Basketball Sports

When You Come At The King
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So LeBron James lost the 2017 NBA finals. He now has a 3-5 record in when a championship is on the line. Reporters, TV and radio personalities are saying that his era of domination in the NBA is probably over. Welcome to the Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors era.

This NBA season was all but written out from the beginning though. That’s how it is with basketball, everyone has a pretty good idea of who will be a contender for the championship. This year, everyone knew it was definitely going to be Lebron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers vs The upgraded Golden Warriors with Kevin Durant in the finals for sure. Did these predictions ruin the 6 month long season? Yes it did. The season dragged on and felt sluggish. The playoffs were no better, with both these teams almost sweeping every opponent they came up against (the Cavaliers only lost one game on the road to the finals, due to a miraculous three pointer from the Boston Celtics shooting guard Avery Bradley).

Then came the clash of the titans. The collision course. The finals everyone was waiting for. After last year’s astounding (but ultimately devastating for Golden State) finals, this would be the third time in three years both teams faced each other for the championship. With Kevin Durant added to the mix, NBA fans were expecting a grandiose finale to the season. Both teams seemed to be the only ones capable of stopping each other, and we were ready to see them duke it out.

Unfortunately even that didn’t happen, it was a lopsided affair for Golden State who won it in 5 games. Shortly after the Warriors win, me being me, I had to scroll through the comments on YouTube to see the reactions: it was exactly what I expected. People happy that Golden State got their revenge on the Cavaliers, after what happened at this time last year. Folks were also ecstatic to see LeBron James lose another finals. The internet was out in full force with jokes galore, loving to see another man down, and possibly dominate no more.

It’s only sports, but we all tend to forget the importance of a guy like LeBron James. The folks ridiculing him online forget that without him or his team, the finals would have been a completely different story. The Cavaliers facing off against the Warriors was the only thing that kept us going this basketball season. Had the Warriors face the Boston Celtics or the Toronto Raptors in the finals, a lot of people wouldn’t have bothered watching. Warriors vs Cavs was the finals everyone waited for, even though it did not live up to the hype. The Warriors had to reach the finals against LeBron James and beat him, the best player in the world, to validate their dominance and this season.

I don’t think people realize the confused admiration they have for LeBron James, like you are so against him, and you love to see him lose, but don’t you realize that his presence or not dictates your level of enthusiasm in watching basketball? Unless you are a fan of his, then that’s something else entirely.

I’m thrilled the Warriors won, with Kevin Durant playing out of his mind to get his first ring, and finals MVP award. There are more to come for sure, but LeBron James is not finished, like I heard some pundits say. Not even close, he’s still in top shape and in the prime of his career. As for me I’ve always had a problem, with people who think they have a right to just say whatever they want, about anybody who works their tail off to be somebody.

1 Comment

  1. Yes, Theo, Lebron James is not finished because of what happened. That was a battle, not a war. A single battle. And I am sure he will learned from that, use that setback as a stepping stone to move forward wiser, stronger and better prepared to shine again. In life sometime we win, and sometime too we lose. And that is it, my dear. The most important thing to do is that we learn from what went wrong and move forward.

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