It’s literally been 347 days of anticipation for this game. We all suspected there would be Round 3 of Warriors vs. Cavaliers as soon as Cleveland won the 2016 NBA Finals on Father’s Day last year. Now we’re here.
We’ve been waiting for the NBA Finals for 347 days
Good morning. We have that and more in Thursday’s NBA newsletter.
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I wanted to encourage people to discard all the takes over the next seven games and just enjoy the basketball, but honestly the takes are a valuable part of the Warriors-Cavaliers rivalry. Both teams have smart, funny fan bases, and there is so much take material to work with here between LeBron, Kevin Durant’s free agency decision, Steph Curry’s previous Finals struggles, Draymond Green’s antics, Kyrie Irving’s polarizing play, fricking Mike Brown. So don’t discard the takes: Enjoy the takes that aren’t awful. Let them keep you engaged over the series breaks. Let them fill out the buffet that is the NBA Finals.
Just remember that no matter what happens, LeBron is an incredible player, the Warriors are an incredible team, and basketball is the world’s greatest game.
Game 1 tips at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. Let’s go.
Racist graffiti was sprayed on the gate of LeBron’s Los Angeles home. LeBron’s comments on the incident showed a remarkable level of grace, intelligence, and forceful repudiation of the idea that racism in America is dead. This claim requires no additional evidence, for the evidence is all around us. But for those who are for some reason still skeptical, a noose was found in the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Wednesday.
On a much, much lighter note, I wrote about who will decide the LeBron vs. Jordan debate. Hint: not us.
Zach Lowe’s big Finals preview. You’re going to want to devour this thing before tip-off.
Lee Jenkins on whether the Warriors-Cavaliers duopoly is good for basketball.
Burning question: Will Kevin Durant shoot better in these Finals than Harrison Barnes did in the 2016 series?
This is the first Finals with two black head coaches since 1975. It won’t technically count as such in the record books because Steve Kerr is officially the head coach of the Warriors.
Speaking of Kerr, here’s an unsurprisingly thoughtful conversation with Tim Kawakami.
Matt Watson put together an awesome look back at how the 2016 Finals played out.
This is a huge deal: Adam Silver tells a media personality that he’s rethinking the NBA age minimum.
Steve Nash has a godson named R.J. Barrett. He carries the weight of Canadian basketball on his shoulders.
Les Carpenter on the greatest AAU team you’ve never heard of, starring Karl Malone and Joe Dumars.
Big J.R. Smith profile by Chris Palmer that is worth your time.
New Cavaliers logos for next season.
Travis Scott’s new music video is basically a James Harden ad.
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