LeBron is the Undisputed G.O.A.T. if He Wins the 2018 NBA Finals

 The 2018 NBA Finals begin Thursday May 31st and guess what? It’s the same two teams for the fourth consecutive season. Last seasons Finals marked the first time in NBA history where the same two ball clubs faced each other three years in a row. The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers have now extended that streak to four.

 The road was definitely tougher than last season for the two teams. Golden State went 12-0 in the Western Conference Playoffs in 2017, and this season were one game away from it all coming to an end. The Houston Rockets to even my surprise, pushed the Warriors to the brink of elimination when they led 3-2. Although people will say if Chris Paul had played, the Rockets would have won, I am very confident in saying I believe the Warriors are without question the best team in basketball.

  When Kevin Durant performed the ultimate betrayal to his Oklahoma City Thunder in the summer of 2016, he created a team that you could only picture in a 2K MY Team or something. Anyone I spoked to laughed at even the possibility of Durant going to Golden State. It’s not like they were the greatest regular season team in NBA history without him. OH WAIT, THEY WERE. In 2016, the Warriors won a record breaking 73 games in the regular season. Despite that incredible feat, the 73-9 Warriors blew it in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on their home court when they lost to Cleveland.

  My initial thought when Durant joined Dub Nation was, would it even work? Sometimes we see those occurrences when stars do not mesh together well. That quickly manifested itself to not the case with the Warriors new Big 4. Steve Kerr who has done an absolutely phenomenal job in his four years in charge of Golden State, fitting KD right into his system. Constant ball movement on offense and of course, moving without the ball is a staple to this team’s game offensively. Their motion offense is lethal with so many shooters to worry about, the Warriors can get a great shot anytime down. But I think what makes Kerr so great is how he coaches his team defensively. They are all so locked in and versatile, that several players can switch on to multiple positions defending the pick and roll. Guys like Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and Andre Iguodala are all capable of guarding almost any position. That advantage can not be understated when so much of today’s NBA is pick and roll basketball. Just watch the Houston Rockets play. I think we as NBA fans all knew what could be expected if arguably the best scorer to ever play basketball would fit in with an already 73-9 team. Domination! That is what occurred last season when the Warriors had the best postseason of any team in NBA history going 16-1.

  But you know what they say, it gets more difficult each year you try and defend your title. The Rockets built their team to defeat the Warriors and came oh so close. I think the Warriors fate, though, is really in their own hands. Until I see a team actually beat the Big 4 in a playoff series, I consider them unstoppable. We have never ever seen a team like this. They have four superstar caliber players, two of which you can consider top five in the league. People will argue all day about Draymond and Klay not being superstars, but all I have to say is watch them play defense. That is what really sets the Warriors apart. That series could have easily been an easy 4-2 to Golden State if it was not for their lackadaisical capitulation in the fourth quarter of game four. The Warriors led 82-70 with 10:30 to go in the game and blew it. Stephen Curry often has the tendency to try and make the momentum play. He wants to force a three even when his man is right in his face instead of blowing by him. We saw this a lot if you look back at the fourth quarter of Game 7 against Cleveland in 2016, as well as game four against Houston. Kevin Durant also ended up settling by shooting too far away from the basket even with a smaller guy on him, instead of getting to his midrange area where he is pretty automatic. This poor execution led to Golden State’s demise.

  In typical Warrior fashion, the 3rd quarter of Game 7 was an absolute shootout. Only one way that is, the Warriors way. They trailed by 11 going into the second half, and in the third quarter, outscored the Rockets 33-15. No team can turn it on like that with Steph, Klay, and KD able to hit from almost anywhere on the court. In a matter of minutes they can turn a game around. I think it is fair to say there has never been a team like this, and if they execute for four quarters there is nothing anyone can do.

  Especially not the 2018 Cleveland Cavaliers, who defied odds by beating the young and energetic Boston Celtics in Game 7 at their beloved TD Garden, a place that had been an absolute fortress this postseason. The Celtics were 37-0 in their history after having a 2-0 lead in a series. There were many doubts about Cleveland this season, especially when they entered the postseason as the number four seed after trading away almost half their roster at the trade deadline. But one man has put on a postseason performance of the ages, doing things to top even his own amazing playoff runs. As an individual player, this has been LeBron James’ best postseason. He has managed to lead a team of Kevin Love and a bunch of role players to the NBA Finals, after playing 82 games for the first time in his career. That is 82 games and 18 playoff games averaging 40+ minutes a game after 15 seasons. The last 8 of which have gone deep into June. This has to be the second worst team he has ever led to the Finals behind his 2006-2007 team. He is also averaging 34 PPG which is his second highest postseason average ever after the 2008-2009 season, where he averaged 35.3. However in that season, he played 14 playoff games as opposed to 18. He also did not even make the Finals. Along with his 34 points and astonishing 54% shooting, he is averaging 9.2 Rebounds Per Game and 8.8 Assists per game! That is his highest average of any postseason he has had. In addition, he has also scored the second most total points of any of his playoffs runs, only behind the 2011-12 season in which he also played five more games. He will easily surpass that this season.

  It is not only his own achievements that he is surpassing, he has the most points of any player in NBA history entering the finals for a single postseason with 612. What the man is doing is astonishing, but sadly his chances of beating this Warriors team are slim to none. Last year at this time, I said the Cavaliers have to have four perfect games to win it all. That was when LeBron had the great Kyrie Irving by his side. This season, they have to play absolutely perfectly for four games as well. Players like Jeff Green, Tristan Thompson, JR Smith, and George Hill have to literally play out of their minds in order for the Cavaliers to win this series. LeBron may have to average a 40 point triple double in order for the Cavs to even have a chance. Kevin Love has to have a minimum of 20 points if they want to win in my mind. So not only do the Cavs have significantly less fire power offensively, they will struggle immensely to defend the Warriors. They do not really have the type of personnel to switch consistently, and defending simple pick and rolls with players like Steph and KD is pretty impossible if you can not switch successfully.  

  You go over the screen and Steph has a lane to the basket and the second you help off of anyone else, the pass is made and the rest is history. All this being said, the Warriors win in five games. But if LeBron does the seemingly impossible, there should be no debate on who the greatest player of all time is. Jordan has never ever played a team of this caliber in the Finals. He has not even beaten a team with three all stars in the finals, let alone four. If LeBron does this, I think it is time to start admitting he is the guy.

Written by Darian Vaziri