As my name suggest, I am a big Kyrie fan. And seeing how he and Lebron (read: GOAT) put the team on their backs for game 5, wanted to get a consensus on their chances for game 7...
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i didn't see the game but i just heard about this, HILARIOUS
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZKAyDB8EgKg
ps Warriors close it out in game 6
GS shot 33% overall, something like 2 of 15 from 3 in the second half. Draymond Green didn't play and he's the heart and soul of that team. Harrison Barnes isn't going to shoot 15% again. Steph isn't going to continue missing open 3s. Kyrie Irving isn't going to keep making 70% of his shots. I watched the game with someone from Cleveland who loves the Cavs and even he was saying how horrible and one sided the refs were.
Jeff Van Gundy said that the only way that Cleveland could win game 5 was if Kyrie had a career game. Kyrie ended up having that game but I would almost be willing to wager that it won't happen again.
Barring GS not being able to buy a basket and Cleveland shooting over 50% as a team again, Golden State will win the series in game 6. Sorry, game five was a fluke.
That was actually a really good game to watch. Not sure why Lebron isn't as aggressive all the time, it's not like anyone can stop him. I think Cleveland has a good chance at winning Game 6, especially because I think they are playing in Cleveland again. The NBA also has an inherent interest in having a Game 7, so I assume that the referees will do their part to have Cleveland win. When it comes to Game 7, Golden State will win, simply because they play incredibly well at home and even if they are on the brink of defeat, the story of having the best record in history and then winning the NBA Championship in 7 games with Curry getting MVP is simply too marketable to pass up.
Completely agree that a Game 7 is so lucrative financially for the league that referees may be encouraged to call the game favorably for CLE
So you're changing your tune all of a sudden?
LeBron is neck and neck with JJ Watt for biggest tool in pro sports
Yeah, he's a total mongoloid, but it's LeBron's passive aggressive nature that bothers me
.
OP, do you hail from the Mistake on the Lake?
Ive always been a Kyrie fan and respected Lebron, glad he decided to come back to CLE
Hoping they trade Love for Melo and we win next year as well but more definitively
Sooo... is that a yes?
Why would you care about the Cavaliers otherwise?
Ya, because Melo is the missing piece.
Carmelo Anthony is a scrub.
Cleveland won't shoot 57% again (or whatever it turned out) and GS won't shoot 35% again and 2-for-22(ish) on the 3 in the second half. Expect regression to the mean and GS will win Game 6. LeFraud got his wish by baiting a guy into a suspension with the step-over teabag move (and a flick in the lower buttocks is not a flagrant, but it is what it is), but GS will wrap it up Thursday.
Oh, and chances of Cleveland winning this series... 40% chance to win game 6 and 20% of winning game 7, so I'd peg it at around 10%.
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-nba-picks/?ex_cid=rrpromo
59% to win Game 6 20% to win Series
59% is way too high. GS went 34-7 on the road this year. Not even the Spurs should have odds better than about 50/50.
Placed a bet yesterday morning on GS at the moneyline (+125). Did the same for game 4 @ +120.
And I hate how there's three days between games. Get this season over with.
I don't think Lebron and Kyrie are going to be able to replicate that performance two more nights in a row so money is definitely on the Warriors. Green's absence is definitely being understated as he is the defensive anchor of that team and also sets great or illegal screens depending on what you want to call them, to free up curry and Thompson. Big difference with Green setting those screens compared to the bench bigs is that Green can quickly cut to the rim following the screen and finish or make a play for someone else if he receives the rock, which forces Cleveland to hedge less on the shooters coming off of those screens. If you look at the numbers Curry actually shoots like 10 percentage points or something ridiculous higher with Green on the floor. Bogut being out hurts but nowhere close to the degree of no Draymond.
As for Lebron, I think a lot of the people screaming overrated say so with the assumption that people rate lebron as an automatic top 5 all time player already or possibly the GOAT. He's the best play of this generation but he has zero claim to the GOAT status.
He's also very hate-able for many reasons. His game is ugly if your someone who appreciates footwork, shot-making, and elusiveness. He relies on the refs and complains more than any other player in the league despite getting calls that nobody else would get. He yells at teammates after he makes mistakes as to make it look like it was their fault. He flops and claims to never flop. He says things like "I've been taking the high road for the last 13 years" when really he's done things like tell the public they all have to go back to their shitty lives, as a defense after losing an NBA finals. He quit on his team in an NBA finals. He leaves Miami for Cleveland to make a better big 3 and then when they start losing in the finals everyone screams he has no help. Meanwhile, he chose his teammates, chose his coach, and calls the plays. I think the medias love affair with him and how they always try to make excuses for him when things go wrong play into the hatred for him too, whether that's fair or not.
With all that I don't like the guy but he's definitely the best player of our generation. But I don't think he's top 5 all time yet and I don't think he will ever get close to being in the conversation for GOAT. So whether he's overrated or not really just stems from where we think people rate him, which is where I think a lot of the confusion and arguing comes from.
Someone plz talk NBA with me while I wait for this turn.
Depends what you mean by "this generation". If you're talking 2010s, absolutely. If it's the 2000s, I'd put Kobe, shaq, and duncan ahead of him. Although a 2-5 record will sting if they lose, I have to give lebron props for making it to the big game 6 years in a row. Albeit with a cherry-picked team.
This is going to game 7. CLE bench players are going to show up at home. It is going to be an interesting final game. I am rooting for the Cavs but the GSW seriously deserve it more.
I am in shock at just how bad Love is playing this series. If I was from CLE, I would be more pissed at him than I would be at Sasha Vujajic (or whatever) as a Laker fan back in the days.
So much hate for LeBron. He never proclaimed himself as the chosen one - it was the media when he was still in high school. If anything, he did indeed live up to the hype of being an absolute legend starting with his first game in Cleveland. You can hardly blame anybody for not living up to Jordan's standards - nobody can make that bet and expect to win it given how much of a long-shot that is.
Every year we have rookies come into the league and them being proclaimed the next LBJ / Durant / Kobe - this leads to so many busts in the eyes of the media. Not LBJ though, the standards to which he's held to is just insane. Admittedly, he doesn't seem to be able to completely take over games during the fourth quarter on a consistent basis. Tends to shy away more often than he should...
Also, to the MJ fans who think LBJ is arrogant, you should really look back at MJ's interviews - he's an absolute dick in that regard - #1 by a mile in NBA history.
Personally rooting for the Cavs simply because I don't want to see LeBron get handed his 5th NBA finals loss. As much as the Cavs team seems stacked on paper, it is undermanned / poor in comparison to the insanely well-balanced GSW team. Last game was absolutely horrible even though they won - required elite performance from the two superstars whilst getting zero contribution from the bench and GSW missing wide open shots. The Cavs will need to step it up a notch in Game 6, but they do have home court advantage going for them and they definitely have the ability to beat GSW at home as evidenced by Game 3. They have the tools and let's just hope Curry continues his horrible finals series performance - he's not even top 3 in terms of finals MVP race right now.
