For the second straight year, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors will go head to head in the NBA Finals. Although only one team will be crowned NBA Champions, this years Finals have a different head to head match-up that many have their eyes focused on. With Stephen Curry, the All-Star Point Guard for the Golden State Warriors, winning an unanimous NBA MVP award and Lebron James, arguably one of the greatest basketball players of all time, carrying their teams to the championship game, there is more than just a trophy to be gained.
Lebron James, drafted straight from high school to play for his hometown team, The Cleveland Cavaliers. So far, it seems like the opening of a story book career, right? Although James has two NBA Championships, he has never won a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The two championships come from his time with the Miami Heat and his two excellent teammates there, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Many have claimed the only reason why James even won those championship games was because of the fact that he teamed up with those two teammates to create essentially an "unstoppable" team. Also to help the critics, the Miami Heat won the NBA Championship back in 2006, with Dwayne Wade at the helm of that prolific team. But what do the numbers say? Lebron James has four MVP awards which puts him one away from coming even with the all-time great of Michael Jordan. James also a 66.7 percent winning total as a starter for which ever team he plays for and Micheal Jordan posted a 66.5 percent win total as a starter when he played, and the numbers never lie.
"He's just a kid from a small college, with small potential". That is what experts said about Steph Curry when he was coming to the NBA. No one thought that he would succeed in the league, and no one thought that he'd eventually get two MVP awards and a Championship along the way. Standing at six feet and three inches tall, Curry has quickly become a household name over the past couple NBA seasons. Holding the NBA record with most three point shots made in a season (402), Curry has surpassed an all time great, Kobe Bryant. Curry has the ability to show people what he is capable of, no matter the situation that he is put in. Although his statistics are nice, Curry has only won two MVP awards and one NBA Championship. Other members of The Golden State Warriors that contribute big time to the elite team would include Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, and Harrison Barnes. All players that not only play excellent, but can be considered elite in their own way.
All statistics aside, both players are considered great and when the final game of the NBA Finals is played a team will have won. As for James and Curry competing against one another to show who is greatest, the world will always stand indifferent on the matter, the play style of both are very different. Curry, the gun slinging three point shooter finds success from long range, while James, the bulldozer in the paint as he drives in for baskets, skill can not be matched by one another, but they find success in their own ways. Both players have come a long way in their careers and this years NBA Finals will show that in the way they play, as greats on and off the court.
