OAKLAND — It was all right there for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Fourth quarter. Tie score. Twenty-four seconds on the clock. The Cavaliers had the ball and a gift-wrapped chance to steal Game 1 of the NBA Finals on the road. And they had James, of course, the greatest force in the game, one who already had went off for 42 points, the most he had ever scored in a Finals game. The consensus was that James and the underdog
Four-time MVP LeBron James going up against this year’s MVP Stephen Curry. That’s what everyone has been waiting to see for the past week or so, and the two superstars did not disappoint as Game 1 of the NBA Finals between Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday more than lived up to the hype. James looked invincible at times, scoring 44 points on 18-of-38 shooting from the field to go with eight rebounds and six assists. Curry went on an
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
It would be fitting if the man who helped lead the Sacramento Kings during their most prosperous years could help guide them back after a decade of mediocre irrelevance. You may recognize Vlade Divac’s smooth European voice from your Waze navigation system, but most know Divac— aside from being traded for Kobe Bryant— for being the center of the turn-of-the-millenium Kings team that nearly reached the NBA Finals and turned Arco Arena into the loudest building in sports. With a new arena