With the Warriors and Cleveland meeting for a third straight June, when will we finally see two new teams on pro basketball's biggest stage?
If you want to find the last NBA Finals that didn't involve LeBron James? 2010. If you want to know the last time Cleveland and Golden State did not meet for the ultimate prize, it was 2014 (LeBron played and lost against San Antonio). For the past three seasons, the champion from both conferences has been rather predictable. Cleveland has rolled to its third straight finals this year with virtually no competition, and Golden State has proven to be the top team in the land, going 67-15 and winning its first 13 games of this year's playoffs. Am I tired of seeing Golden State/Cleveland? No. I am actually excited to see KD/LeBron II and Cavaliers/Warriors III, but please let this be the last time.
While I am all for great competition, already knowing what is going to happen while you're sitting around in January watching a game takes the excitement out of the rest of the year. Okay, the Spurs may have stood a shot against Golden State with healthy Kawhi, but are we really sure? Even if the Spurs win that game in a blowout how do we know Golden State doesn't take offense to it and rattle off four blowouts in a row. Golden State has been favored by record margins in Las Vegas all postseason, and it's easy to see why. Cleveland hasn't been too shabby either, losing a single game en route to a 12-1 record in the 2017 Eastern Conference Playoffs.
So what does this do to the other teams? You can make the argument that only two teams are on Tier 1 (possibly three with the Spurs), so what's to get excited about with a Boston/Washington game seven? There wasn't a single team in the East with a prayer of beating Cleveland, not even Boston. The Celtics won one game because LeBron let his foot off of the gas. The internet lost its collective minds, the Cavaliers won two more lopsided games, and here we are. The top teams in each conference are head and shoulders above the rest. Some argue this needs to be stopped, but will it?
Even next season, what team will emerge as 2017-18's Boston? A team that gets the #1 seed in the East, and looks really impressive, then sees LeBron in May and gets run off of the court. Many have tried, many have failed. LeBron James has only been the #1 seed in the East twice from 2011-2017, and every single year it has appeared to make no difference. And speaking of the imbalance in the West, who is actually talented or well rounded enough to beat the Warriors in a seven game series within the next three years? Lowry? Will Kyle Lowry really be the differenc maker in getting San Antonio over that hill? I'm sorry, but as long as the death lineup of Curry, Thompson, Green, and Durant is around, nobody will beat the Warriors in a best-of-seven. Let's say for a second hypothetically that Lowry joins the Spurs. Now you have a talented Point Guard to go along with an aging Gasol and Lamarcus Aldridge inside? Lowry, Danny Green, Kawhi, an aging Gasol, and Aldridge? With a 97 year old Tony Parker coming off of the bench and Ginobli riding to the bus on the senior center shuttle? No thank you. Golden State is too good, and regardless of where Kawhi's powers make take San Antonio as indicated by regular season/early playoff success the next few seasons, they still won't be good enough to take down Dub Nation.
And who in the East is supposed to be LeBron's competition? Oh yeah I forgot, Gordon Hayward is expected to come to Boston and be the missing piece. While the possibility of Thomas, Hayward, Bradley, and Horford playing on the same floor excites me, they're still a whole level below the team in Ohio.Mark my words: LeBron will win the Eastern Conference for at least the next three years (2018-20).
So, if you like Golden State/Cleveland, then get excited, there's more of it to come. If not, then strap in or go watch baseball because that's the way it should be for a while. Simply put, nobody will be good enough OR experienced enough to beat either of the teams mentioned in a seven game series. While teams like Boston show promise, San Antonio has shown us never to give up on them, and Houston puts up boat loads of points while being extremely dangerous, they're all on tier 2. Tier 1 is reserved for LeBron's team and the Curry/Durant mega team in the bay.
But, enjoy it. It's going to end eventually. The 80s had Bird/Magic, the 90s had Jordan's dominance, the 2000s had the Lakers' Dynasty and Spurs' steady success, and the 2010s have LeBron, Steph and Durant... that in not so many words will describe this decade of basketball years down the line. Golden State won game one, but there is a lot of basketball to be played.
