NBA FINALS 2016 (AKA “IT AIN’T ABOUT ME”)

[Note: If any of this writing seems a tad lesser than my norm, please forgive me. Our air-conditioning went out yesterday, for the two hottest days of the year, and my mind doesn’t work well in heat. But I’m trying.]

In the scheme of sports, and especially to Cleveland Cavaliers fans, this was the greatest series in the history of the NBA.  But I think I speak for all Warriors fans everywhere when I say I’m sick over it.

I really wish the Warriors had won their hoped-for back-to-back Championships, but it appeared that the Cavs were a team of destiny, so I’ll try to be as classy in defeat as Steph Curry and Draymond Green were.

I do recognize that last night’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals was an absolutely great game, probably one of the greatest in history, but I hated it.

But, as Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said, “It ain’t about me.”  (I should change the title of this e-zine, It’s Not About Me, to that, just for this one day.)

For what it’s worth, I did predict that the Cavs would win this year. I said it very early on in the playoffs, too. They looked unstoppable for awhile there. Then, when this Finals series was 3-1, in favor of the Warriors, I was hopeful that Golden State would take it. But when I saw LeBron’s miserable face after Game 4, I thought, “Uh-oh.” I knew he was about to really dig in. And, since the Warriors had just won three games in a row to win the series before the finals, I knew it was possible for the Cavs, too, only because of LeBron James, to do the same. And, at the beginning of Game 5, I told Mr. X I thought the Cavs would be World Champions. (I did bite my tongue right afterwards, but I guess it was too late this time.) Charles Barkley, who’s my favorite sportscaster, but always wrong in his predictions, actually called it, too. And right at the beginning of the play-offs, as I did!

Last year, I said I would be fine if the Cavs won it this year. I just wanted the Warriors to win it then, at least, especially because I disliked so many of last season’s Cavs, who displayed some criminal-esque behavior. I’ve always felt for the Cavs and their city, and I actually did want the city of Cleveland, which has always been described as having so much heartache, in general, to experience some sheer joy. So, I said back then that I wouldn’t mind them winning this year. So, being a fair person, I had to stick with that.

So, even though it’s hard for me to write this through my tears, here are some of my random thoughts on the NBA Finals this year:

–I think Draymond Green summed-up the feeling of the loss best in his press conference–it sucks!

–The NBA should not have affected the outcome of the series the way they did. I know a lot of people think the NBA Finals were rigged, and so do I, to a point. They can’t totally fix the outcomes, because the guys still have to play, but this year, I think that the league bigwigs, and the refs, did everything they could to at least give Cleveland their best chance to win. They did that for two reasons: 1) to prolong the series for monetary gain for the league, (and for the refs, to get paid for as many games as possible,) and 2) because the Cavs finally winning, since no sports team in that city had done so since 1964(!), would be the better, more dramatic story, which would bring more audience interest to the entire NBA.

How did they do that, you may ask? In two ways:

1–Draymond Green, who’s a nutty hothead to begin with, had enough “flagrant fouls” that if he was handed one more, he would, by league rules, have to be suspended for the very next game. So, in Game 4, he received a (correct) lesser call of a “technical foul,” after he and LeBron James had a confrontation, initiated by LeBron, actually. That should have been the end of it. But the next day, after the fact, the people in charge of the NBA decided to up the call to a more serious flagrant, knowing full well that Draymond, who’s considered the “heart and soul” of the Golden State Warriors, would be disqualified from playing in the next possibly-Championship-clinching Game 5. That totally messed-up the team’s chemistry, and resulted in a bad loss for his team, which meant the series would be extended, giving the Cavs more chances.

2—Then, in Game 6, where the Warriors could have still won the whole shebang, the refs kept giving League MVP, Stephen Curry, so many erroneous fouls that he fouled-out of the game, something he had not done in three years! That guy does not foul! At least three of those called fouls were imaginary, in not just my opinion, but in that of so many who also know the game. But, without first Draymond, and then their big guy, Andrew Bogut who had just suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier in the game, and now no Steph, the refs knew that the Warriors had little chance to win that game. So, that forced the Game 7 that the league and refs, and Cavs, of course, all wanted.

