The Lion and The Lambs
SPORTS - There is a lot of talk about the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors potential third round matchup in three years in the NBA Finals. Round 1 went to the Warriors, round 2 to the Cavs, and now were almost here for round 3. Everyone is healthy, everyone is at the top of their game, and we’re tied at 1-1. After losing to the Cavs in 2016, the Warriors signed Kevin Durant the following summer and many, including myself, hated the move and thought it was the softest moves someone of his caliber could make. LeBron’s departure to Miami was frowned upon, but was it really as bad as people made it out to be? Was KD’s move not the easier way out? Buckle up, we’re going for a ride down memory lane.
Since 2003 when the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted LeBron James with number pick he was automatically pressured by the entire NBA community to bring a championship to his hometown of Ohio. After 4 years of competing on teams with sub-par talent, LeBron finally led the Cavs to the NBA Finals, but was swept by the San Antonio Spurs. As the Eastern Conference got stronger, the Cavs got weaker. They fell to the Celtics the following year in ‘08, Magic in 2009, and once again to Boston in 2010. The Cavaliers made only one NBA Finals appearance during LeBron's tenure. After losing to the Celtics in 2010, LeBron James joined the Miami Heat the following summer.
LeBron's departure from Cleveland broke a lot of hearts, broke a lot of promises and took the sports world by storm. In Miami, he and two other stars and potential future Hall of Famers from the 2003 NBA Draft formed what was formally known as the Big 3. A lot were against the move. Many believed that LeBron’s legacy would be tarnished because he chose the “easy way out”. He’s known to stack his teams with talent which would give him the best chance to win an NBA Championship. I’ve heard it all, here’s what I think.
HEAT AFTER LAST CHAMPIONSHIP AND BEFORE LEBRON
Miami Heat playoff win total since 2006 Finals win: 4
Miami Heat regular season record: 149-179 (.832%)
All Stars: 1 (Dwayne Wade ’07,’08,’09)
Conference Finals Appearances: 0
NBA Finals Appearances: 0
MVP’s: 0 (well Dwayne Wade won Finals MVP in ’06)
Lottery Picks: 1 (drafted Mike Beasley 2nd overall in 2008)
When LeBron James chose the Miami Heat he chose to join a franchise who was willing to put the pieces around him to be able to accomplish the ultimate goal of winning an NBA Championship. In Cleveland, they were fine with the amount of talent surrounding LeBron with the thought that he would never leave his hometown team under any circumstances. They weren’t willing to “break the bank” for another star to go along with LeBron. Miami on the other hand bought the Luxury Tax and brought in LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh on big contracts. Dwayne Wade and LeBron James knew that they couldn’t win another championship if they weren’t on a team with talent similar to theirs, they knew there was only one answer to another ring, to join each other.
As the Celtics got older, the Magic grew more impatient with Dwight Howard, the Miami Heat grew a three headed monster. For the next 4 years the Miami Heat made 4 NBA Finals appearances wining two out of the four.
In 2007, the Super Sonics drafted my favorite college basketball player, Kevin Durant from my favorite college, the University of Texas. In his rookie season which was his last in Seattle, he won rookie of the year after averaging 20.3 ppg, the second highest average for any rookie since Carmelo Anthony in 2003 (21 ppg). The Seattle Supersonics moved to Oklahoma City and were named the Thunder in 2008. The first selection in Thunder history, they drafted Russell Westbrook with the 4th pick and created a dynamic duo who some mentioned as one of the top duo’s in NBA history behind those like Kobe/Shaq, Penny/Shaq, and Jordan/Pippen.
After Westbrook’s rookie year, the Thunder reached the playoffs in every year he and Durant along with other key players played and remained healthy, reaching the Western Conference Finals 4 times and making a NBA Finals appearance in 2012 against the Miami Heat.
In 2016, the Thunder loss to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals after leading the Warriors 3-1. Months after the Warriors lost to the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, they added the second best player in the NBA, Kevin Durant. Durant had interest from the Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, and many other teams that I won’t mention (my Washington Wizards.) Any of these teams Durant chose would have had a legitimate chance of winning a NBA Championship, but he chose what I believe was the easy way out in joining the Golden State Warriors who just recently won a championship in 2015, and broke the ’96 Chicago Bulls record by winning 73 regular season games. Not to mention 3 All-Stars, and a 2x NBA MVP. Kevin Durant broke the unwritten rule of sports, you don’t join a team that beat you. You find a way to beat them. Many of you may be reading this right now and say “well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” I don’t agree. Here is how the Durant to Oakland looks in my eyes:
WARRIORS AFTER LAST CHAMPIONSHIP AND BEFORE KD
Golden State Warriors playoff win total since 2015 Finals win: 15
Golden State Warriors regular season record: 73-9 (8.1%)
All Stars: 3 (Steph Curry ’16, Draymond Green ’16, Klay Thompson ’16)
Conference Finals Appearances: 1
NBA Finals Appearances: 1
MVP’s: 1 (Steph Curry)
Lottery Picks: 0
Kevin Durant has joined the Warriors to win a NBA Championship, but what if he doesn’t? What will his next move be? The 2017 Western Conference Finals was a potential 7-game series until Khawhi Leonard was hurt in Game 1 and the Warriors came back from being down 25 points in the 3rd quarter. They later swept the Spurs making it to their third NBA Finals appearance.
The way players stay away from signing into the Eastern Conference makes me think of LeBron as a lion that prowls the top looking down on top free agents putting fear in their hearts to sign into the West and avoid a fight with him before the NBA Finals. Did Kevin Durant not sign into the Eastern Conference to avoid LeBron James? If yes, was it worth it if they lose to the Cavaliers in this year’s finals?
Now, I have to be realistic. LeBron James’ 2 championships with the Miami Heat will always be overlooked a little in the back of my mind. Then I think about the Team Miami was before he came and there’s nothing much more to think about. The Warriors without Kevin Durant were a far better team than the Miami Heat before LeBron James. The Heat were a mid-level team with an aging and injury prone Dwayne Wade that couldn’t carry a team by himself any much longer. No one can do what LeBron did, what Kevin Durant did, anybody could.