Unbelievably crooked officiating. Unreal. NBA pads it revenues by forcing a game 7 -- i.e., biggest grossing event in its history.
How was it rigged? GSW got outplayed these last two games, that's all there is to it. When you get blown out, you get blow out. Take the L.
You're biased for Clev based on your post so of course you don't see it... I'm a Lakers fan and hate the Warriors and even I'll admit that game was total bullshit. Curry was about to make it a 6pt game or something with his perfectly CLEAN steal. The result? Foul... He had three fouls and they call six? What a joke.
Worst game I've EVER seen officiated. Twitter is blowing up about it. This game would have been within a few points. And again I hate the Warriors.
As predicted - hope you guys put money on it too
I regret putting money on that game. I'm still up for the playoffs and this series but there was clearly an agenda being worked out in that game. Three of those fouls on Curry were absolute bullshit. And why did they all come when the Warriors were working their way back into it? Kerr sitting Curry prematurely was probably a bad decision regardless as it allowed Cleveland's league to balloon to 20+.
This is probably the most marketable NBA Finals the league has ever had and the most marketable it'll ever have in a while, if ever. You have a 73-win team on one side and the most polarizing athlete in the history of pro sports on the other side. Too much revenue/profit and bonus money at stake.
Will double down on GS winning this next game. Considering there is no Game 8 to be had I think things will be judged more evenly. If the shooting percentages are about even GS should win by 15+ due to the superiority of their perimeter shooting.
Kevin Love and Harrison Barnes have been absolute non-factors this series. Barnes is getting wide-open looks and is missing everything (had 0 points last night). Kevin Love is too much of a defensive liability to leave in while Curry and Thompson are on the floor.
One thing Kerr needs to resort to is fouling Tristan Thompson when the Warriors are in the penalty. Take a scrub off the bench or someone who is at low probability of fouling out (Barbosa, Speights, Rush) and just foul Thompson every possession and force Lue to make a switch. Let him clunk half his free throws and the Warriors will produce at better than 1-pt/possession. Also, the Warriors will get more possessions during the game using this strategy. If you're one of the best offenses (if not the best) ever, getting as many possessions as possible is a huge advantage. A LeFraud + Irving offense gives GS no real issues. Klay Thompson on his own does a pretty good job of making Irving look average. Green + Iguodala do a fine job of making James look average. It's the alley oops and passes toward the basket to Thompson -- both the threat and in and of themselves -- that have allowed Cleveland's offense to click.
Bogut was a huge loss both in rim protection and rebounding. I don't think it would be out of the question to start Ezeli then make the switch to Iguodala four minutes in.
RIGGED
Of course it's rigged. The NBA has been crooked for years. Half the fouls on Curry were BS. His clean steal. The charge on James. No contact on the final one. Totally one-sided game officiating wise. This game would have been within a few points.
It's a business decision. Money talks. Warriors wrap up in game 7.
They went down 20 in the first quarter and officiating didn't cause that
http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-kerr-rips-officials-after-game-6-2…
"Let me be clear. We did not lose because of the officiating. They totally outplayed us. Cleveland deserved to win. But those three, three of the six fouls, were incredibly inappropriate calls for anybody, much less the MVP of the league." -Kerr
He was trying not to get fined and to show a bit of grace. Unfortunately, telling it like it is comes with a $25k fine. On top of that, there are parts of his team's game he is clearly not happy with. A week ago, GS had won 7 straight over Cleveland, with 6 being blow-outs. This is a team they should've put to bed in 5.
Kerr's worst decision was to sit Curry in the latter part of the 4th. It allowed Cleveland's lead to get up to 20+ and every time they were threatening to make it a two-possession game later on it got political. And with the knickknack fouls, they can no longer be as aggressive as they need to be on defense and it gets them out of rhythm.
I heard Van Gundy and Jackson criticizing Curry on his defense last night. But when you have 4 or 5 fouls in the third quarter, what do you expect? Then he makes a clean steal to get it to two possessions -- asinine foul. Then LeFraud flops into Curry later in the 4th to get him fouled out then points at him to ensure the ref gives him a technical and throw him out.
The NBA got their wish and they'll have fatter bonuses to enjoy because of it. Warriors will wrap up on Sunday now that the forces should be back in their control.
"He was trying not to get fined and to show a bit of grace. Unfortunately, telling it like it is comes with a $25k fine."
He is going to get fined for what he said, might as well have gone all in if that was the case.
"And with the knickknack fouls, they can no longer be as aggressive as they need to be on defense and it gets them out of rhythm."
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/06/kevin-love-third-foul-cavaliers-warrior…
Kevin Love got 3 fouls in 3 minutes, his 3rd being the worst call of the night - "knickknack" fouls were called on both ends.
"Then LeFraud flops into Curry later in the 4th to get him fouled out then points at him to ensure the ref gives him a technical and throw him out."
Curry clearly grabs his wrist and Lebron gestures after Curry hits a fan with his mouthpiece. All this talk about Lebrons attitude, this guy cursed out the ref and wouldnt even leave the court promptly and pointed to his opponents before doing so. Plus Klay left the game early like a sore loser. This Warriors hype has you left you all blind.
"The NBA got their wish and they'll have fatter bonuses to enjoy because of it."
Game isnt rigged, take the L
Why don't you guys think the refs will rig Game 7 for the cavs? Would make for a great story with the 3-1 comeback and bringing Cleveland a title etc.
the nba isn't rigged, in my humble opinion
ps I still think the Warriors win the series, but game 7 is going to go down as one of the greatest in history
GS 55% and CLE 45%, the chances of winning Game 7. I don't care for either team, but it'll be a heck of a story for both in the end.
I loathe the fact that my Lakers' fall from grace after 2010, can't wait to see what's in store for 2016-17 season.
It is and it has been. Read up on Tim Donaghy, both his own criminal escapades and the influence of the NBA league office on the officiating.
Because the refs don't rig games. Period.
Now sure if this is sarcasm, but the NBA has had a history of crooked officiating. One guy even did elongated prison time. Wherever there's money, there's corruption.
Trust me, it has been before. Tim Donaghy said that the NBA gave the 2006 Finals to the Heat. The Mavs were about to be up 3-0, which everyone knows is the kiss of death, and then Dwayne Wade starts going off plus getting every call. He ended up getting 18 free throws and the Mavs lost by 2. And then in game 5, he got the same amount of free throws, 25, as the entire Mavs team and a few less than the Mavs in game 6 when he only had 21 attempts. Any game that was close and Wade got literally every call. The one game he didn't get every call, the Heat actually won by 24. They won by one possession in the other three.
What incentive does the NBA have to rig it for Cleveland now that it's to a Game 7? There's obviously a lot of money to be made by extending out your landmark event, but the league should theoretically be agnostic to the outcome of a winner-take-all game. Why would they give a shit about Cleveland unless it makes them more revenue in some fashion?
