The past five seasons of NBA basketball have been defined by LeBron and who, if anyone, would take down him and his supporting cast. He has been to the past five finals and his teams have seemingly coasted to each one. This year the association has finally gotten the parity it so desperately needs.
It starts with the Golden State Warriors and their miraculous campaign for another championship. Coming off of the team’s first NBA championship in 40 years, the Warriors were able to boast the best record ever at 73-9. This was much to the help of their superstar and likely MVP Steph Curry, who’s changing the game with his incredible ability to shoot the three-ball. This season he broke his own record from last year for three-pointers made netting an incredible 402 this season. But it’s not just Steph, Klay Thompson hit 276 threes this season which happens to be third most of all time just behind Curry’s 286 a year ago.
This Warriors team has lived off shooting the three and we have yet to see them die from it. They have taken the “chicks dig the long ball” mentality from baseball and brought it to the hardwood. The team hasn’t even batted an eye with Curry out for four of their six playoff games to this point. They finished off an uninspired Rockets team by 33 points and Draymond Green had a triple-double in their 12 point win in game one versus the Trailblazers Sunday. But luckily for the NBA, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The San Antonio Spurs were able to pull off a franchise record 67 wins this season. A Spurs team that is finalizing the transition of crafty veterans such as Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli to young stars such as Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge. Through the old school ways of head coach Greg Popovich, the Spurs were able to brush all competition aside. They’ve kept a full head of steam going into the playoffs with an impressive 32 point win over the Thunder in game one of their round two match up.
There’s also a crop of young stars in the league playing at a very high level. Andre Drummond dominated down low this year averaging 14.8 rebounds per game and nine games with at least 20 rebounds. Hassan Whiteside has dominated down low with his ability to block shots averaging just under four a game which is sure to bump up his rating for 2K17. Kemba Walker has shown what he’s capable of this postseason averaging 25 points per game and leading the Hornets to seven games against the Heat. There’s also Isaiah Thomas who has been able to lead the Celtics first playoff win in three years.
Even the superstars that we are familiar with have kept a strong hold on their status. LeBron led the Cavs to first place in the east with the help of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Paul George has comeback from his gruesome leg injury averaging 27.5 PPG in their first round loss to the Raptors. Kobe was able to leave his legacy with his 60 point game in his final game. Kevin Durant (28.2 PPG) and Russell Westbrook, tying Magic Johnson at most triple-doubles in the last 30 years with 18, have also continued to play at the highest level.
The eastern conference as a whole is much better than last year. Both the seven and eight seed last year had a losing record while the Pistons ended six games over .500 this season. Two of the four first round match ups went to seven games as one went to six. The Hawks look much more suited to take on the Cavs after getting swept as the one seed last year. All five starters from their first round match up against the Celtics averaged over 12 points a game. Two of the four first round match ups went to seven games as one went to six. It’s clear that this will be LeBron’s toughest road to the finals in the past six years.
With the amount of story lines from this season and how open the race to the championship is there’s no doubt this has been the most exciting NBA season in recent history.
