LeBron to his critics: 'I guess I proved them wrong'

LeBron James was shedding some light on his personal motivations late Sunday night in the wake of delivering the Cleveland Cavaliers their first NBA championship.

He alluded to something an unnamed Miami Heat executive needled him with, and he also admitted that he took note of talk surrounding his supposed dethroning as the best basketball player on Earth.

"As much as I try to keep myself away from it - I don't watch sports talk ... I don't listen to the TV, I don't go on social media - it's still able to creep in a little bit," James told ESPN's Rachel Nichols.

James was specifically referring to him sitting out 13 games last year, as well as a perception many expressed this season about a declining skill set.

"At 31, I still have a lot in the tank," he said. "I give everything to the game. There was a few writers last year, I had my back problems ... there was a few writers this year, that ... 'he's lost a step, the high-flying LeBron James is gone, (that) he's passed us by.'

"I guess I used it as a little motivation. And I guess I proved them wrong."