I don't know how valid any of these are, but I can think of some reasons why the NBA would prefer a Cavs win: More LBJ & Cleveland merchandise purchases (LBJ has a greater fanbase than Curry, esp in China), Space Jam 2 hype (starring Lebron), and overall media exposure due to the historic 3-1 comeback. The narrative of Lebron coming back to Cleveland, overcoming the 3-1 deficit, and finally bringing home a championship to his home city is a compelling one that people are going to be talking about for years.
To whoever responded to my message saying that I don't see the bogus officiating because I'm a Cavs fan. Well, the bumping into Curry play was an obvious blocking foul, the swipe (6th foul) was a foul, the refs simply called it ultra late or part of the second contact (which wasn't a foul), the three point contact no call was also correct, he simply slightly put his leg out - good no call. The strip was clean, but he got called for the foul - happens to everyone. The calls against Love were silly, especially the one where Green was going to the basket and there was ZERO contact.
In short, it's not one-sided at all - some unfortunate calls on Curry, but he was silly with most of his fouls anyway - the MVP has to be smarter than to grab Tristan Thompson or try to swipe the ball in the back court from Lebron after a defensive rebound...
With regards to Draymond's suspension - long overdue, should've been suspended in the OKC series and GSW wouldn't even be in the finals this year... Everybody seems to be on the GSW bandwagon this year, judging by the MS thrown around.
"With regards to Draymond's suspension - long overdue, should've been suspended in the OKC series and GSW wouldn't even be in the finals this year..."
This is a really stupid argument as the Adams groin thing happened in Game 3. The Warriors lost Game 4 (the supposed game he would've been suspended) but you've conveniently (or maybe purposefully) forgotten this. Green's technical foul history is due to the fact that openly bitches to the refs about calls that he disagrees with.
LeBitch simply wanted to bait a guy one flagrant away from a suspension by doing the teabag stepover, and lobbied the league after Green's bogus "retaliation" flick to his ass by portraying it as a groin shot (didn't even come near the front of his body). LePrick knew he was getting his ass kicked, was playing lousy, Green was owning him defensively the entire game, and needed all the help he could get, so he made a calculated tactic that paid off. Nobody wants another guy's groin on his head/face as part of a taunt. Supremely disrespectful, but of course zero punishment/fine/suspension for the most insecure prima donna in sports.
Unfortunately this isn't hockey, so they could settle it on the court and simply take a five-minute penalty each and move on. This is why you don't have these passive aggressive bullshit tactics -- that LePrick is famous for -- in hockey. It's largely a self-policed game.
I didn't see Curry shooting some line of bullshit about he's this "family man" when the press inquired about LeBitch running his mouth on the court. Or how he took the "high road" by placing his nether region on top of another guy's head via disrespecting his opponent with a stepover. (Curry and LePrick secretly hate each other, for the record, mainly because LeFraud is jealous of Curry's newfound success. No love lost between those two.)
Haha, many names for LBJ, from Lebum, Lebitch, and Lefraud. Being booed that's his game, taking titles that's his name.
Regardless of the outcome of game 7, LeBron deserves Finals MVP. I honestly hate the guy, but he's been playing lights out.
And before two games ago, the talk was about how worthless his jump shot is and how inefficiently he scores. Then he gets Draymond suspended and benefits from corrupt officiating the next game and everyone is on his nuts again.
LeBron used to be known as LeChoke before he won his first title. I would say he's doing very well in these finals. Some of the assists were amazing in game 6.
However, I have no idea why, but I absolutely hate Stephen Curry. I guess partially because he has a extraordinarily punchable face (especially when he has that mouth guard half sticking out of his mouth), partially because his name is pronounced Steffen when it's a common name pronounced a different way (it would be like me saying my name is pronounced "duck"), partially that he just strikes me as a little bitch, and partially because I would like the Bulls to continue to have the best season of all time. If GSW loses, the Bulls still have the best season of all time.
I put the GSW odds of winning at 70% tomorrow, but am definitely rooting against them.
Why so many MS? GS is a bullshit team, and always will be. So fucking sick of bandwagon fans
Loved Ron Artest posting a video telling the world how the NBA isn't rigged. Go Metta!
Anyway, any bets on who's gonna be finals MVP?
Klay Thompson. Through 2 games I would've said Iguodala for the second year in a row but he's been hampered hasn't had the offense to put himself in contention. Unless Curry has a hell of a game Thompson will win.
Curry would be more marketable and everyone seems to love him nowadays. It's like Steve Nash back in the days.
I think officiating will determine who wins tonight. Not by rigging but the style the officials bring. Golden state relies on a system offense with a ton of movement and off ball cutting whereas Cleveland is basically just running isos and simple spread pick and rolls. Game 5 and 6 Cleveland adjusted their defense by essentially just starting to grab shirts and getting into guys jerseys. Refs let them play through it and you see GS struggling to score because they aren't getting the same looks due to this. Clevelands style of play is nowhere near as impacted by the little shirt pulling and handsy defense. Steve Kerr wasn't just on a mindless tirade when he was complaining about refs after the game knowing he was going to get fined. He's trying to put pressure on the refs to start calling all these fouls that were called all year long in the regular season. First 5 minutes of tonight are going to be so crucial and set the pace for the whole game officiating wise and I really think that will determine who wins this. 1-1 of finals between warriors and lebron would be great for the nba for everyone on the conspiracies, but I don't think any rigging is going to take place.
I stopped reading at GOAT.
Lebron is the best player in the league today and probably the most physically gifted NBA player in history. Having said that, he's not top 5 GOAT yet due to his failure to close the deal in several NBA finals. Of course, on one hand, Lebron's Cavs team before he left for Miami was pathetic, with the 2nd best player usually being Mo Williams. But with the Heat, he went 2 for 2, including an embarrassing performance against the Mavericks in 2011 when he basically called it a night. Lebron doesn't possess the obsessive competitive drive of Jordan.
Tonight's game is HUGE for Lebron's legacy. If the Cavs beat the 73-9 Warriors in their home stadium, Lebron will go down as the savior of Cleveland and his name will start being thrown around with the likes of Jordan, Chamberlain, Magic, Bird, Russell. If the Cavs lose, however, the storyline will be that Cleveland just can't win a championship, that Lebron once again failed to deliver.
Not sure that it will put him on the same level as those guys but nice summary of the overall situation.
Anyone heard he's leaving Cleveland again once he wins on ring with them?
"lecock", "lebitch" & "lefraud". What did this guy ever do to y'all? just don't understand the hate. Imagine the reaction if lebron had thrown a tantrum after fouling out, hit a fan with his mouthpiece and his wife called out the league..
Dude, relax, I don't care that you hate him. The point is that he is a great player, and this has been a good finals. His numbers the last two games are amazing, love him or hate him you have to give props for his performance. You can hate the guy, but still admit that 41pts, 3 3s, 8 RBS, 11 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks, and including assists having 27 consecutive points is amazing.
