Cleveland v. Golden State: Examining the NBA Finals and Lebron's Legacy

Thanks to everyone who has supported the GentReport during the past five years.  I sincerely appreciate your time and interest.

I have once again teamed up with my good fried, Chim, to discuss this year's NBA Finals and the impact the outcome will have on Lebron's legacy.  Chim has addressed the Warriors performance, while I addressed Lebron's legacy.  

Did the Warriors Collapse or were they Overrated?

I think the answer is more complex than the "Hot Take" world we currently live in. Golden State (GS) lost the NBA Finals for a lot of reasons: poor strategy, turnovers, injuries and great execution by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland won by using "hero ball" to make timely shots.

In December 2015 Sidney and I took turns looking at the historic season Golden State embarked on: at the time GS had broken the NBA record with a 25 game winning streak to start the season. They looked invincible and certainly had me convinced: Golden State was an elite team on a historic pace. I believed GS was beatable, but only by a team that was able to slow the pace of the game and be efficient in limited possessions. Cleveland, was on the radar but based on their faux lineups and injuries, I could not consider their stats because they gave the following people significant minutes to start the season: Matt Dellavedova, Mo Williams, Anderson Varejao, Jared Cunningham and Timothy Mozgov. There was nothing to take from Cleveland there.

And that was the point. Cleveland had their eye on the prize: the NBA title; and never once wavered in the regular season. Cleveland played their best players less than 35 minutes a game to make sure they were fresh for a Finals run. By June, Cleveland was healthy, hungry and rested; and it needed all three factors to beat a GS team that was the better team on paper.

So was Cleveland a team of destiny? No. I still don’t think so. Simply put, Cleveland won with hero ball from superb heroes.

In Carter Rodriguez's article on the resurgence of “Hero Ball,” he discussed the re-emergence of hero ball's importance. To Rodriguez, "Hero Ball" won Cleveland Games 5 & 7; Hero ball (when used within a team concept) won Cleveland the NBA Finals. I do not think playing this style of basketball was the Cavs' goal but it became the end result. GS lost a 3-1 series lead because GS bet that the Cavs could not win a series relying on a 2 man isolation-based offense. GS was wrong.

The Cavs won because they had two players who score efficiently and effectively in the paint: LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. The Warriors’ dared the Cavs to win by making inefficient plays that required All-Star level play from both Irving and James to succeed: The Cavs proved they could win more than Golden State proved it was overrated/choked. For all their hard work and good play, the NBA Finals still hung in the balance until the very last possession. That is a testament to the talent of the former champs.

GS collapsed because they were fatigued. GS wore down because they, especially Steph, spent a lot of time defending numerous pick and rolls, which fatigued GS's main shooters. Shooters need their legs to maintain quality percentages from distance. Cavs put a lot of pressure on Curry (and Klay to a lesser extent) which wore out his legs and his shooting suffered. His numbers took a significant dip after playing 90-100 games of running, running off screens to get open on Offense and defending. Curry’s tired legs and injury caught up to GS at the end of games (See Game 6 & 7; Warriors scored 13 pts each in the 4th quarter).

Cavs simply needed this title more. They looked hungrier. Cleveland had not won anything since 1964. 52 years.  Even in December, I noted that the Cavs were not concerned about anything other than "Winning one for the Land." This determination was almost lost but the Cavs began to believe after Draymond was suspended for Game 5. Further, LeBron James is the best player of Post MJ era (1998-present) and the fact that he was not given a single first place MVP vote bothered him and he was out to prove he was the best in this series.

GS collapsed because they were injured. Steph Curry sprained his MCL then returned after three weeks. Bogut also hurt his knee in Game 6, which opened up the paint for LeBron/Kyrie to attack. Iguodala battled a back injury, which is not a good omen for guarding the Best Player in the World. Injuries put enough of a chink in the GS armor, which Cleveland took advantage of.

Stephen Curry is a great player but his unanimous MVP was part of his undoing. He is 28 years old and has plenty of time to cement his career legacy but he should have never become the first unanimous MVP in NBA history. Curry will probably end up as the greatest shooter of all time but he won’t be considered a top 15 player of all time when his career is over. For now, his peers have gone out of their way to challenge his status in the league because he was the first person to be bestowed with such an honor reserved for all-time greats. Curry never asked for it but that vote served as extra motivation for all his competitors in the playoffs and made Curry a target; which usually is not synonymous with an MVP caliber player. The Cavs attacked “Mr. Unanimous” and exposed the Warriors weaknesses through Curry’s defense.

Last, the Warriors were overrated because the NBA is diluted: there are few elite teams and a lot of subpar teams. GS should be happy they surpassed the Bulls in wins. However the league has made the schedule easier for teams in season by adding rest, reducing ridiculous travel schedules and reducing the total number of back to back games; the NBA also eliminated the old trifecta of “back-to-back-to-back” games. This meant the best teams usually were physically prepared to play on most nights during the season. Whether or not the team was mentally prepared was on the players themselves. Their Finals loss serves to further validate MJ’s invincibility and it caused the media to rethink its voting process for MVPs. This is a net positive for basketball fans; even if it means GS may go own as the NBA’s version of the 18-1 Patriots.

