It’s all on the table in Game 7
• It is a storyline of which wrestling scriptwriters would be proud.
LeBron James, one of the most loathed stars in all of sports for his clumsy move to Miami and for the ease and bullying style with which he dominates the game of basketball, has suddenly become to many somewhat of a sympathetic figure. Maybe not lovable, but an underdog.
Cleveland’s 52-year sporting drought has a lot to do with it, as well as the Cavaliers falling behind 2- 0 and 3-1 in the NBA Finals against a Golden State Warriors team and ownership group that has appeared a bit too cocky for the liking of many this season.
Which gets to the other stunning WWE-esque storyline: Stephen Curry, the “Baby- faced Assassin”, against the Cavs’ mega-star.
Curry’s meltdown after fouling out in Game 6 saw him chuck his mouthguard into the stands, berate a referee and angrily exit, resulting in a US$ 25,000 fine from the league on Friday. Another fine for head coach Steve Kerr, after he blasted the officials, was not a good look. Nor was Curry’s wife, Toronto- born Ayesha Curry preposterously claiming on Twitter ( before deleting the tweet) that the fix was in, meaning the NBA was doing nefarious things to force a Game 7.
Curry started the series poorly ( three games in a row below 20 points, with 15 turnovers) and that took some of the glow off him. But although he has heated up since, with a couple of spectacular scoring games, only one came in a victory (Game 4). His Cleveland counterpart Kyrie Irving has been dismantling him on the defensive side of the board.
Fans look for their generational superstars to deliver huge performances and Curry has not been doing that.
“I don’t really worry about it,’’ said Curry. “A lot of them don’t understood how I try to help my team win every single night.”
Golden State has always been regarded as more of a true team, despite Curry’s brilliance. He is the top player, but isn’t the sole reason everything works for the Warriors.
Nevertheless, much more is expected and needed from him. Curry can’t be taking bad fouls at the biggest moments, just as Kyle Lowry couldn’t afford to do that with the Toronto Raptors. He can’t let Irving continue to torch him and he must be more aggressive, while reining in the number of extralong three- pointers he at- tempts. Early on, those shots might make sense in order to keep the defence off balance later, but he should be looking for better attempts as the game goes on, even if he won’t be goaded into a 1-on-1 battle with Irving.
“You kind of get a little edge about you trying to go back at them, but you’ve got to do it within the system of our offence and how we go about things and not get the temptation to abandon that just to get into the little backand-forth, one-on-one,” Curry said.
“I want to honestly play better and more consistent, but the situation is right now we’re one game away from winning a second championship, and I personally have 48 minutes to do what I need to do to help my team win.”
Meanwhile, James has far surpassed his one-man show last year against the Warriors with much more efficient and devastating play this time around. With his legacy on the line, James, whom the Cavs revolve around, delivered two near-perfect outings in Games 5 and 6, scoring 41 points in each.
“I just go out and play. I don’t know what happens in elimination games,” said James, the all- time leading scorer in knockout games.
“I understand the magnitude of it, but it doesn’t bother me too much. Just go out and play. I know how much I put into the game. I know how true I am to the game. I know how much work that I put into the game when no cameras are around and things of that nature. So I’m able to try to just bottle that and live with the results. I mean, it’s not always been great, but I guess the last few games, elimination games, it’s been pretty good.”
Ironically, to get back to this level, James has had to go against his nature. He had to embrace being the villain, something he doesn’t like. James hated being put in that position after “The Decision” to sign with Miami and was bothered the vast majority of fans wanted his Heat teams to lose because he had stacked the deck and abandoned his home state.
He much prefers being an adored superstar, but when the Warriors went up in the series and the Cavs looked down and out, James essentially decided, “Why not?”
Fully embracing the wrestling angle, he put on an Undertaker shirt at practice and made Cleveland wear its black, sleeved jerseys for the Game 5 win. Booed at every turn in Oakland, James thrived. Then, he came out to that popular grappler’s theme music for Game 6 and delivered once more, even spiking a couple of shots – including one by Curry – in spectacular fashion.
James will get another rude reception on Sunday, but is looking forward to it.
“I’m going to sleep very well,” he said after Game 6.