I just don't see the warriors losing at home. This is the deciding game and given the home court advantage the steph and klay will definitely bring the chip home.
Please take a moment to admire the great LeFraud for the special talent he is. It never gets old looking at Queen LeBitch's history. So many accomplishments Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan will never achieve:
This is literally the type of shit that gets spammed in facebook comments. What is wrong with you?
Only issue is that it's 100% true...
Sadly for lecock, that list had 19 points and 19 facts. Biggest tool in NBA history.
Welp, LeBron just won his third title, the first ever after a 3-1 deficit, and brought a championship to Cleveland for the first time in 50+ years. Yeah, he's pretty good at basketball.
Being from the Bay, definitely disappointed, but from years of losing in the late 2000's I'm not as sad as I thought I would be. Oh well, respect to Lebron and Kyrie, until next year...
They could have played better down the stretch in g7, but game 5 and game 6 were really out of their control.
Shame the series had to be decided by the ridiculous suspension for a minor ass swat and officiating in game 5 and especially game 6. Thought game 7 was fairer and the NBA seemed to be agnostic to the outcome but still slightly favored CLE but not nearly as bad.
And yeah, I think GS is still clearly the favorites for next season if there aren't any huge power moves. Durant going to SA would make the Spurs the favorites, but if he stays in OKC or even goes to GS then the Dubs are the favorites (and huge favorites if he goes there).
But yeah, sucks for GS. Royal screw job like the '06 Finals. Huge shame that this entire season has to be branded with an * but it is what it is.
That off-balance 3-point dagger by Uncle Drew in Curry's grill was fantastic. I'm gonna be replaying that on YouTube for the next month. Major props to Kyrie, especially since I was shitting on him in another thread for being a huge iso-ball pain in the ass. He roundly outplayed the reigning MVP the entire series. Congrats, Cleveland.
Curry's hurt (not an excuse). He'll probably have off-season knee surgery depending on if there is structural damage to his MCL. He also has bursitis in his shoulder. You can say Curry sucks or whatever, but he is clearly the league MVP and came off probably the best season ever.
I didn't say Curry sucks and I know he's hurt. He dropped out of the Olympics this summer because of the wear and tear on his body. In fact, I have a lot of respect for him for toughing it out and playing through it all, but he still got outplayed by Kyrie. Blame it on the injuries all you want, but that opens the door for the whole "what if K-Love and Kyrie were both healthy last year" argument. LeBron basically won 2 games single-handedly in last year's Finals. Never mind Love, if LeBron had Irving at the very least, I would have to think that series would have gone 7 games and maybe Cleveland would have been playing for back-to-back titles this year.
And I agree that Curry had the best season ever statistically. He led the league in scoring and did it playing the lowest minutes per game of any scoring leader ever. He hit 400+ 3-pointers in a season and the 2nd highest total isn't even above 300. He did it scoring efficiently and joined the 50-40-90 club. That's great and all, but I'm sure Curry would trade all that for a 2nd ring.
Bogut has to feel like shit right now too. That's another thing that cost them a title. Liked the idea to start Ezeli but he isn't Bogut.
My boy Kyrie came through in the clutch with the timely buckets and LBJ handled his usual business to bring one home.
I am glad I created this thread - nice to hear all these haters doubters and skeptics opinions and see the final result. You all made this win feel that much better.
Till next year.
As I said in the OP, LBJ = GOAT
Nice game and good to see Lebron pulling it together. Let's see if he sticks around or takes his talents to south beach again.
http://www.espn.co.uk/nba/story/_/id/16162870/2016-17-nba-offseason-fre…
Interesting piece about the upcoming free agency
About time Cleveland got their championship. Very happy for them. I'm still amazed people are crying over the officiating. The officiating was fine throughout the series - stop nit-picking on several plays. If I wanted to I could easily find plenty of plays that were nonsense and went in GSW's favor, but I have better things to do and that's simply basketball. And honestly, there's just no excuse, when you lose from being up 3-1 in the series, you only have yourself to blame, same goes for OKC for not closing out GSW.
This series could've easily ended in 5 and then everybody would be saying Curry is an absolute God, but reality is - he was horrible throughout most of the series anyway. Greatest shooter of all time, but he has quite a bit of climbing to do in order to even approach LBJ's legendary status. The fact that he didn't even finals MVP last year only proves that even more.
The officiating was bad in game 5 and atrocious in game 6. When the officiating dominates the sports airwaves for three days, there's an issue. I remember the infamous 2006 Finals, and it was about that bad.
Curry was not very good and wouldn't have won Finals MVP anyway, but the fact that he still had two games of 30+ despite all the things wrong with his body (sprained ankle, sprained MCL (and possible structural damage), and a medical issue with his shooting shoulder) I don't think he played that poorly all things considered. As for why he didn't get Finals MVP last year, he still averaged 26.5 points in the series (IIRC), so it's not like he didn't show up. It's just that Iguodala had a few game stretch with great offense and brilliant defense on a tough matchup. If the series had ended in 5, Iguodala's name would have been up there again.
Those who say he sucks may have a point by his standards if we're talking most of the playoffs, but he just had possibly the greatest season of all time. 30/6/5 + 50% from the field has only been done by one other player in NBA history (Jordan). If you extend that to his 50/45/90 accomplishment (never been done -- Bird, Nash, and Kerr are the only ones to do 50/40/90) and 400+ 3's, he didn't do half-bad. If GS lands Durant, which I think they have a strong chance of doing if he's interested in giving himself the best shot of winning a title, they have a chance to even improve beyond their 73-9 record this season.
well that was fun to watch, glad to see cleveland win one. i've been watching lebron's final block on replay over and over, such an athletic play, unbelievable.
ps forgot to mention, i bet $100 back in February that the Cavs would be beat the Warriors in the finals.... just waiting up my money :-D
So what happens now with Kevin Love? He's been such a disappointment for Cleveland and if the Cavs would have lost he would have been jettisoned almost immediately...but he did just win a title and played some lockdown D. This will be interesting.
I like to think of LBJ's monster block at the end as symbolic of him silencing the haters with this finals performance.
People are still attempting to discredit Lebron despite the following:
-First player to ever lead both teams in Points, Assists, Rebounds, Steals, and Blocks during the finals -Coming behind from a 3-1 deficit playing against one of the best teams ever seen in the history of the NBA -Bringing a championship back to Cleveland despite all the constant, senseless hate -Back to back 41 point games -Win Game 5 and 7 on the road to a team that only recorded 2 home losses during regular season
Hate Lebron all you want. Call him arrogant, cocky, crybaby, Lebitch, Lechoke, or whatever you see fit. But, at the end of the day, you cannot tell me or anyone that his 3 championships are the result of the NBA being rigged.
