After a one-week wait, the NBA Finals are here. But that’s nowhere near as long as these teams have been waiting for a championship. For the Golden State Warriors, it has been 40 years since Rick Barry led them to what many believe is the greatest upset in NBA Finals history, a four-game sweep of the Washington Bullets in 1975. For the Cleveland Cavaliers, it has been, well, forever. The Cavaliers entered the NBA in 1970 and didn’t even make the Finals
What were you doing on May 25, 1975? If you are younger than 40, you weren’t doing anything because you weren’t born yet. Or at best, you were 9 days old. If your name is Lauryn Hill, you were being born that day. If you were a Democrat, you were a year and a half away from having a peanut farmer from Georgia elected President of the United States. If you were a Republican, you were supporting the only person in U.S.
I awoke this morning and sent a text message to a friend, and my government did not keep a record of it. This is a small taste of what freedom feels like, and it is good to have it back nearly 14 years after this country’s ideals got turned upside down in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack. Kudos to Rand Paul. And Edward Snowden. Yes, things change. Things get better, and nothing bad lasts forever. That is the feeling
Stephen Curry has a legitimate chance to go down as the greatest shooter in NBA playoff history. With just two days before the Golden State-Cleveland NBA Finals finally begins, an appreciation of Curry’s shooting stroke — and the changing landscape of how offenses emphasize the three — point to Curry having a chance to at least be part of an elite playoff performance list. The 27-year-old MVP ideally will be playing in many more postseasons over the course of his career and should be
As we count down to the start of NBA Finals, there are plenty of things to focus on: LeBron James building his legacy (he is no Jerry West), the battle of rookie head coaches Steve Kerr and David Blatt, the experience issue when it comes to having played in monster games before, be they NBA playoff games or FIBA tournaments (don’t forget that Steph Curry and Klay Thompson were members of Team USA last summer). But remember something that coaches always
See that guy? That white silhouette inside the red and blue? That’s Jerry West. He’s the NBA logo and has been since 1969, when he was still playing. Jerry West’s nickname was “Mr. Clutch.” Former Boston Celtics radio announcer Johnny Most, who disliked every player not wearing green and white, used to call him “Gentleman Jerry.” To my knowledge, Jerry West and Julius Erving are the only visiting players who ever received polite applause upon entering the lion’s den known as Boston
Rule of thumb: Don’t bet against LeBron James. Yes, the Golden State Warriors have three players who can defend him: Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala. Yes, the Golden State Warriors have the reigning MVP in Stephen Curry. Yes, the Warriors are healthier. Yes, the Warriors have home court advantage, having lost only three times all season at Oracle Arena. But does anybody out there really want to state that Stephen Curry is a better all-around player than LeBron James? Does anybody out there have
For the fifth straight year, LeBron James is going to the NBA Finals. How do his numbers stack up this season versus the past four seasons? It’s quite interesting. James is deserving of all the praise he’s getting after becoming the first player to reach five consecutive NBA Finals since the dynastic Boston Celtics of decades ago. James has been asked to do more for the Cleveland Cavaliers on offense than even in his early-career Cavs days, and it’s taken a toll