Before moving on to the 2017-18 NBA season and the upcoming NBA Draft, I feel the need to look back on the 2017 NBA Finals and address the Golden State Warriors' 4-1 series win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. When breaking down this series, there's a lot of angles that one can look at. There's the angle of Kevin Durant and what winning a championship does to his legacy; there's LeBron James and what going 3-5 in the NBA Finals does to his legacy; there's the Golden State Warriors and whether or not they can be stopped; and there's also the question of whether or not it's good to have two super teams in the NBA with one super team crushing the other in the championship round. I will address each of these angles below.
First, in regards to Kevin Durant, I honestly don't know how to view him. On the one hand, he had a phenomenal series, averaging 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game. He was the no-brainer MVP and delivered the goods on the game's biggest stage. On the flip side, he joined a team that went 73-9 the year before and was a virtual lock to reach the NBA Finals. While he does now have a championship ring, I can't help but feel as though he went the easy route and didn't want to have to go through the gauntlet that other legends of the game have gone through.
As for LeBron James, he once again had an incredible series, averaging 33.6 points, 12.0 rebounds, 10.0 assists, en route to a triple-double average. Averaging a triple-double in the NBA Finals is the stuff of legends. Michael Jordan never did it, Magic Johnson never did it, as a matter of fact, nobody ever did it until LeBron James did it this year. The eye-popping statistics that LeBron James has had in the NBA Finals over the years puts him in the discussing for greatest of all time and yet with a losing record in the NBA Finals I don't know if I can call him the greatest to ever play.
I want to keep in mind that Jordan never faced a team as stacked as the Warriors and that basketball at the end of the day is a team sport where teams and not individuals win championships. That said, 3-5 in the NBA Finals isn't good enough and if James wants us to be compare him to Jordan when it is all said and done, he's probably going to have to win at least a couple more titles.
When looking at the Golden State Warriors, there's no denying how impressive they are. Two titles in three seasons and with their core appearing to remain in tact for the foreseeable future, there's no reason to pick against them next year or the year after. The Warriors are forming a dynasty in the Bay Area and might go down as the most dominant force the NBA has ever seen. Michael Jordan is hands down the greatest player of all-time according to most people who follow the game, but the Warriors as a collective entity are giving the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls a run for their money as the greatest dynasty ever.
Lastly, when looking at the NBA at large, it's hard to argue that having two super teams dominate the league is a good thing. In the West we have the Warriors and in the East we have the Cavaliers. Two teams that appear to be unstoppable. While the NBA Finals shapes up to be epic drama, the rest of the playoffs are a snooze fest since we all know who is going to come out of each conference. The lack of parity and competition in the NBA is a problem and it needs to be addressed.
The easiest solution is for the NBA to play fewer playoff games and make it more likely for upsets to happen. Going back to a best-of-five first round would be a great place to start. Also, a 66 game regular season stretched out over the same length of time as an 82 game season would reduce injuries and allow more teams to be at full strength in the playoffs. The current model of the league isn't working if they want to have a season with more parity and uncertainty.
Overall, I enjoyed the 2016-17 NBA season, but I would have liked for there to be more drama along the way. The loss of Kawhi Leonard in the playoffs hurt and robbed us of a much more competitive conference finals. While the NBA features the best athletes in the world and basketball at its very best, so long as only two teams remain contenders for the title, it's hard to convince fans of the other 28 teams to get excited about the upcoming season. That's a problem and I hope things change so that more fans can get excited about their team's chances.
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