Now......in regards to people claiming RIGGED:
-People claiming Warriors never get FTs: that's because they statistically shoot more 3's than driving to paint -People claiming a game 5 fix: Green was set to be suspended after kicking players in the nuts countless times, and simply being unsportsmanlike throughout the entire playoffs, let alone regular season. -Bad calls and no calls for warriors: How about we talk about the bad calls not in the Cavs favor? Iggy's clear foul on LeBron's layup? Green supposedly getting fouled on 3-pointer with literally no contact from Lebron which changed the entire game? How about the illegal screens set countless times for Klay or Curry to have an open look?
Ultimately, at the end of the day, everyone takes what Lebron James does for granted. He absolutely DOMINATED this series, and gave all he could to make sure the Cavs got out of the 3-1 deficit. MVP Steph Curry did NOT play MVP basketball.
Anyone, and I mean ANYONE, trying discredit Lebron or the Cavs for what happened this series is simply a fool who can't stand to see Lebron for what he is, that being an all time great. I do not agree with OP of Lebron being the GOAT, but with this win, he is most certainly a top 5 player of all time.
I give up. Abisto and SF_G are just delusional haters of LeBron. You guys expend way too much energy trying to discredit a guy who clearly is the best active player and has been one for the better part of the last decade plus.
I think we're just like many who can't stand his grating personality and phony insecure antics. There's a reason why LeBitch has an image issue yet Durant, Davis, George, Paul, and many many others do their thing, don't blatantly disrespect their opponents, don't bitch to and try to influence the refs non-stop, flop continually (did you see LeFraud's massive "fake fractured wrist" flop at the end of the game to try and get a flagrant out of the refs?? LOL! -- Or in the Finals last year when he flopped 15 feet out of bounds and, in karmic fashion, cut his head on a TV camera?).
Basically my respect for LeFraud went to zero when he lost in the 2011 Finals after averaging 1.8 points in the 4th and told everyone who didn't want the Heat to win that they can all go back to their sad lives. I also didn't care for his arrogant TV special but the "you can all go back to your sad lives now" is what made me and many others lose all respect. I just can't hold a guy like that in high regard regardless of how fast or strong he is. When you say shit like that he deserves all the hate directed back to him. He's not very well liked for a reason.
And for those who think he's the best active player in the league, you clearly missed the regular season. Pre-injury Curry was head and shoulders above the rest of the league. He probably had the best season of all time and was rewarded accordingly with the first unanimous MVP vote. Amazing that he averaged mid-20's a game with the damage to his body.
Curry had more turnovers than assists in the finals. There is only one king.
one of the best games I've seen in this era of basketball. for those of you who are upset about the loss and now hating on lebron, attacking a player after he wins the way they did is a bit lame. be a good sport, everybody loses, and I think you should deal with defeat like russell wilson instead of like a toddler who just got put in timeout. GS is still arguably the best team in the league, you're entitled to be upset, but the outcome will not change, so be an adult about it. it's sports.
fact is: GS had 3 games to end the series and got beat. up until the end of game 5, there was little disagreement that GS is the best team in the NBA.
I think the only thing I'm upset about is Dustin Johnson's superb performance all week will be completely (and justifiably) overshadowed by Cleveland's win.
this would be an interesting poll: what other big city will break its pro sports championship drought next? SD? Buffalo? Milwaukee (not counting GB Packers)? Houston?
The Rockets won in the mid '90's, which is a pretty long time ago, but pretty damn far from 50 years.
yeah, I was looking at various lists and no one comes close to cleveland's, milwaukee would be the only one but many people include green bay in that, even though they're not exactly a suburb of milwaukee.
part of me wonders if Buffalo will EVER win.
Also Minneapolis. They have teams in all four major sports; three have never won anything and a fourth hasn't won anything in 25+ years.
It's tough for those cities to win because not a lot of players want to go there. Bay Area has had a ton of success this decade. Within the past three years, all 4 major sports have had teams been to finals at the very least and is probably the most successful sports region in the country at the moment. New York obviously does well, as does LA and Boston. Those cities are successfully economically and naturally do well with their sports teams as well.
I have to say yesterday's game 7 was an excellent showing by Lebron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, and Iman Shumpert with mixed bad plays from both sides. The performance that put up by Lebron was something to think about in regards to his game and legacy; I am not talking about his personality and image, because quite frankly we watch basketball for entertainment, not crucify a man who we don't even know in person, let alone overshadowing his overall talent (albeit he seriously needs to work on his jumpshot or post fadeaways) at what he can do to lead ANY team to the Finals (come to the Lakers, haha) and give them a best shot in winning a title.
As mentioned by DickFuld, I believe butthurttedness is something we can all expect as fans of sports; even for me, when my Patriots got their asses-handed by the NY Giants a couple Superbowls ago, but they ended beating the Seahawks for a Superbowl, then got their asses-handed again just this past AFC championship game, sports is cyclical. If people were expecting the Golden State Warriors to win back to back or three-peat, then there wouldn't be a betting line in Vegas, nor there would even be a Eastern Conference Champion on the other side in the NBA Finals. Regarding to other claims about sports officiating being fraudulent, it's just hard to say whether people are clean or corrupted; and yes, Tim "muthafuking" Donaghy, just because it has happened before in the NBA does not mean it has happened in these Finals, we may as well put asterisks to all the Finals Champions in these prior years from 2007 ("muthafukin" got arrested) to now.
Denver Broncos - Nah, game was rigged, they wanted Manning to have the last Hooah Pittsburgh Penguins - Nah, it was rigged too Cleveland Cavaliers - Nah, SIMPLY flat-out rigged, and, oh yeah FUK Lebron and his personality
To be cleared, all games are either clean or rigged; one could say their respective associations wanted more TV revenue and merchandise royalties by manipulating the game for the team with the JUICIEST story to win have no grounds to make that claim, if you do have legitimate insider information about corruption in these sports, I would be gladly to read this.
TLDR: Good Job Cavs; Lebron needs work; Personality problems? Do we even know him? Really?; Not all game is rigged, we are just butthurt about losing; "muthafuking" have problems, don't be like "muthafuking"
SF_G the excuses flowing out of you are tremendous, especially considering the environment in which GS won their 'ship last year. Also, Iguodala was healthy in game 7, dude was flying around on both D and offense. Green played 6 games, GSW lost three of them. Everyone is dinged up at this point of the year, the excuses for Curry are part of the hero worship associated with him. Honestly, I didn't like Lebron due to the premature coronation when he came into the league, but the coronation is no longer premature, he is executing and living up to the hype more than almost any athlete in sports history. Just let him live.
Cleveland believes they had a legitimate reason to believe the lost last season despite being inferior in essentially every metric of the game playing against a 67-win team with the best offense and defense in the league. If people want to play that game I can fire back a much longer laundry list regarding the issues GS faced in this series -- not only with their own physical issues, but with the treatment they were getting from the league.
