Is repeat in cards for Curry & Co.?
No easy feat for Warriors to repeat as champions
The sky finally fell on Atlas — in this case LeBron James. Like the mythological titan, James had shouldered as much weight as he possibly could in carrying/ lifting/ scoring/ rebounding/ assisting the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals.
And after the Warriors, the league’s most complete allaround team eliminated James and the Cavs, 10597, in Game 6 Tuesday in Cleveland, James was asked about next year.
“I haven’t thought about next season at all,” James said.
Well, somebody has. Within hours, oddsmakers in Las Vegas established the Cavs as 3/ 1 favorites to win the 2016 title with Golden State second at 5/ 1.
Guess Las Vegas knows howhard it is to repeat.
Consider the Spurs, considered by many the dominant team of the past 15 years, despite the Lakers’ threepeat and later repeat. The Spurs haven’t won backtoback titles, about the only thing they haven’t accomplished during their dynastic run.
The Warriors, who claimed the franchise’s first title in 40 years, offensively and defensively showed smallball can win. But they did it with sacrifice. The Numbers “bit was more than just a slogan to sell Tshirts.
“We’ll appreciate that whole journey a lot more now,” said regularseason MVP Stephen Curry. “We definitely are a great team, and a team that should go down in history as one of the best teams from top to bottom.”
Next year, they’ll presumably return the key pieces. Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes are signed. Draymond Green is a restricted free agent. Everyone will want him but the Warriors can match. Yeah, sure, they’ll let him walk out the door — right behind the Easter bunny. David Lee likely will be gone via trade for luxurytax considerations.
“We feel like we’re a great basketball club,” said Green who saved his tripledouble best ( 16 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) for last. “Now that’s been proven.”
The Warriors had no NBA Finals experience on the roster before their run. No experience. But lots of sacrifice.
“Iwas aware of the versatility the roster had, but as I got to knowthe players I realized they had what it took spiritually, emotionally,” said coach Steve Kerr.
They won by doing for each other. Iguodala, the Finals MVP, started every game of his NBA life until this season when he didn’t start until the Finals. Lee went to the bench as Barnes became a starter. In the Finals, Green moved to center as Andrew Bogut sat to accommodate Iguodala.
“Andre’s sacrifice, David Lee’s sacrifice, their willingness to accept roles and keep pushing, really, was the key to the whole thing,” Kerr said.
About the only disagreement came when Thompson proclaimed Curry “the best player in theworld.” The man generally regarded to hold that title, James, could only think what might have been had Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving not been lost to postseason injuries, along with inseason casualty Anderson Varejao.
“We ran out of talent,” James said. “We gave everything we had. The guys played as hard as they could as long aswe could.”
James acknowledged the crippling aspects of the injuries, noting, “I don’t even know if it’s ever happened, for a team to lose two AllStars and still be able to make it to the Finals.”
So it was decidedly bittersweet for James, the first player ever to average 35105 in the Finals when he finishedwith stunning numbers of 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists.
“I always look at it, ‘ Would I rather not make the playoffs or lose in the Finals?’ I don’t know. I’ve missed the playoffs twice. I lost in the Finals four times. I’m almost starting to be like, ‘ I’d rather not even make the playoffs than to lose in the Finals.’ It would hurt a lot easier if I just didn’t make the playoffs.
“But then I look back in and I start thinking about how fun it is to compete during the playoffs and the first round, the second round, Eastern Conference Finals. If I’m lucky enough to get here again, it will be fun.”