Same Teams, Different Stakes: Why Picking a Side in the NBA Finals Is Harder Than Last Year

After achieving another historical feat by becoming the first team in NBA history to be the No. 1 seed with the league MVP but be down 3-1 in a playoff series to come back and win the series, the Golden State Warriors might just change some analysts and odds makers' minds about their rematch with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals.  A lot of people including myself wrote off the defending champions' chances of accomplishing such a tall order, and we just assumed that the Oklahoma City Thunder would win the series and the Cavs would have a little easier path to the crown because most people didn't give OKC a chance against LeBron & Co.  However, living up to their namesake, the Warriors manifested an unprecedented amount of resolve, persistence and tenacity.  Although Steph Curry is my favorite player in the NBA right now and has been for the past three years, it's still hard to pick against King James as I have been a fan of his overall game, instant impact on any team for which he plays and being one of the most unselfish superstars that the game of basketball has ever seen since his high school days.  So as we prepare for what should be another thrilling matchup between the Warriors and the Cavs, allow me to explain how this year's NBA Finals is a little harder to pick than last year...

THE CITY OF CLEVELAND ABSOLUTELY NEEDS THIS WIN.  Having endured extensive teasing on a much smaller scale and shorter time span, watching the recent "Believeland" episode of ESPN's 30 for 30 series made me really feel for a town that is constantly the butt of the joke.  So many people that I know who have ever been to Cleveland always have some snide remark like, "But it's Cleveland...who wants to visit, let alone live there?!?!"  As is the case with a lot of blue-collar towns, it's not often the sexy pick.  They burned Browns memorabilia in effigy when Art Modell supposedly couldn't get a deal done with the city and packed up for Baltimore, only to win a Super Bowl six years after the move.  They did the same when LeBron James decided to take his talents to South Beach during the ill-fated "Decision" in 2010.  They have reason to be upset: of all of the major sports towns and markets that have ever won at least one championship, Cleveland's drought has lasted 52 years.  Seeing the Browns succumb twice to the Broncos in the 1986 and 1987 AFC Championships only for Denver to go on and get shellacked two years in a row by the Giants and the Skins in the Super Bowl and forgetting how the Indians were steps away from winning a World Series but blew Game 7 to the Marlins just made me think, "There must be a serious dark cloud over this city."  Nevertheless, their fans continue to believe year after year that the current year has to be their year because how long can you miss it by that much?  Because I always tend to cheer for the underdogs, the forgotten and the ridiculed, it's extremely difficult not to want this chip for the city of Cleveland.  They need it for their own sanity so that they don't have to keep saying, "We'll get 'em next year."  Nobody should want to sound as hopelessly delusional as Cowboys and Skins fans.

LEBRON JAMES NEEDS THIS VICTORY TO CEMENT HIS LEGACY.  As much as people have criticized LeBron James for not being as successful in the Finals as Michael Jordan or even Kobe Bryant, many of those same people forget that both of them had the privilege of being coached by the Zen master himself, Phil Jackson.  Imagine if LeBron had Phil or Greg Popovich for most of his career in lieu of Paul Silas, Mike Brown, David Blatt and Tyronn Lue; we might be talking about the possibility of him winning his seventh title versus only his third in seven appearances.  His best days were with Eric Spoelstra and that was one part Spoelstra being under the Pat Riley coaching tree and one part LeBron being the unofficial head coach of any team.  Let's not also forget that both Jordan and Kobe had better co-stars and supporting casts than LeBron as well as superior coaching.  None of that matters to the LeBron haters out there because he's been dubbed "King James" and "The Chosen One" and should be able to deliver the goods regardless.  Unrealistic expectations aside, he is clearly the best basketball player on the planet as he can score at will when he plays to his strength, can distribute like a point guard and facilitate the offense better than even Kyrie Irving, can effectively defend every single position, is one of the most consistent players in the league and is one of the most athletically gifted ball players of all time.  However, winning cures everything and his ailment has only been treated two times.  I wholeheartedly believe that none of the other Finals wins or losses matter at this point because if he brings at championship to the city of Cleveland for the first time in over five decades, then his coronation will finally be justified and his basketball divinity will be legitimized.  It will easily be the biggest win of his career because it will be the most personal--especially after leaving his home area with bad blood six years ago.  As Freeway would say though, "FLIPSIDE!!!" 