SF_G dude, his defensive rating is overrated because he almost never guards the best wing player (like CP3, a true defensive PG would) because they have Thompson do it, they literally try and hide him on the offensively weakest SFs/Guards the opposition throws out there, him being victimized by both Irving and Westbrook is evidence of this. 11th in the league in assists is good, but GS whips the ball around so much and has such great shooters that does not mean he is a great ball distributor. I am not trying to make an excuse for the Cavs, injuries happen, but you are the one attempting to make an excuse for GS when they had their three best players on the court for 6 games, the Cavs did not have that luxury last year, attempting to argue Irving/Love missing the whole finals was some kind of net positive is completely ridiculous. Curry is not better than LBJ, he is not better than Durant, he is not better than a healthy Anthony Davis. Fivethirtyeight had the Warriors as 78% favorites to win the 'Ship, LBJ has not seen such long odds since he lost against SA with the Cavs, LBJ has been the favorite (according to 538's model) three times in 7 finals appearances (Heat back-to-back and Mavs loss). He has faced series where (according to 538) he had a THIRTEEN Percent chance of winning (again that 1st Cavs finals), by comparison MJ was the underdog (according to 538) once and he had a 45% chance of winning. His accomplishments are astounding. Accept that. Additionally, you bringing in efficiency ratings from the regular season is laughable, it is obvious a lot of top teams basically just chill in the regular season. You know who had great metrics this season? The 73 win warriors, they just lost. Using efficiency to justify the GSW win last year and ignoring that the Cavs were missing 2/3 of their best players is just a farce dude, plain and simple. There is no way you are going to convince me that GSW faced that level of setback this yr, no one thinking logically can believe that.
He typically guards opposing PG's, but look, the NBA isn't this game anymore where you pick your man and shadow him the entire game. Doesn't work like that. Switches occur constantly. He's not a top-notch defender, but he's not lifeless on that end of the floor either. He's definitely above average in that department for a PG. There is no such thing as a perfect player. Never has been and never will be. Even Jordan had his flaws. If you had to start a franchise with one player, Anthony Davis is the obvious choice. But the NBA is also more of a guard's league than it was even ten years ago.
I didn't say Irving is a net negative. Love, probably, especially when sharing the floor with Irving due to the defensive liability.
And for the record, you realize that Cleveland won a measly 53 games last season in an awful Eastern Conference with both of those players on the floor, right? What justification is there to suggest that Cleveland was a better team than 67-win GS who ranked 1st in both offense and defense? Literally zero. They would have been a 7th or 8th seed and maybe a 50-win team had they played in the West last season.
If the Kansas City Chiefs lose to the Denver Broncos and the former happened to be missing their starting RB and WR, is that a legitimate excuse to believe Kansas City would have won? It's a huge stretch that no rational individual would buy. If Denver had lost to KC with injury issues or phantom calls and whatnot, sure, there might be a point. When a mediocre or barely above average team blames a loss to a very good team on injury issues, it's extremely sketchy, even if the final score might have been by only 10 points in the end.
Who's the passive aggressive POS currently throwing all the MS?
Congratulations to your 2016 NBA Champions... The NBA Officials!!!!
Most rigged finals since 2006. Thought it was funny over the weekend Wade writing a post on instagram trying to make excuses for all the BS calls he got during those finals. Nobody respects that title.
Durant is going to the GSW btw... no way that team loses more than 6-7 games.
SF_G so let me get this straight, Curry is the best player in the NBA and the only reason they didn't win the 'ship was due to his injury, Green's suspension, Iggy's injury, and the refs having it out against them? What a load of BS. LeBron is the best player in the NBA and I'm amazed at how disillusioned you are to argue against that after what he just did to your boy Steph. LeBron led the finals in all 5 categories and overcame a 3-1 deficit, both have NEVER been done before. Also LeBron has now been to 6 straight finals, and NEVER missed a playoff game; Steph missed 6 games in the playoffs, this year alone. So while Curry's injury was unfortunate or unlucky or whatever you want to call it (I might say he's injury prone or made of glass and LeBron is an ironman who has kept his body in peak physical condition for over 13 seasons all while playing more minutes than anyone in the league) the fact of the matter is LeBron didn't get injured.. It's pretty hard to be the best player in the NBA when you're watching from the bench. Also Green's suspension while unfortunate it came in the finals, it should have happened the round before after blatantly kicking Steven Adam's in the nuts. I mean 3 plus nut shots in one postseason, really Draymond?
Yes, the officials blatantly had it out against them in game 6 far beyond what you'd naturally expect for a road game. Game 5's officiating was also ludicrous as was Green's suspension. Basically a repeat of the infamous 2006 Finals. A minor flick to the back of a guy's behind after getting taunted and arrogantly disrespected is not suspension worthy. It's what you would do to an annoying mosquito. I didn't expect a suspension after game 3 of the Western Conf Finals, but if there was it was a game GS lost anyway. Lbj talked with NBA league officials after the game and without question was lying out of his ass over what happened to get the suspension he baited Green into. Throwing a player down and then stepping over them, putting your crotch in his face, and then taunting him is far more suspension worthy. Curry was injured, as was Bogut (top defensive center in the league). Curry IS the best player in the league, especially from a technical skill standpoint. He had the mvp award wrapped up by the All-Star break as no one else was even remotely in the ballpark. It was like Jordan's stats in his top seasons + 50/45/90 and over 400 3s on top of that. But no he could not be the best player in that series. He wasn't even close to being one of the Warriors best players but what do you expect? If it's the regular season and you aren't in danger of missing the playoffs you would just have him sit. A lot of insiders think Durant is leaning toward GSW. If he wants to win a title it's his best shot. I've already put $5,000 on GSW to win the title next year (was lucky enough to get 2-1 odds) and I'm a Lakers fan (who blow so next season is a waste anyway). If Durant joins, they're probably better than even money to win it all. I'd probably handicap the odds at 55% GSW / 30% OKC / 15% other. Even without Durant they're still easily the best team in the league. Their main weakness is offensive rebounding. Its one area where okc had their number. But okc is the best in the league at o-reb's anyway
Sure keep blaming the refs, but don't acknowledge the fact that the Warriors got more then their fair share of help from the refs all season long. Literally watch any regular season game and you will see a minimum of 1 moving screen by the warriors on every single possession, but that's besides the point. Green did NOT get suspended for flicking LeBron's sack, he got suspended for his ACCUMULATION of flagrant foul points. It was not that one incident but rather a repeated pattern of behavior of touching other players genitals!! That's not ok, man. No doubt Curry is the best shooter in the league and had the best shooting season of all time, those are facts. He did have the MVP wrapped up, but that's another argument (he should have won the best player on best team award, Lilliard was by far the most valuable this season). If he couldn't even be the best player on his own team in the finals then how could he be the best in the NBA? Oh because he was injured AGAIN.. as I said previously LeBron has played more minutes in his career, the playoffs, and the finals than Steph and he was still in good enough physical condition in his 13th season in the league to lead EVERY player in the FINALS in EVERY major stat. That has NEVER been done in ANY playoff series. Btw, I don't see KD going there. He was just 1 win away from beating them, and probably earning his first ring, just a couple weeks ago. I bet he wants his rematch and extra $$ he can get by staying home.
