King's Court

NBA has finally become the king's court. King James is now a champion and has put an end to a burning, 2-year debate about his true worth as a basketball player. His physical tools and basketball skill-set were never in question, but fans and experts alike questioned his will to win and mental fortitude to take and make shots in the clutch. Honestly, a lot of it was wishful thinking on the part of the fans as LeBron lost their support with the "decision" and they were rooting for him to fail more than they were convinced he was a "failure". It has taken a herculean effort from LeBron to win the championship and change that perception. If you think about it, it din't take long for him to win in Miami. The heat made it to the finals in his very first year in Miami and won the championship in year 2 - pretty impressive if you ask me.

But 3 things made this a rough 2 years for LeBron. The moment the big 3 came together, anything less than a championship was not going to be enough. So a finals appearance last year did nothing for them. Secondly, when LeBron stupidly insinuated they will win "not 6, not 7", but 8 championships, he had to get started from year 1 to get anywhere close to it. So a finals loss to Dallas last year sent the league into a anti-LeBron frenzy unlike anything we have seen before. Last but not the least, LeBron was tentative and ineffective at crucial times last season raising all kinds of question about his toughness. But year 2 changed everything. The guy had a phenomenal regular season and backed it up with a legendary post-season. He put up some ridiculous numbers and carried the heat in these playoffs. It was not an easy playoffs by any means and LeBron stepped up several times to push them over.

Things started going LeBron's and Heat's way when he clearly established himself as the Heat's alpha-dog. DWade was the Scottie Pippen this season and that clarity unleashed LeBron in both tangible and intangible ways. The Heat coaching staff deserves some credit too since I am sure they rolled the ball LeBron's way this season during some situations where the ball would have probably gone to Wade last year. One of the funniest chants targeted at LeBron last year was when they shouted "Scottie Pippen" at his face. I was not even sure who should feel more insulted by it - LeBron or Scottie! Pippen is one of the all-time greats in this game and his name was routinely used as an insult. That tells you how talented LeBron is and how impactful Michael Jordan was as Pippen's teammate. A determined LeBron at the wheel this year was just unstoppable and the thunder and Durant had no answers for him in the finals.

LeBron is now a champion and winning shuts up a lot of people. The question now is, will the so-called haters disappear? I don't think so. They will be quiet and won't be able to trash-talk as much, but they are not going to wake up tomorrow and become LeBron fans. I am a LeBron-hater myself and I still don't want him to win any more titles with this heat team. Ironically, we became haters only because we loved his game more than LeBron himself. I wanted him to stay in Cleveland and I was convinced he could have won a championship there with any front-office with half a brain. In fact, it was LeBron who didn't think he could win in Cleveland. I had more faith in LeBron's game and his future in Cleveland than LeBron himself and I was upset at him only because he quit on the Cavs and ganged up with other stars in Miami. So how much of a hater am I? The haters are going nowhere. But the NBA should be a little concerned about some people not watching the NBA now since the biggest story in all of sports over the last 2 years is now history.

The other interesting question is, are we staring at a dynasty here?  My gut says no. I would have been more willing to bestow dynastic powers on the thunder if they had won the championship, but the heat don't look like a dynasty to me. I am not sure if this is just wishful thinking on my part, but I do feel like they had a few lucky breaks go their way in the east this season and their salary cap situation is obviously not great either. Given LeBron's immense talents and with Wade in his supporting cast, this can easily become the next dynasty, but I don't see a big gap between them and the other contenders. The thunder and even the bulls and the pacers will be chasing them with all they got, not to mention teams like the Lakers and the Spurs. Next year will be the key to see where LeBron takes them and how the thunder improve and take the next step. Also, dynasties have been hard to come by in the NBA since the days of the Spurs and the Shaq-Kobe Lakers. LeBron can change it all, but he has to show us he is a dynastic star.

Another NBA season is in the books now. It was indeed fun. The end result was what I expected and dreaded at the beginning of the season. The enduring image of this season will be LeBron's game 6 at Boston. Thats when he took the next step and eventually cemented his legacy with a finals MVP to go with his regular season MVP, first team all-NBA, and first team all-defensive awards. Great season by a great player. It took him a while to get here, but the information age and the twitter generation made it feel longer than it actually was. LeBron owns the NBA right now. He is no fluke and we may never see another LeBron in the future. It is must-see TV when an athletic freak with immense talent wins it all and claims his rightful place at the top of his sport. But MJ has set the bar so high, LeBron's chase of greatness has only started and will continue next year. Where he goes from here will be as fascinating a story as how he got here. And we will all be watching and following this journey.

