Phil Grossfield's Blog

Lebron v. Curry – OH BOY!

I LOVE basketball and I’ve watched just about every playoff game this year. This NBA Finals is going to be the best …what could be better?! The NBA national championship series between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers begins in one week on Thursday, June 4 and I can’t wait!

Here are 5 reasons to expect one of the best NBA Championship Series of all time:

1. You have the two best teams in the NBA. Between the two teams, they got to the NBA Finals in the fewest games in NBA history. That means they got through each opponent in the playoffs faster than ever before. The Warriors are clearly the best team in the West winning 67 games and the way Cleveland destroyed Atlanta it’s pretty clear they are the best team in the East (and they did it without Kevin Love). The Warriors are great not only because of Steph Curry, but they have the whole team package. But Cleveland is great because of one thing…King Lebron James…and defending him is almost impossible. Juicy!
2. You have the two best players in the NBA going head-to-head. Nobody questions Lebron James as the best player in the NBA. Some argue he’s the best player to ever play, but I won’t open that can of worms right now. One stat says it all…he has made the NBA Finals 5 seasons in a row with two different teams…nobody can claim that stat…nobody. Oh, and James has been named the MVP 4-times. And Steph Curry? Well, he was named MVP this year for a reason and if you watch him play it’s easy to see why…the guy is absolutely amazing.
3. The back-story with Lebron James is ultra-compelling. Lebron wanted to play in Cleveland, then left to go win championships in Miami, and then came back to Cleveland to bring it home. Many thought this story line was fictitious…that James made it up for publicity…blah blah blah…pure B.S. James brought it back because he sincerely wanted to bring hope back to Cleveland after he realized just how hurt the city was when he left. Now he comes back and in one season brings the team to the NBA Finals. Unbelievable…you can’t write story lines better than this.
4. The back-story of the Warriors’ dream season is awesome. Not one player on the Golden State Warriors has been to the NBA Finals. Yet they won a league-best 67 games and carried a 12-3 record through the first three rounds of the postseason. They play what appears to be effortlessly…rhythmic. To me they look like a well oiled prime-time San Antonio Spurs team, but with even more talent. In my opinion, the Warriors are as close to a weakness-free team in the NBA, except that they lack experience in the grandest series.
5. The back-story for the Head Coaches is also juicy. Both the Cavaliers’ Head Coach David Blatt and the Warriors’ Head Coach Steve Kerr are in their first NBA seasons as coaches in any capacity let alone head coaches…and each finds himself in the NBA Finals. Are you kidding me?!

IT’S GONNA BE GOOD!