The fourth straight match-up between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers met again in the ring to claim the Larry O’Brien trophy and bragging rights for the best team in the league. Although there are many differing opinions on how both teams got to this point and on the series in general, these two teams have sparked a new rivalry in a seemingly less competitive era of basketball.
At this point especially, fans grew tired of seeing the same two teams for four straight seasons, scrutinizing the Warriors for being an overpowered team with a too strong of a starting lineup. After the first title that the modern Warriors won in 2015, one could easily tell that Golden State was here to stay and seeing them more than once on the biggest stage in basketball would become the new norm.
They continued cementing their legacy and showed to be a force to be reckoned with by completely dominating the Cavaliers in a 4-0 sweep. This would be the first sweep since 2007 when the same team led by Lebron James lost in the finals for the first time to Tim Duncan and the Spurs. Despite any legendary effort James had produced, it fell short in every game and the frustration and fatigue showed.
Just recently, reports had come out that James had punched a whiteboard after Game 1 due to disagreements with how the game was called by the refs. It would later be known that Lebron played the rest of the series with bone contusions or, “pretty much a broken hand”, as James had put it. Incidentally, this all came after Game 4 during the post game presser. This information may or may not have been unknown to his teammates, coaching staff, or medical staff. In any case, James played with a debilitated hand and suffered because of it. The Cavaliers probably wanted to keep this quiet because the media along the Warriors would have a taken greater advantage because of it. On the other hand, monster performances from Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and the rest of their lineup proved to be too much for Lebron and company. Curry, who set a Finals record of nine made 3-pointers in Game 2 and Durant who completed a triple-double in Game 4 going for 20-12-10 secured the Finals MVP title in back-to-back years. Durant also became the only other player to have 4 scoring titles and more than one Finals MVP awards, the other being Jordan. The Warriors become one of five teams to win 3 titles in four years joining the NBA greats such as the Bulls in the 90s, the Spurs and Lakers in the early 2000s, and the Celtics in the 60s. We’ve seen great basketball dynasties before, but not like the Warriors.
The greatest regular season record of all time, one of the best 3-point shooters of all time in Steph Curry, one of the best scorers in Kevin Durant, record holders such as Klay Thompson, and eight-time champion as a player and coach in Steve Kerr. Now although there is much controversy as to how they rose to their success and the debate on the fairness of super teams, the spotlight has now turned to Lebron concerning not only his legacy after being swept but also his free agency. After congratulating his teammates and his opponents, James departed the floor to a standing ovation in Quicken Loans arena where it was speculated that it might have been his last night in a Cavaliers jersey.
Lebron’s free agency was a hot topic throughout the course of the season, with players and franchises recruiting him left and right, the question must finally be answered: will James leave Cleveland again? On one side of the aisle, Lebron has done everything and more for “The Land”. Leading the Cavaliers to 5 NBA Finals and bringing home a championship in 2016, put Cleveland on the basketball map. Lebron has fulfilled his promises and can go where he likes. On the other side, James would again be criticised for leaving his team again in search for redemption and another ring. James is scheduled to talk with several teams but time will tell where the King wants to play.
The conversation to have now is whether this 6th Finals loss will damage Lebron’s legacy. He was already being discredited for having a 3-5 record and being left out of the G.O.A.T debate for that reason, but now things become a little more clear. After hand-picking his new team, the responsibility of “having no help” or losing Kyrie, lies on his shoulders. Ultimately and realistically, Lebron did not have help and had to carry most of the weight of leading this team to the Finals. One thing to note here though is that Lebron fans like to disregard the double standard here. Heralded as the best to ever play, bringing a YMCA team to the Finals would have been the greatest testament to his career assuring that Lebron was worthy of this title. However, if he did not fulfill this ideal, the excuse that he did not have the supporting cast like he did in 2016 was the reason why. If playing against one of the best teams in NBA history was bad enough, Draymond Green, Curry, and Thompson also have as many rings as James does now. So, how does this affect Lebron’s legacy? For the sake of being partial, Lebron should and will be considered one of the greatest players to ever play basketball.
This season he became the all-time playoff leader in steals and hit multiple game-winning shots in the first and second rounds. There is no doubt The King’s playoff performances, not only from years past but especially this season, has solidified him as one of the greatest. However, his faults and losses do separate himself from other greats.
The most significant of these is obvious: having a greater losing record in the finals. When critics thought going 3-5 in the finals was bad, getting swept for the second time in the finals resulting in a 3-6 record doesn’t help James’ case for being the G.O.A.T. Other than that, there were times where Lebron was blamed for scrapping the lineup at the beginning of the season and for not being happy with the team he has now. Because of the lack of help that he had, he and Tyronn Lue were both now aware that Lebron was going to be the only reason that this team was going anywhere besides back to home to Cleveland. And this was clearly evident. James played more than 40 minutes for most of the playoff games and was obviously tired and frustrated for not seeing the results despite the effort he put forth. The Cavaliers were notorious for being ranked one of the worst defensive teams in the league and along with a fatigued key role player like Lebron is the recipe for a poor basketball team. This leads to the pressure and responsibility on the Cavs bench.
Comparatively speaking, the Warriors bench and the Cavs bench is David and Goliath. The Warriors bench could very well be a team of its own with a key player like Klay Thompson or Draymond Green. Aside from that, the Warriors are very team oriented and the chemistry is evident. The ball movement, setting screens, and the overall communication superseded anything that was seen on the opposing team. The Warriors weren’t alone in this category. When the Cavaliers and the Celtics faced off in the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston showed a greater sense of team chemistry and solidarity. Whether fans liked or disliked the continued matchup between the 
Warriors and Cavaliers, it provided a new rivalry and brought Golden State to a dynasty level franchise.
And to make matters worse for those who don’t like seeing the Warriors in the finals, they’re projected to have the best odds of winning the title again next year.
Editor’s Note:
NBA Logos were created by Michael Tipton and is under license on Flikr of CC BY-SA 2.0. Erik Drost’s photo of Celeveland is under license of CC BY-2.0. Keith Allison’s photo of LeBron James is under license of CC BY-2.0.
