NBA 2018 Finals - Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors

[Belieber]

The Warriors were built off of great drafting (none of their former big 3 were top picks) and coaching. They added KD.

The LeBron-era Heat were a bunch of mercenaries that competed against each other for years and teamed up to try and take the easy way out in a weak Eastern Conference.

I felt the Heat were more obnoxious/bad for the sport because it really put the Raptors and Cavs in disarray after the departure of Bosh and James.

Which is why it’s too bad they had to get Durant, I loved GS every step of the way until that signing, I can’t stand his personality and that was the weakest easy way out move I’ve ever seen in sports. The way that team was built was amazing, watching them grow and lose together and eventually win a title together was amazing, then they bring that leech in and ruin their whole image.

 

[Cassano]

Which is why it’s too bad they had to get Durant, I loved GS every step of the way until that signing, I can’t stand his personality and that was the weakest easy way out move I’ve ever seen in sports. The way that team was built was amazing, watching them grow and lose together and eventually win a title together was amazing, then they bring that leech in and ruin their whole image.

They don't win the title most likely without KD last year. This year too tbh if we go by the early games of the Rockets series.

 

[Belieber]

They don't win the title most likely without KD last year. This year too tbh if we go by the early games of the Rockets series.

we dont know who they'd have instead of Durant with all his cap space.

 

[LaVar]

I still don't understand how people try to compare the KD to GS and LeBron to MIA moves... only similarity is they changed teams.

Not even remotely the same thing.

 

[WTFetus]

we dont know who they'd have instead of Durant with all his cap space.

HB40. So yeah, they probably don't beat the Cavs last season.

Durant may have taken an easy route by going to the Warriors, but the whole "you have to lead to the team on your own" is such an outdated, overblown adage. It's not even like he was a passenger just coming along for the ride. He was the Finals MVP.

 

[c9777666]

DID I DO THAT?



Even though Family Matters wasn't my favorite TGIF show (Step By Step, Boy Meets World)....... this is hysterical.

 

[LaVar]

HB40. So yeah, they probably don't beat the Cavs last season.

Durant may have taken an easy route by going to the Warriors, but the whole "you have to lead to the team on your own" is such an outdated, overblown adage. It's not even like he was a passenger just coming along for the ride. He was the Finals MVP.

Of course he wasn't, he's the 2nd best player in the world... but him winning Finals MVP doesn't change the fact that he joined a juggernaut.

Or the fact that the quality of teammates on GS allows for him to have the looks that he does, ultimately resulting in better numbers (and as a result the FMVP).

 

[Voight]

LeBron did it once. Miami.

Cleveland home coming was always going to happen.

It was and it wasn't. It was true that he was tired of Riley and wanted to reverse his image of a traitor, however, as I said below in Windhorst's recent book he states that LeBrons campo made it clear he would not return unless they traded for a third star. He wasn't going to come home just to play with Kyrie,

What do you mean those rosters were solid? They had Carlos Arroyo, Joel Anthony, and a washed up Mike Bibby racking up minutes. I'm solely talking about the first year in Miami.

Kyrie and Love not having winning seasons is relevant because you are comparing KD's move to GSW. Kyrie and Love = no winning season/playoff appearances. Splash brothers plus Draymond before KD = 3 winning seasons/playoff appearances and a championship. It means GSW's Big 3 had already accomplished something together before KD joined them while Kyrie and Love never experienced a winning culture until LeBron joined them. Those are facts. So stop making it look like LeBron took an easy route like KD did. THEY ARE NOT SIMILAR.
Oh, and he didn't even have Kevin Love yet when he signed back with Cleveland. They still had a raw Andrew Wiggins before they traded him.

I don't think LBJ has surpassed MJ yet but it's always entertaining to get LeBron haters like you riled up.

LeBron made trading for Love, Aldridge or Melo a condition of him returning to Cleveland.

