 40 points in the fourth. Noah finished the game with 25 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds – seven of them on the offensive end.

“The biggest thing is they got extra possessions,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “You have to give Noah credit, he had seven offensive rebounds. I don’t think he had any in the last game.”

Because of Noah’s presence, the Bulls had 22 more shot attempts than the Cavs (93-71) and he outscored all three of Cleveland’s big men: Shaquille O’Neal (8), Anderson Varejao (7) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (3).

“Joakim is a free spirit. He has great energy and he’s going to play hard all the time,” Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said about his 6-11 power forward, who anchors the Bulls’ defense and should receive votes for Defensive Player of the Year.

Despite being down 0-2 in the series, Noah believes his Bulls will bounce back as they go back for two games on their home court at the United Center.

“I don’t think we’re discouraged right now. If anything, we’re motivated,” Noah said. “I think we can win, especially on our home court. We have some tough fans too. We’re looking forward to it. Just living in the moment, enjoying the competition, trying to win against one of the best teams in the world.”