–And, by the way, other sports people say that “Game 7” are the two best words in sport! I, personally, hate a Game 7!!! It’s just way too much stress, especially when my team could lose.

–This is the first time the Warriors have lost three games in a row in almost three years!

–The amazing thing about this finals series is that, after Game 6, the two teams were tied in total series points!   And after all that, the Cavs won last night by just four points! I’m extra-sick over that.

–As miserable as the Warriors and I am, I think Cleveland would have felt worse had they lost again, having had their best chance.  So there’s that. It’s not much, but it’s something to make me, and those of you who are suffering as much as I am, feel a bit better.

–While I’m absolutely miserable, I so respect what LeBron James has done for his hometown. No matter what, I have to give him tons of credit. His was a scarily great performance. I feel that he, and not his team, won the Championship. They were just the lucky ones to be included in his glory. (Okay, Kyrie Irving was a big help, especially with his game-winning host last night. Ugh.)

–And I really do love that he did it for his hometown, where he grew-up, especially after that whole “taking his talents to Miami” situation. You could tell that this one means the most to LeBron of everything he’s done. (I guess Thomas Wolfe was wrong–you can go home again! And with wonderful results!)

–I still consider Michael Jordan to be the greatest layer of all time, but LeBron is a close second.

–LeBron is such a deserving MVP; he really did it almost single-handedly.

–It was so classy of the Warriors fans to stay for the Cavs trophy presentation and celebration. I could not have been more impressed with them. (But think if the Cavs fans would have stayed if it had been the other way round! That’s how it happened last year, and that assemblage could not get out of there fast enough.)  [Note: You can see some of those Warriors fans watching the presentation in the backaground of the big picture at the top.  Photo by Karen Salkin.]

–I feel awful for Anderson Varejao and Draymond Green. The latter, because I’m sure he feels responsible for the loss because had he not been suspended for Game. 5, we’re all sure the Warriors would have taken the Championship that night. And Varejao was a Cavilier for twelve years, and just got traded in the middle of this season! Here, after those dozen hard-fought years, where he never abandoned ship, he would have finally won a title, and now, when he wound-up with the team, the Warriors, with the best chance to do that, he loses to his former team. That’s making me feel the worst of anything!

–Though he won’t admit it, I think that Steph is physically not okay. I think his knee is still hurt.  On top of that, the Warriors had no center, Andrew Bogut, a major shot-blocker, for the last two and half games, and they had only a very hurt Andre Iguodala, last year’s Finals MVP.

–I just don’t want people to say that the Cavs would have won last year, too, if they had had Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, who both missed the Finals with injuries back then. I’m sure that would not have made any difference. I think it was that experience which fueled this run of theirs.

–LeBron has three beautiful, well-behaved children. I love his tiny daughter’s face!

–As sad as I am, I’m not really inconsolable. I would have felt bad for the Cavs if they lost, just not even close to as awful as I feel for the Warriors.

–At the end of the game, the Cavs really didn’t care about congrats from the Warriors; they closed ranks right away, not on purpose, but just in their joyousness.  So I give Stephen and Draymond extra credit for the classy congrats they had to fight their way over to confer.

–This amazing Finals performance by LeBron James should not, by any stretch of the imagination, negate Steph Curry’s unanimous season MVP, as some idiots think that it does.

–Cav, and NBA veteran, Richard Jefferson, said he’s retiring now. He speaks so well that I think he’ll go right into the broadcast booth, as well he should.

–To end on a happy note, I must commend sideline reporter Doris Burke. She’s the only female in that position who doesn’t make it even somewhat about herself. She just gives her concise reports on the game, and her interviews with the coaches and players are so knowledgeable that they’re great to listen to. So, big props to her!

And, as good sportsmanship dictates, I congratulate the Cleveland Cavaliers. And say–enjoy it now, because we’ll get you next year!