GOLDEN STATE NEEDS TO FINISH OFF THEIR HISTORIC SEASON WITH A TITLE.  I'm gonna tell you all a little secret: if the Warriors don't win the chip, then I have one in the chamber aimed right at their season.  Just when I thought that the Thunder were going to take the defending champs' collective lunch money after walloping them in Game 4 and play spoiler to the best season in NBA history, the Warriors finally started playing the type of basketball to which hoops fans have grown accustomed in Game 5 and the momentum shifted.   Although OKC had Golden State down by 13 in Game 6, they didn't bank on Klay Thompson's historic performance from downtown as he singlehandedly kept them from elimination--leading to Chokelahoma City's coach turning back into a pumpkin.  Some might say that the Western Conference Finals drained the Warriors and that could serve as a disadvantage against the Cavs, who had an extra three days of rest after handily beating the Raptors in six games.  Others might say that the Warriors are riding high after having one of the greatest Phife Dawg "we've been known to do the impossible like Broadway Joe" moments in sports history.  I'm not saying that orchestrating one of the greatest series comebacks of all time makes them a shoe-in to beat the Cavs, but the Warriors have clearly been tested more than the Cavs in this year's playoffs.  Between passing that test and setting the new record for regular season wins, nothing else will suffice but winning a title.   Otherwise, the season is a wash and they'll force me to pull the trigger.  That brings me to my final point...

STEPH CURRY NEEDS TO LEGITIMIZE WINNING THE MVP UNANIMOUSLY.  Between sports personalities, analysts, commentators and experts by virtue of the fact that they posted their opinions on Facebook, I have seen more people who feel like Steph Curry shouldn't have become the NBA's first unanimous Most Valuable Player or that LeBron James should've received at least one vote, if not won it altogether, than those who had no problem with him winning it unanimously.  I have seen so many people devalue his accomplishments by saying that he's not a better basketball player than or as much of an instant impact as LeBron--an assertion with which I strongly agree, but still kinda petty nonetheless.  People criticize him for his size, not being as proficient of a defensive player (I bet Durant & Westbrook are kicking themselves for ever clowning him on any level) or only being a great shooter.  Heck, although Curry won league MVP last year, Andre Iguodala won Finals MVP--and deservedly so--but he doesn't even start half the time.  Call it a penalty of leadership, but Steph now has a lot of doubters, and after his pitiful performance in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, I began to question him a bit.  However, despite struggling in the first half of Game 6, Curry has picked up his game and hasn't looked back--probably because he knows very well what's on the line.  You don't become the league's first unanimous MVP by doing anything other than dominating the best way that you know how, and you have the responsibility of bringing your best game every single night at the highest level.  Although you will go through the fire for your teammates, you have to be the heart and soul of that team on the biggest stage, which means taking home a championship ring and that Finals MVP as well.  Not Klay Thompson...not Draymond Green...not Andre Iguodala...it has to be Steph Curry, the NBA's unanimous MVP.  It's cool not to be worried about what other people say, but the best way to subdue your own worries is to win and win big.  Like I said before, it cures everything.

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With all of that said, the magic question that you all really care about is simple: who am I picking?  Well, having a healthy Kyrie Irving this time around, I believe that the Cavaliers will give the Warriors a much harder time than they did last year and this series very well could and should go seven games.  LeBron will get his because he's LeBron and all you can do is slow him down, not stop him altogether.  However, coming out of the much-weaker Eastern Conference, this is the Cavs' first big test of their postseason and have to face the defending world champs who had to claw their way back to the Finals like no one before them.  Because they showed me so much with that comeback, I just believe that Golden State is going to be too difficult of an out for Cleveland to handle.  Plus, I'm a Steph Curry fan, a supporter of Steve Kerr as a quality head coach who understands what it takes to win a championship and an overall believer in a Golden State as a team with lethal depth.  I will say this though: I won't be mad at all if the Cavs pull off the upset and bring Cleveland's miserable sports championship drought to an end.  Maybe then, Cincinnati will start to be the butt of more of those jokes.