A Tale of Two Titles

by with No Comment Sports

The two time defending NBA champions Golden State Warriors will have the chance to defend their title against either the Milwaukee Bucks or Toronto Raptors. The good money is on the Bucks, and for the sake of a competitive series against the Warriors, let’s hope it’s the Bucks. The champs managed to beat both the Houston Rockets and Portland Trailblazers… without four-time scoring champ and back to back NBA finals MVP Kevin Durant. Durant is questionable… at best… to play at all during the entire finals. Yes, the Warriors won a title without Kevin Durant, back in 2015. Those Warriors did win; however, they did so by needing six games to beat a Cleveland Cavaliers team who had just LeBron James, some guy named Matthew Dellavedova, and me. Both Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving were injured during the playoffs with Irving being injured during game one of the finals.

That one Kevin Durant-less title does beg the question, how good are the Warriors when all their title runs were against injured depleted teams or only with the current unbeatable version with Kevin Durant?

Well… there are two different truths to that answer.

The first truth. The Warriors built their main core via the draft. How a team drafts is the most honest and telling of true basketball knowledge in a front office. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green were all drafted. The Warriors can’t help who they face. They can’t help the fact Chris Paul and Blake Griffin never stayed healthy when the Clippers were the team most equal to them. They can’t the help James Harden and his Houston Rockets simply don’t translate their regular season into the playoffs. They can’t even help the fact they got Durant. He was a free agent in the summer of 2016, who could have gone anywhere and any team could have gotten him.

The second truth. The Warriors in 2015 lost against the Cavs. LeBron and the Cav’s loaded up in 2016 and beat the 73 win Warriors in a classic seven-game Finals. In 2017 and 2018 the Warriors had KD. And simply put, when you add a four-time scoring champion like Durant to a team with a perennial defensive player of the year candidate in Draymond Green, a two time NBA MVP in Steph Curry, and one of the greatest shooters in the game in Klay Thompson… no one is beating that team. No one. Not Russell’s Celtics, Bird’s Celtics, Magic’s Lakers, Mike’s Bulls, or Lebron’s Cavs… no one.

Which makes this title run the true test.

The Warriors without Kevin Durant going against a fully healthy squad in the Finals is something we haven’t seen since 2016 (when they lost).

Look, the Warriors ruined title competition the past two years with KD. The basketball Gods have balanced the playing field again. Which truth will unfold this time in June? If the Warriors win, their title run goes without question. If they lose, the true mightiness of the Warriors and their place in history will definitely be questioned, and deservingly so.

What’s The Difference? LeBron and the Hypocrisy of Politics

by with One Comment Sports

Back in the day, I’m talking way before hashtags, Dr. Dre dropped his classic 2001 Chronic album. One of the lead singles was “What’s the difference,” a song in which Dr. Dre questioned why he had been the target of so much criticism for doing the same things other rappers had done in their careers. The song reminds me of the criticism of LeBron James, a criticism he receives that’s simply not exclusive to him as a player. 

Related: Anthem Penalties? They Are Who We Thought They Were

Despite very few flaws in his game, LeBron SHOULD get criticized for his blah career free throw percentage (upper 70s) and the fact that he averaged 4 turnovers a game this season, which is 2x more than his buddy Chris Paul.

But that’s not the criticism. Instead, most of the criticism and negative talking points about him have nothing to do with his actual game on the court. Two of them come to mind…

Taking his talents to South Beach and creating a “super team.”

So what. I’ve been to Cleveland several times, and I’ve been Miami several times as well… it’s a no-brainer. But that’s not the main gripe, it’s this myth that he “created” a super team and he was the first to do it. 

Yes, LeBron, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade were the first stars to construct the nucleus of a team; however, General Managers have been building teams with multiple stars for years. No team has ever won a championship without multiple all-star caliber players.

Let’s look at a few… Bird doesn’t win without Parish and McHale. Thomas doesn’t win without the Bad Boys. Jordan doesn’t win without Harper, Rodman, and Pippen.

And the second critique… Lebron’s not a “killer.”

A very subjective measurement of a player, and one that LeBron apparently doesn’t have. Lebron lacking the “Jordan” or “Kobe” killer mentality comes from his deferment to pass in situations rather than take a contested shot because he’s the best player. And the best player does whatever it takes to win.

Despite being the only player to average a triple-double in the NBA finals, leading multiple statistical categories on both finals teams for the past four years, and three NBA finals MVPs… he’s not a killer? 

I don’t get it. I’m obviously a LeBron fan. But I just don’t understand the furious hate LeBron receives when other notable players seem to escape the same level of disdain.

I said all that to say this… 

Considering serious social and political issues in our country, the uncanny criticism of LeBron is akin to the hypocrisy of American politics. Perfect example, Roseanne Barr was recently fired from her show for a series of racially motivated comments. The right has gone crazy suggesting a violation of free speech – the same free speech that NFL players exercised by silently kneeling during the National Anthem that they said was disrespectful to the flag and military, therefore justifying Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reed not having a job. 

Perceptions and opinions have dangerously turned into facts. If having discussions and problem-solving were hard before, then they’ll likely be much tougher moving forward… tougher than Lebron and the Cavaliers playing the Golden State Warriors in this year’s NBA Finals. Just don’t say that in front of Kobe and Michael Jordan fans, because they simply won’t see the difference.

Point out the hypocrisy… it’s staring us in the face everyday. 

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