I Have Made Peace With LeBron James
He’s crushed my team too many times for me to ever LIKE him, but this year I want him to win the Finals
Last year, for the second time in a row, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers swept my beloved Atlanta Hawks out of the playoffs. This series wasn’t quite as lopsided as it looked — Atlanta was a few mistakes away from winning BOTH games three and four — but that ultimately doesn’t matter: a a sweep is a sweep. And the 2016 edition wasn’t nearly as crippling or heartbreaking as the 60-win, best season in franchise history, Hawks team that fell in a conference finals demolition.
Stuck behind the crippling humiliation of these playoff defeats, I cultivated a strong dislike for the Cleveland Cavaliers (and, to an extent, James as well). Fans of various sports teams often band together to dislike the elite franchises (such as the New York Yankees or New England Patriots), and I expect that fans of the Bulls, Celtics (or any other good team in the East from the last five years) feels similarly.
This year though, for the first time in a while, I want James to win the Finals. I pulled for Golden State in 2015 and 2016 (as a mostly-impartial observer, I’ll never jump on that bandwagon), and those series provided memorable moments. But this year, the arrogance of the Warriors, the truly insane accomplishments of James, and (maybe most importantly), that fact that Atlanta and Cleveland didn’t meet in the playoffs have all combined to make me want to see a Cavaliers victory.
Let’s start with the arrogance of the Warriors. I never cared for Cleveland’s blatant disrespect for its opponents in the 2016 playoffs, but Golden State is taking this to another level. Take, for example, this quote from owner Joe Lacob:
Yes, from a pure talent perspective, the Warriors were better than the Cavs last season. But during those seven games? Absolutely not. Sure, Stephen Curry’s injury is notable, but injuries are a variable that every team has to expect and accept. And Draymond Green’s behavior that led to a suspension? That’s something that a “better” team should be able to avoid. Cleveland earned the right to unambiguously call itself “the better team” when it won the NBA Finals, and an unhappy owner doesn’t change that.
It may be unfair to cheer against a team because of arrogance from an owner, and it isn’t Curry’s fault, or Kevin Durant’s fault, that Lacob made these comments. But sports is a highly subjective medium, and Lacob’s comments are hardly the first thing about Golden State that have rubbed me the wrong way. Zaza Pachulia ruined what could have been a great series with a highly irresponsible play, and Green isn’t exactly the most likable person in the world.
I should clarify that I mean no actual disrespect to the Warriors staff, ownership, or players. I like to separate sports from the “real world” as much as I can, and every ounce of criticism in this post is meant to apply purely in a basketball sense.
I also have an ever-growing respect for James and the Cavaliers. The 3–1 lead jokes are always fun, but they obscure the level of difficulty in the feat that Cleveland pulled off. To win three games in a row (two of them on the road) is nearly impossible, even with a limited Curry and an absent Green for one contest. And to play this well during his age-32 season is one of the most impressive athletic achievements I’ve ever seen. Cleveland has destroyed every criticism of the team’s subpar 2016–17 regular season with this playoff run, and their victories have been nothing short of impressive.
And now, Cleveland is a sizable underdog in its next challenge. Golden State has a notable talent edge on them, and provide some of the worst possible matchups for key players like Kevin Love. The presence of James makes this a competitive series, and there’s little doubt that the Cavaliers as a team have improved from last year. But the Warriors added Kevin Durant, and it’s hard to think of a good counter to that simple fact. Cleveland won’t overcome another 3–1 deficit in this series if it comes to that, but they’re staring down an opponent who already has a real edge.
And for me, I view this series with a mix of anticipation and disappointment. The NBA Playoffs this year have bene excruciatingly boring, and I opted to simply just not watch several games this week because of the lack of drama. I’m in a small minority of basketball fans that DIDN’T want this rematch, and I genuinely hoped the Spurs would do the impossible and topple Golden State.
But here we are, and this year, I’m pulling for LeBron James. I never hated him as much as some people did, and the main reason I wanted the Warriors to win the last two seasons was out of a sense of revenge for the pain my Hawks suffered. But I would be foolish to not appreciate James’ greatness or legacy, and I’m hoping he can beat the Warriors. I’ll never jump on any team’s bandwagon, and I hope that someone can topple the Cavs next season (but please, anyone else but the Celtics).
I’m not really a “fan” of LeBron James, but I’ve made peace with these last two playoffs. And for now, I’m ready to see a good Finals.