Regardless I think its stupid for people to harp on KD. If anyone here or in the NBA had the chance to join the best team with a winning pedigree, they'd have done it too. The issue is people are so ring obsessed these days that star players feel that they need a 'chip on their resume to help their legacy. I miss the old days where players would only switch teams to win near the end of their careers, i.e Ewing, Malone, Payton.

 

[Aladyyn]

It was and it wasn't. It was true that he was tired of Riley and wanted to reverse his image of a traitor, however, as I said below in Windhorst's recent book he states that LeBrons campo made it clear he would not return unless they traded for a third star. He wasn't going to come home just to play with Kyrie,



LeBron made trading for Love, Aldridge or Melo a condition of him returning to Cleveland.

Regardless I think its stupid for people to harp on KD. If anyone here or in the NBA had the chance to join the best team with a winning pedigree, they'd have done it too. The issue is people are so ring obsessed these days that star players feel that they need a 'chip on their resume to help their legacy. I miss the old days where players would only switch teams to win near the end of their careers, i.e Ewing, Malone, Payton.

Charles Barkley

What KD did took some serious balls, and he sacrificed a lot of potential legacy to guarantee a ring. The team he joined was already historically good without him, that's what makes it different from The Decision. LeBron MADE his super team. KD just hitched his wagon to one.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

It was and it wasn't. It was true that he was tired of Riley and wanted to reverse his image of a traitor, however, as I said below in Windhorst's recent book he states that LeBrons campo made it clear he would not return unless they traded for a third star. He wasn't going to come home just to play with Kyrie,



LeBron made trading for Love, Aldridge or Melo a condition of him returning to Cleveland.

Regardless I think its stupid for people to harp on KD. If anyone here or in the NBA had the chance to join the best team with a winning pedigree, they'd have done it too. The issue is people are so ring obsessed these days that star players feel that they need a 'chip on their resume to help their legacy. I miss the old days where players would only switch teams to win near the end of their careers, i.e Ewing, Malone, Payton.

LeBron still went back there without a guaranteed trade in place. It took a while before the Love trade happened.

It's not that people harping on KD is stupid. It's that you think KD's move was similar to LeBron's The Decision and Coming Home. Nope.

 

[La Masse]

LBJ going to add another L to his finals record. Imagine how many more rings he would have if Golden State didnt have the best team of this generation

 

[Avs_19]

The is the least excited I've been about the finals in some time. I hope LeBron can pull off a miracle or at least make it somewhat competitive but I just can't see it going past five games.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

I want LeBron to win, but looking at this finals... I can only hope he can make it somewhat competitive/interesting. If he can lead the Cavs to a win... wow, but that's probably not happening.

 

[dahrougem2]

Here's a hypothetical: if the Cavs do the near-impossible and force this series to a game 7, who would you bet on?

If it came down to a one game, winner-take-all I honestly would have a hard time betting against LeBron, regardless of how good the Warriors are.

 

[InjuredChoker]

Here's a hypothetical: if the Cavs do the near-impossible and force this series to a game 7, who would you bet on?

If it came down to a one game, winner-take-all I honestly would have a hard time betting against LeBron, regardless of how good the Warriors are.

would depend on who's/has been healthy for the series ad how the games have gone.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Lebron has run the show since returning to Cleveland

He has hand picked puppet coach , He has dictated roster , etc , etc

The blame for his supporting cast situation falls 100% on Lebron

 

[dahrougem2]

LeBron deserves 100% of the blame for players/contracts like Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Dwayne Wade, etc.

However, he did not ask for Kyrie Irving to be traded. I refuse to believe he'd actually support that move.

 

[La Masse]

Here's a hypothetical: if the Cavs do the near-impossible and force this series to a game 7, who would you bet on?

If it came down to a one game, winner-take-all I honestly would have a hard time betting against LeBron, regardless of how good the Warriors are.