Question: If you're so convinced the game is rigged, why are you making another bet this year? Are you taking the stance that the league will have to rig the game for GSW to even things out?
The turning point of the series was the Draymond suspension. LeBitch is thinking, "Hmmm... we're getting our asses kicked again, about to lose 8 out of the past 9 to these guys, 7 by blowouts, how I can help this sorry ass team...? I know! Draymond only needs one more flagrant and he'll get suspended if I piss him off bad enough. I get away with travels, throwing shoulders, elbows, forearms into my opponent, I can do anything and avoid punishment."
So he goes up to him once the game is lost and they're down 3-1, throws him to the floor and follows up by stepping over him (huge sign of disrespect) and placing his groin right by his head. Green gives some bogus retaliatory swat -- not even anywhere remotely near his nuts (unless they apparently believe LeFraud's nuts hang out of his asshole) -- LeBitch keeps talking shit to try and provoke more of a retaliatory response out of Draymond. Draymond backs away and says nothing. After the game, NBA talks with LeBitch, he without a doubt gives a pathetically false story about what happened and they suck up to him and decide to suspend Draymond. What about the guy who threw him to the floor, or the guy who disrespected and taunted him, placed his groin in his face to bait a suspension? Everybody knows what was up with LeFraud's bullshit tactics. He should have been suspended with that shit job. But he managed to pull it off because of his clout. Plus the NBA had incentive to push it to game 6 and 7 rather than end it in 5. The series was basically a one-sided embarrassment for the NBA til that point.
The NBA officiating was just atrocious in games 5 and 6. GS's backcourt was held constantly, half of Curry's fouls in game 6 were bullshit, whistles came out in full force every time GS built momentum and were within 2-3 possessions. Officiating was better in game 7 (though still slightly favored CLE), and Bogut's injury was likely the deciding factor.
Stephen Curry is the best player in the NBA. A Curry with a sprained ankle, sprained MCL, and injury to his shooting shoulder is not. And yeah, part of it is because he's only 180 lbs. He needs to crank up the HGH. But some of it falls under the heading of shit happens. Not his fault a wet spot on the court wasn't cleaned up on the court.
If Durant chooses to leave OKC it won't be to the Knicks, Lakers, or (I don't think) the Spurs. Where would KD play on San Antonio? At SG? They already have Leonard and Aldridge and a crappy backcourt. Good bench.
OKC would still be notably weaker next season than GS (they were 18 games worse this season and 3-7 against them). They did make a good trade today by getting rid of Ibaka for Oladipo (big improvement over Roberson) and Sabonis as a developmental prospect at PF (aka Ibaka replacement, lol).
But Durant going to GS would all but ensure another GS title assuming nothing weird happens with injuries, underperformance, ref bullshit, etc. They're already the favorites to win it without him. If he goes to the Knicks, maybe they make it to the finals with Prozingis-Carmelo-himself-(whoever)-Rose, but that team would get rolled by GS/Spurs. It boils down to how bad does he want to win a title? If he asks that question honestly, it's clearly Golden State.
Idk why people are replying to GS fanboys saying these finals were "rigged". It is pretty simple. If they were rigged then I have to call into question all championships, including Golden State's, because if the NBA did it once who's to say they don't do it all the time. If they are not rigged (newsflash: they aren't) then the Cavs beat them. It really is a no-win situation for GS fanboys.
Alright guys. The NBA is not rigged, ok? People win and they lose. The NBA is not rigged. The refs made bad calls and yes, sometimes, the refs are very, very shitty. But the NBA is not rigged, there are great games. You have a chance to win, you gotta win. You don't win, you lose, you go home and you deal with it. Everybody saying the NBA is rigged, gotta stop it. IT IS NOT RIGGED. #RonArtestVoice #VoiceOfReason
Agreed, especially on the part of the GS trolls complaining about the officiating. But I will say I think the NBA does some under the table shady stuff, including occasionally rigging the lottery.. The Cavs 3 #1's in 4 years, the first ever lottery pick that went to the Knicks, and the back to back #1's that the Magic got. As far as under the table shady stuff, I'm fully convinced David Stern asked MJ to step away from the game due to his gambling problem
The 2006 Finals are well-known as being rigged. Referees have bet on games, including one who is very prominent and outspoken. The NBA has been implicated in a lot of under-the-table bullshit over the years. Wherever there's money there's corruption or at least the threat of it.
Even if the argument is that the refs are doing an impossible job and simply screw up a lot, it's still not excusable. The NBA is trying to emphasize transparency with their "last two minutes reports," but what good do those do after the game is over? Look at San Antonio getting blatantly screwed in Game 2 of the West semis... just atrocious. It's something that could have cost them the series -- especially with Game 7 at home. The NBA genuinely needs to look into adding a fourth official for next season. I wish for playoff games they (or ideally a neutral actor) would do 48 minute reports... it would be a joke.
I'm shocked this thread is still going on. get the fuck over it everyone.
SF_G you seem to be a bit of a troll but I'll entertain you. What does the NBA gain by rigging games (or draft lotteries)? Why would owners cooperate and cover up said rigging? Why would the NBA risk a billion dollar entity to help any individual team win?
Essentially, what are the incentives to do this? More money? The NBA is making money hand over fist and if there is any concrete proof of rigging that money-train will definitely come to a stop. To help individual teams? Why would other owners give a fk about helping other individual teams? To help individual players?? I guarantee NBA owners give no fks about Lebron/Curry except to the extent that they bring in $$$ for the league. This conspiuracy theory shit is just so absurd. There is literally no logical reason the NBA would rig games and the cover-up necessary to do it successfully would be far reaching.... as for your repeated statements on "Curry being the best player"... that is laughable and I won't entertain it further. Lebron "throwing shoulders" James has 4 MVPs, 4 finals MVPs, three championships, and led every major statistical category en route to beating a 73-win team. Just stop. Lol "fake title", the Warriors did not score for the final four minutes in game 7... at home... and you blame the refs? You're a tool. I am sure it was the NBA's rigging/the refs fault when Lebron wiped Iguodala's fastbreak layup off the glass like it was a bad stain.
Nobody is saying the "money train will definitely come to a stop." Each additional game earns the NBA millions upon millions in extra revenue. I'd argue that the NBA this season came close to rivaling the NFL in popularity, even though revenue-wise it's still behind the NFL and MLB. This year's GSW team for obvious reasons was the biggest cash cow the NBA has ever had. People haven't paid attention to the NBA like they have this season since 1998. On the other side, you have a team with a half-century plus dry spell along with the most polarizing player in pro sports. Getting the series to seven games brought in tens of millions of extra revenue. Adam Silver and company are compensated based on the bottom-line figure. Looking back to game 5 and 6, either the officials are atrocious or something less innocuous is going on. It was the prominent storyline about the series for five days.