In the end GS can only attribute this loss to their nonchalant attitude in the playoffs.

Lebron James: Top Five Dead or Alive

Lebron James returned to Cleveland in 2014, then two years later, delivered an NBA championship.  Prior to this year’s championship, the City of Cleveland had not hosted a professional championship team since 1964. This year’s championship is the third of his thirteen-year career.  This year was also the seventh time he played in the NBA Finals (six consecutive trips).  If you do the math, he has played in the NBA Finals more than half of his total seasons in the NBA.  This is no small feat, and only the Bill Russell led Boston Celtics, experienced more consecutive NBA Finals appearances than Lebron with the Heat and Cavaliers.

“Hype-Nitis”

In sports, there is a phenomenon called the Hype Machine.  The machine provides support for an athlete before he has had an opportunity to perform.  It is fueled by the media, fans, coaches, and agents.  The funny thing about the machine is that, in most cases, the “hyped” athlete never lives up to the lofty expectations.  In recent history, a few folks come to mind: Sebastian Telfair, Johnny Manzel, Tim Tebow, Greg Oden and Jemarcus Russell.  However, don’t be fooled into thinking the hype machine is a new phenomenon.  Do you remember Harold Miner, or Sam Bowie?  The aforementioned athletes, at one time or another, were billed as the next big thing, but never panned out.  I make this point to illustrate how rare it is for a truly hyped athlete to meet, let alone, exceed expectations.   However, Lebron James, has managed to do so.

During high school, Lebron was dubbed the “Chosen One,” and “King James.”  Mind you, this was before he had played a single game in the NBA.  When he finally made his debut in the NBA as a teenager, he immediately became one of the best players in the Association.  A few years later, he led his Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals.  Since then, he has played in the NBA Finals six times, he won multiple Olympic gold medals, received multiple MVP Awards (regular season and Finals), has achieved multiple All-NBA campaigns, and the list goes on and on.  The talent forecasters thought Lebron would be a lock to become an NBA All Star.  To their credit, they were right, but Lebron has exceeded those expectations by becoming a sure fire first ballot hall-of-famer.

Unreasonable Standards

“He is going to be the next Michael Jordan.”  How many times have we heard people utter those words?  And, how many times have we watched a player pale in comparison to the GOAT?  Jordan is the standard bearer for excellence, and everyone comes up on the short end of the stick (even Kobe).  However, what Lebron has done in his career is nothing short of remarkable.  He has managed to be so good for so long that we are actually taking his great talents for granted.  His comments directed at the media when asked about Steph Curry winning the MVP award illustrate the conundrum perfectly.  Yes, Steph Curry had the best regular season, and his numbers support that theory.  However, Lebron James, when healthy (which is almost always), is the most valuable player in the NBA nearly every year.  He is because he can impact the game is so many different ways, including: scoring, or assisting, or defense, or rebounding.  Most players in the history of the NBA do not have the ability to impact the game in so many different ways each night.

Back to my original point: Lebron is held to an unfair and unreasonable standard. His talents are taken for granted, so the remarkable feats he accomplishes on the court are expected.  Think about his performance in the 2015 NBA Finals.  In that series, he nearly averaged a triple double, and willed his undermanned team to two victories against a clearly superior team. However, because his team lost, he took all of the blame.  Also, many of his critics talk about his less than perfect record in the NBA finals.  However, if his team fails to reach the NBA finals, can you imagine the outcry that would surely ensue? I can see it now: Lebron James FAILS to reach the NBA Finals, blah, blah, blah.  I only have an issue with this standard because it is not applied to other superstar players.  Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony have received passes their entire careers despite the fact that they have zero combined championships. I can rest assured in my next comment: Lebron’s talents won’t be truly appreciated until he retires. 

TOP 5 DOA

“Lebron James solidified his legacy by capturing his third title.”  This is one of the more idiotic comments I have heard in recent years. How can a man who has been to the NBA Finals more than probably any active player, and won championships, and almost every individual accolade imaginable, have his entire legacy rest on his performance in one series?  This guy is, and was before this year’s championship, a top five all-time player (I understand this is a debatable point). I rank players by position, and, with all due respect to Larry Legend, Bron surpassed him as the best small forward in the history of the game a few years ago.  He has proven his worth on the court, he has won on every NBA team he has been apart of, he consistently makes others better, his teammates actually like playing with him and his career individual statistics are otherworldly.  A huge part of his success has undoubtedly been his durability.  To date, he has not suffered an injury that has kept him out of commission for an extended amount of time.  My top five, in no particular order: Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, and Lebron James. 

It should be clear that Lebron is an all-time great player.  I am going to appreciate his historic run because Father Time is undefeated, so we know how this story will eventually end. 

Peace