On July 19th 2016 LeBron James accomplished the greatest feat in NBA history, coming back from 3-1 in the NBA finals against a team that was 73-9 in the regular season (GSW). For CONTEXT Golden State loss 9 games in 8 months to the whole league, but lost 4 games in 2 weeks to….. LeBron James and the Cavaliers. In the Conference Finals Golden State came back from their own 3-1 deficit against the Oklahoma City Thunder, with KD and Russel Westbrook, who lost 3 straight close out games to finish their season. When a team is up 3-1, it means you have all the talent and coach scheming necessary to win the series, but winning the 4th game and closing out the series tests teams and players intangible qualities (play under pressure, leadership, Cahones etc.). The Finals ended on July 19th, by August 19th of 2016 “The Hampton 5” were created, which refers to the trip that Steph, Draymond , Klay and Andre Iguodala made to Hampton NY, to convince KD of joining the Golden State Warriors. Remember the points of CONTEXT, the GSWs were a 73 win team in the regular season, The GSWs won the championship in 2015 where Andre Igoudala won the FMVP, and KD was 1 game away from closing out that same 73-9 basketball team that the Cavs beat in the NBA finals. The 2014 regular season MVP was KD, the 2015 regular season MVP was Steph, the 2016 regular season MVP was also Steph. In 2017 they’re playing together for the Golden State Warriors (essentially eliminating competition and guaranteeing a championship). If at anytime in NBA history you take MVPs from consecutive years and put them on the same team with a solid supporting cast, they’re going to win the championship. If you look through history, you see it occur one other time where the 1981 MVP Julius Erving and 1982 MVP Moses Malone played together during the 1983 season for the Sixers, I bet you can guess who won the 83 Finals………..(Also considered one of the beat teams ever the 1983 76ers). All this to say, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry showed an extreme lack of heart and leadership, all intangible qualities that are necessary if you want to be considered the best. They elevated LeBron to a status that indicates to fans that they as players feel they have no chance, without egregiously tipping the scales. In my opinion they’ve removed their names from comparisons and, lifted LeBron to god status (on the court), feeling the need to do that in order to to win.
Hoop Vision 