If you think the NBA is only a "billion dollar entity" I've got news for you. Its past scandals have never really hurt the league. The 2006 Finals were a minor blip. Donaghy was a minor blip. David Stern was never even interrogated or under any type of official criminal investigation. Look at all the bribery, corruption, and match-fixing in FIFA. No "cover up" required. Cameroon/Croatia in the 2014 WC was simply a matter of a high-roller promising a portion of his winnings to a few colluding players on Cameroon, who had already been eliminated. But never in a million years will FIFA's actions ever diminish the popularity of soccer. MLB also recovered perfectly fine from its various scandals.
How long have you followed the NBA? Are you even aware of its history of shady practices? Does the name Tim Donaghy ring a bell? Why would the owners have any foresight?
Curry arguably had the best season in NBA history. You obviously missed the regular season (and last season) and don't watch and have likely never played basketball.
SF_G I guarantee you that if there is concrete proof of match fixing in the NBA the money train will come to a stop. You did a good job of not answering my question regarding incentives, and why the other owners would cooperate. The additional revenue they earn from stadium tickets etc. pales in comparison to the TV money, the finals contract is fixed and does not depend on amt of games played. FIFA is a different animal as it is more a govt body than it is a league, many executives are not that highly paid by their respective countries which brings incentive to accept bribes, NBA executives/owners do not have that issue, they are already multibillionaires/ millionaires it would be a bigger story if it came out that the Premier league is fixed. Also there was no allegation of widespread match fixing by FIFA, just accepting bribes for World Cup venue votes. Why would David Stern be interrogated? You're not making a lot of sense. Again, a multi-billion dollar organization would not risk it's livelihood by fixing finals games, the possible negatives far outweigh the "tens of millions" in extra revenue. I've been watching Curry since Davidson, he has had two great years, but his play this past season was simply not the greatest regular season ever and if I had to pick one player to lead my team for the next three years I would choose in this order Durant, Lebron, Anthony Davis, then Curry.
I gave passing mention of your question with another question. See the third paragraph. Why would the owners have any foresight? Do shareholders have perfect insight into the inner workings of a business they own? Hell no. If a couple people in accounting make up some revenue for the company, how the hell would an analyst detect that? It's almost impossible. Even for public companies fraud/corruption is exceptionally difficult to detect, much less prove in a formal legal setting. Before ADM in 95/96/97, the U.S. hadn't prosecuted a fraud case in over 50 years. For private companies, it's even worse.
Why would the "money train" come to a stop? Do you really believe another NBA scandal over officiating would cause the NBA's revenue to plummet to zero? Hell no. It's happened before multiple times and look at what happened (nothing). Look at FIFA, MLB, cycling. The response is always the same when corruption/scandal/fraud/match-fixing comes to the forefront -- they're working hard to take care of it, and addicted fans come back in droves.
Totally wrong thinking on the revenue part. You're forgetting advertising revenues. The NBA doesn't give "if necessary games" ads out for free (games 5/6/7). See this article: http://www.breitbart.com/sports/2013/05/04/game-7-revenue/
David Stern was never personally held responsible for the various fiascos that occurred under his regime -- from crooked officials to the lack of transparency over how the lottery is held to well... I'll leave it to this article to spell out the laundry list as I don't have the time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_Association_criticism…
As for Curry's 2015-16 season, it is easily up there as one of the best seasons of all time. Many say it is. The 131-0 MVP voting was pretty conclusive of where he stands. If I had to start a franchise with one player, though, I'd go with A. Davis. Shooting is still a skill that ages relatively well. Also, with respect to your previous post, LeFraud hasn't won 4 Finals MVPs.
SF_G Advertising revenues go to the networks... not the NBA, so again, terrible argument. While owners are shareholders, they are also essentially CEOs of their teams, more comparable to Elon Musk and Tesla than just some shareholder with Tesla stock. Just as Musk knows the inner workings of Tesla, I expect each owner to know the inner workings of the league. One official proven to be a gambling degenerate does not offer solid proof of institutionalized match fixing, try again. You used a Wikipedia link where the heading is conspiracies... lol.
3 finals MVPS, excuse me. LeFraud, LeBitch, LeWhatever, he is the best player of this generation.
Ad revenues go to the middlemen (networks) in accordance with TV contracts, but the NBA doesn't make its revenues under a fixed charge scheme. The NBA heavily benefits financially from extra exposure and additional marketing, which feeds directly into merchandise sales (well in excess over a billion dollars per year in itself, or over 20% of its revenue) and provides for better TV contract negotiating power if the ad networks are benefitting from better ROI. Of any professional sports league, the NBA stands to benefit the most from series extensions.
Owners don't have perfect information of what goes on. Most aren't even particularly hands on, are retired/semi-retired, old and more concerned about enjoying their money. They delegate most, if not all, of the responsibility as sports management isn't what drove them to their current level of professional and financial success. In general, they care so long as they make money first and foremost, and win secondarily. Some owners have a hand in the organization daily. Others are more distant and provide outlines of how much they're willing to spend, whether they're willing to pay the luxury tax, approve of player swaps, and other financial tidbits. The president or general manager (depending on the particular hierarchy of each organization) is closer to a traditional CEO as the primary decision-maker of each organization.
Whether you want to call it a controversy, conspiracy, contention, disputation, it's really all the same and the NBA has been littered by them over the years whether they be intenional, non-intentional, or indicative of outright corruption. I would say the NBA's main officiating concern is the disparate standards and preferential treatment that are afforded to different players. And also the disparity in calls between home and away. No human being enjoys being subject to ridicule by 20,000 people, but home/away officiating splits are awful. The NFL has the same issue (NHL and MLB not so much). A fourth official should be added to each crew.
"LeFraud, LeBitch, LeWhatever, he is the best player of this generation."
If we're taking a 5-year or 10-year weighted average of performance, sure.
@Uncle Drew @DickFuld @BobTheBaker @EazyMuthaf.ckinE
I'd like to see LeBitch do his desperation tactics to get guys suspended in next years Finals... Now he's going to need to do that two or three times for it to work when he has 4 of the top 10 or 12 players in the league on the other side, two of which are better than him. The refs won't be able to help him out that much anymore because every game is going to be a blowout. Karma for LeBitch.
That being said, GSW is going to be nearly impossible to beat next year. If they don't win the championship, the coach should be fired and several players should be castrated.
Definitely. Although I would cautious to crown them championships already because chemistry is a real thing and it'll be interesting to see how the splash brothers adjust to accommodate KD. Will their ball movement remain the same, or will it become more iso?
Just stating an obvious fact. Next year, he's going to have to bring a sledgehammer on the court to give his JV team a shot. Or flop until he flies out of the arena instead of only going to so far to cut his head on a TV camera (I don't know if you watch basketball so forgive me if you don't get the reference).
Curry/Durant pick-and-rolls will be a nightmare. Injuries can derail anything but anybody who snapped up 2/1 or 7/4 title odds bets got a steal.
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