NBA Finals Preview: King James’ G.O.A.T. status is bigger than his finals record
What will they say about LeBron James in two weeks?
Will they discount his greatness because of the soon-to-be 3-6 record in the NBA Finals?
Will they call for G.O.A.T. status to remain far from his resume?
Will they continue to ignore perspective?
The James haters? Absolutely. The soon-to-be 3-6 finals record is their Excalibur, and they wield it as often as possible when the James-Michael Jordan-Kobe Bryant debate comes up.
A debate that realistically ends very quickly. Jordan: The greatest single-minded scorer the game has ever seen. Kobe: The greatest Jordan wanna-be the game has ever seen. But James, well, simply the greatest all-around basketball player the game has ever seen.
Unfortunately, as we are all about to bear witness once again, all-around greatness doesn’t always result in titles.
Far too often it covers up mediocrity and lifts it to a place it would have never touched. It allows a “Boobie’’ Gibson, a Matthew Dellavedova, and now a Jeff Green, to shine on a stage that they simply don’t belong. Jordan wasn’t taking bum teams to the Finals, and certainly not with “Boobie’’ Gibson as his Robin.
All-around greatness cripples organizations – including its own. When James left Cleveland for Miami post “The Decision’’ the Cavs went from a 61-win team to a 19-win team. When Jordan mysteriously stepped away from the NBA to pursue baseball after the 1992-93 season, the Bulls went from a 57-win team to a 55-win team.
All-around greatness reshapes the league on a yearly basis.
James has single-handedly taken the souls of organizations like the Bulls, the Pacers, the Celtics and the Raptors, forcing coaches to be fired and roster plans to be blown up.
Meanwhile, in the wake of James, it forced a 73-win regular-season team from the year before to beg the world’s second-best player in Kevin Durant to join it just to slay the King.
James’ own greatness has given birth to a Golden State dynasty that may go down as one of the historically best teams of all time.
So a soon-to-be 3-6 record? That’s not how James should be fairly judged. Unfortunately, that’s the only weapon his critics have left to use these days.
BY THE NUMBERS
5 – The number of game-winning postseason shots James has hit in his career, compared to the four combined by Jordan (three) and Bryant (one). Who’s not clutch?
20.1 – The average playoff scoring difference between James (34 points per game) and the next highest on his team (Kevin Love’s 13.9).
25.6 – The average number of assists per game the Warriors have registered throughout these playoffs, compared to 18.8 for Cleveland.
THE STARTERS
Cleveland: George Hill, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson
The status of Love (concussion) is still in the air, but it sounds like he will play. That’s not necessarily a good thing, considering how inconsistent he remains in postseason play.
Golden State: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney
Curry, Durant and Thompson are yet to all shine at once in these playoffs, but they don’t need to. No NBA team in history has had this kind of firepower from long-range.
EDGE: Warriors
THE BENCH
EDGE: Warriors – Even without Andre Iguodala, the Warriors can cause fits for the opposition with their bench depth. Watch Shaun Livingston, who always seems to have big moments against Cleveland.
THE COACHES
EDGE: Warriors – Steve Kerr gets far too much credit for operating this offense, while Ty Lue likely doesn’t get enough for what he’s done, but give Kerr the nod because of experience on this stage.
PREDICTION: Warriors in five.