For all the marbles

Sports is supposed to be unpredictable.  We love it because it's the ultimate reality show. You don't know whats coming next except that it will be something new. But an Oklahoma City Thunder V Miami Heat NBA finals does not score a lot of points for unpredictability, though it does work at every other level. NBA, more than any other league throws a predictable championship series at us more often than not. A 16 team tournament where every series is a 7-game marathon tends to promote consistency, excellence and is not very upset friendly. As much as every playoff game is fun and exciting, the better team always finds a way to win the series. Spurs surpassed the Thunder in the Western standings and became a legitimate contender during the regular season while the Celtics tried their best to derail the Heat in the playoffs, but we eventually got what we expected and wanted at the beginning of the season. This is the logical finals for this year. LeBron and Durant were 1 and 2 in the MVP voting and are going to be the stars of this generation. It's about time we got this matchup in the NBA finals.

We never got a Kobe-LeBron NBA finals - which would have killed at the box office, but it's just hard to create a cross conference rivalry. Celtics-Lakers with Bird-Magic were the exceptions, not the rule. It's far more easier to have intra-conference rivalries like Bulls-Pistons,  Pacers-Knicks or Kings-Lakers. One of my many problems with LeBron's "decision" was that he deprived us of potentially epic LeBron-Wade match-ups in the eastern playoffs. So it's great if a Durant-LeBron rivalry starts rolling right now.  Durant is in the mould of Tim Duncan a little bit and I am not sure if he is as big a draw as LeBron or Kobe, but he is definitely the second best player in this league. His team is young, athletic and well-rounded - much like himself. He is a humble superstar who has carried his team farther every year and anything less than a finals appearance would have disappointed a lot of the Thunder fans this year. Finals is where he belongs and as much as I would have loved to see the golden oldies of Spurs and Celtics go at it one last time, this is the series that has the potential to set the table for the next decade of the NBA.

The Heat were always expected to get here and even win. The Celtics gave them all they can handle but they couldn't handle LeBron. NBA needs the Heat in the finals. I don't think the league office cares who wins the finals, but the ratings will be good as long as LeBron plays the last game of the season. In fact, I would make an argument that if the NBA is just looking at future ratings, a Heat loss in the finals would be better than a Heat win. It keeps the stories and controversies going. Last year was the perfect recipe for the NBA. Heat makes it to the finals, but loses. Another 5 years of that, David Stern will be smiling his way to the bank every July. Of course LeBron will probably kill himself if that keeps happening. He will try his best to put an end to the finals losing streak tight now. He seems ready to roll and his game 6 against the Celtics shut a whole lot of people up and probably put some fear into the Thunder as well. If he recreates that even a couple of times this series, it will be over in a hurry.

LeBron will continue to be an enigma until he wins it all, but we knew that game 6 was very much in him. As a matter of fact, he showed us that side of himself way back in 2007 against Detroit as a 22 year-old when he scored his teams final 25 points. That was when we all loved the King. Along they way, he seemed to have lost more than he gained and now people question his capabilities in the clutch and call him a choker. To be fair to the critics, LeBron does disappear sometimes and one has to wonder how much of that last year was him not realizing his role in the team and wondering how he should work with Wade in the 4-Th quarter. But as this year winds down, it's becoming very clear that Wade is the second fiddle and this is LeBron's show. Coach spo will still roll the ball to Wade in the clutch once in a while, but LeBron can do whatever he wants with the ball in this finals because he has earned that status throughout these playoffs. He is an unique talent and the Heat are better if he is Batman instead of Robin.

All of this adds up to one thing - no more excuses for LeBron. The haters and doubters will always be there - may be I am one too, though I do realize and respect his immense basketball talents. But it's LeBron's job to shut us all up. He has the game, and now he has the authority and the credibility to dominate for his team and it's his job to carry Wade and Bosh to the finish line. If there is any doubt in his mind about this reality, history will repeat itself and it will be Durant lifting the trophy at his expense like Nowitzki did last year. Isn't it ironic that those 2 guys have very similar game? Nobody has LeBron's game and lets see if he maximizes it in this series. Of course, it is not all about LeBron since the Thunder are no chopped liver. They will have a big say in what happens in this series and they do have a legitimate shot at winning this. All I am saying is, LeBron can win it all and the only way he wins is if he realizes that only he can win it for the Heat. I personally don't want him to win - I would rather see Durant celebrate. But this is a golden opportunity for LeBron to seal the deal after 2 failed tries in the finals.

If LeBron lets this one slip away, his championship future is uncertain and unpredictable. It won't be as bad as losing to the Celtics but the Heat might still have to break-up the big 3. If the Thunder win, the Heat and the rest of the league are in big trouble because OKC is young and will only get better. At least the Mavs last year were old and all of us predicted accurately that they are on the way out. But this Thunder team is very different. If they win now and lock up my man James Harden and Serge Ibaka, this is a dynasty in the making. The Thunder have home court in this series and Vegas is picking them to win. They are a far more well-balanced team than the Heat, but they don't have LeBron. Plus, they are a jump shooting team. They have to minimize those 6 for 26 games that Westbrook and even Durant sometimes throw at us. The other concern with a team like this woud be that they are not ready and are just happy to be in the finals. I don't think thats the case here. Durant and his city are ready and hungry. So we should get a killer finals between a hungry Durant and a desperate LeBron. I can't wait

Oh, Thunder in 7. Thats what I want. Thats what I expect.