I would be surprised if this goes more then 5 games but you never know. I would probably pick LBJ

 

[InjuredChoker]

Lebron has run the show since returning to Cleveland

He has hand picked puppet coach , He has dictated roster , etc , etc

The blame for his supporting cast situation falls 100% on Lebron

chris grant deserves a lot of blame. he had two #1 picks (not inc. wiggins) and two #4 picks. he picked one really good player, one decent player and two busts with those picks.

 

[Voight]

LeBron still went back there without a guaranteed trade in place. It took a while before the Love trade happened.

It's not that people harping on KD is stupid. It's that you think KD's move was similar to LeBron's The Decision and Coming Home. Nope.

But James felt he'd need a big man who could shoot to help him on the Cavs. The trio of him, Wade, and Bosh, a power forward who could defend centers and open floor space by shooting from outside, had been a championship fit in Miami. James and his friends discussed who could be that player in Cleveland with him. They came up with three names: LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love, and Carmelo Anthony, who could play as a forward alongside James.

Aldridge was under contract in Portland and it wasn't clear the Cavs could trade for him. Anthony was in the process of a national free agent tour, visiting Chicago, Houston, Dallas, and Los Angeles. But James didn't think he'd leave New York, much less come to Cleveland. That brought them to Love, who was coming off his best season and was available on the trade market. And James knew the Cavs could get him. The concept had been brought up by Griffin and Gilbert. But they needed Love's support, something James thought he might be able to deliver.

Trading for Love or one of the other two was a requirement by James. They had the Love trade in the works when he signed. He wasn't joining a team unless it had two stars (or one star and a young player w/ star potential).

I think they are similar but we will have to agree to disagree as you clearly don't. Oh well.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

Trading for Love or one of the other two was a requirement by James. They had the Love trade in the works when he signed. He wasn't joining a team unless it had two stars (or one star and a young player w/ star potential).

I think they are similar but we will have to agree to disagree as you clearly don't. Oh well.

It wasn't until late August when the Love trade was finalized. So there was still no guarantee they were going to get Love when LeBron signed in July. And so what if he wanted a third star?

You think they're similar because you're desperately trying to justify Durant's move to GSW. I don't even know why a Thunder "fan" like you still defends Durant. Probably because you're not even from Oklahoma.

 

[Voight]

It wasn't until late August when the Love trade was finalized. So there was still no guarantee they were going to get Love when LeBron signed in July. And so what if he wanted a third star?

You think they're similar because you're desperately trying to justify Durant's move to GSW. I don't even know why a Thunder "fan" like you still defends Durant. Probably because you're not even from Oklahoma.

As much as I hated KD leaving I understood why he did it. If people were constantly attacking me for not having a ring, and the fans /media used it against me in legacy talks then I'd look for the best possible way to get one. That involved joining the champs from the year before, who then made the finals again. If anyone else was offered that sort of chance they would take it. Cant get mad at a guy for making the best decision for his career, even if I didn't like it.

Lebron has run the show since returning to Cleveland

He has hand picked puppet coach , He has dictated roster , etc , etc

The blame for his supporting cast situation falls 100% on Lebron

Agreed. If he hadn't pushed for Tristan Thompson to get such an enormous contract (he did so because Thompson's agent his LBJ's best friend/agent) or for them to pay JR Smith what he wanted (mind you he was still a solid shooter when they re-signed him) they would have had a lot more cap space to spend on a better roster.

LeBron deserves 100% of the blame for players/contracts like Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Dwayne Wade, etc.

However, he did not ask for Kyrie Irving to be traded. I refuse to believe he'd actually support that move.

He didn't and the Cavs should have forced Kyrie to stay. He should have stuck it out for another year and then seen what LeBron did this summer, if he denied to leave Kyrie could take the reigns of the team and if he deiced to stay he could justify his request by saying he'd never be the face of the franchise.

But instead he used his injured knee as leverage and it backfired on him.

 

[awfulwaffle]

This girl can sing.

 

[Del Preston]

Go Cavs

 

[La Masse]

I always forget how much Kevin Love sucks defensively