Could we have just witnessed the greatest NBA Finals ever?
We all know the saying, "You never know what you've got until it's gone." In the case of the 2016 NBA Finals, did we truly appreciate greatness for what it was?
The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers traded momentum and trash talk since the start of the Finals, and every second of it was entertaining. Although until the last game, the final scores were not close, each game was unpredictable in its own way. Even with the chaos, fans still found a way to complain.
Before the series even started, the basketball crowd complained about the Western Conference Finals when the Warriors came back from a three games to one deficit against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder dominated the Warriors but failed to put away Golden State, who happened to have the best regular season in league history, leaving many to question the NBA.
Fast forward back to the Finals and the script flipped. It was now the Golden State's fans who then questioned the NBA and their motives. Draymond Green was suspended for Game 5 for a flagrant foul he committed against Lebron James in Game 4. Green is a vital piece for the Warriors and having him sit out in a potential series-clinching contest was a big obstacle for Golden State to overcome. The Warriors eventually lost, 112-97.
With the Cavilers forcing Game 6, the Warriors had another chance to close out on back-to-back championships. Once again Golden State failed. This time, league MVP Stephen Curry was the center of conversation. Curry, who had not fouled out of a game since 2013, committed his sixth foul late in the fourth quarter and was ejected for throwing his mouthpiece while yelling at a referee. Basketball fans questioned the authenticity of Curry's fouls and whether the refs favored Cleveland. Fuel was added to the fire when Ayesha Curry, Stephen's wife, tweeted out that the NBA is rigged.
All of the drama and questioning led up to one game. The Warriors and the Cavilers had a single game to determine who the 2016 champion was going to be. Win or go home. Unlike the previous six contests, Game 7 did not play host to any player suspensions or questionable foul calls, just great basketball. Throughout the game, both teams traded the lead, but neither was able to pull ahead. Different from the previous six meetings, this game came down to the final few possessions.
With the clock ticking under the one minute mark, Cleveland guard Kyrie Irving picked up his dribble and shot a three pointer as if he had ice in his veins. With Curry defending, Irving sank the shot giving his team a late three point lead. James would add on a free throw while Golden State would not score again leading to a 93-89 Caviler victory, marking their first NBA Championship in franchise history.
The dramatic plot twists of this year's Finals led to a national conversation on the legitimacy of the NBA. Instead of focusing on the great matchup of teams, basketball fans chose to pay attention to the conspiracy theories off the court.
To start off, we played witness to four time MVP James face off with back-to-back MVP Curry, which is a matchup of stars that does not happen every year. On top of this, James and Curry got into each other's faces throughout the series, forming a bit of a rivalry. Fans need to enjoy this -- the NBA does not have contrasting stars like these two clash in the Finals every year -- and instead of complaining, enjoy the legendary battle.
James, who was named Finals MVP, had one of the greatest championship performances ever. After trailing three games to one in the series, James brought his team back to force a Game 7, while leading players from both teams in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals for the series. That's nothing short of insane.
On top of James' out-of-the-world statistics, his teammate Kyrie Irving also played an incredible series. Irving averaged 27.1 points per game highlighted by his go-ahead three pointer in Game 7, and an outstanding performance scoring 41 points in a possible-elimination Game 5.
A Finals like this does not come around very often -- we had a battle of MVP's, 41 point performances and for the first time in NBA history a team come back from being down three games to one to win the championship. Yes, there were some unexpected twists, but what do you expect in sports? Instead of complaining and blaming the NBA, just appreciate history.
