What makes the NBA Finals a compelling watch?
Casual fans will name-drop their favorite basketball player or give a shout-out to the team that they have been rooting for. Some might come up with a generic answer like "For love of the game," while others are in it for the betting.
For hoops aficionados, who follow the league beyond the court, a championship series is chock full of intriguing storylines, larger-than-life characters, and false narratives. From the bubble aspect to the Kobe angle, this year's NBA Finals features a complex web of relationships among the personalities involved.
Whether it's because of a decades-old grudge or an Instagram model, the rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat runs deeper than you think.
MEME-WORTHY BEEF
Jimmy Butler vs Jared Dudley
These two couldn’t be any more different. Jimmy was the Heat’s prized acquisition last summer, while the Internet roasted the Lakers when they signed Jared. Both have been finishing games — the latter to clean up during blowouts, and the former to close out tight matches. Butler and Dudley also have varying reputations in the locker room as "cancer" (which has since been disproven) and great guy, respectively.
Dion Waiters vs Miami Heat
With Heat: 13.9 ppg 2.9 rpg 3.6 apg 2.7 3pg 2.1 3pg (4 seasons)
With Lakers: 11.9 ppg 2.4 apg 1 3pg (7 games)
This could've been filed under personal beefs, if not for Waiters being inactive for LA's last eight games and only joining them prior the bubble after Miami gave up on him. The highest and lowest points of Dion's NBA career came with the Heat, as its unlikely leader in 2016-17, then the black sheep earlier this season. Now, no matter which team wins the championship, he will reportedly get a ring either way.
Tyler Herro vs Kyle Kuzma
Herro: 16.5 ppg (4th) 5.5 rpg 3.9 apg 2.5 3pg
Kuzma: 10.5 ppg 3.2 rpg 1.1 3pg (32%)
Other than their role as primary scorer off the bench, Ty and Kuz don't share a lot of qualities as players. One is obviously a rookie guard, while the other is a third-year forward. Herro has gotten better each round. Kuzma has been the epitome of inconsistency in this playoffs. Their common denominator? IG model Katya Elise Henry, who once dated Kyle and is Tyler's current girlfriend and bubble guest.
MATCHUPS THAT MATTER
Erik Spoelstra vs Frank Vogel
Head-to-head record: Spoelstra 26-25 Vogel
2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals: Miami 4-2 Indiana
2013 Eastern Conference Finals: Miami 4-3 Indiana
2014 Eastern Conference Finals: Miami 4-2 Indiana
The two decorated coaches know each other well from the Heat-Pacers rivalry in the early 2010s. Spoelstra got the best of Vogel back then, earning back-to-back titles with the Miami Big 3. This time, though, it's the two-time Coach of the Year that has an ageless LeBron on his side. Spo, for his part, has a ragtag crew of late-round picks and undrafted guys... just like Coach Frank's Indiana squads.
Goran Dragic vs Rajon Rondo
Dragic: 20.9 ppg (1st) 4.2 rpg 4.7 apg (2nd) 2.5 3pg
Rondo: 9.1 ppg 3.8 rpg 7.2 apg (2nd) 1.6 spg (1st) (10 games)
Both are point guards. Both are 34 years old. Both have a habit of taking his play to another level in the postseason. Both might just be their respective team's third best player and end up as its biggest X-factor. Whereas Goran has given the Heat a reliable shot creator in an otherwise democratic offense, the Lakers have the luxury of a secondary playmaker beside LeBron in Rajon.
LeBron James vs Jimmy Butler
Head-to-head record: 17-17
Playoffs: 8-3
LeBron: 26.7 ppg (2nd) 10.3 rpg (1st) 8.9 apg (1st) 1.9 3pg (tied for 1st) 7.2 fta (2nd) 1.3 spg 1 bpg 4.2 tpg (1st)
Butler: 20.7 ppg (2nd) 5.7 rpg (tied for 2nd) 4.5 apg (3rd) 9.2 fta (1st) 1.9 spg (1st) 2.7 tpg (1st)
Jimmy was still a rookie with the Bulls when James was on his way to his first championship in Miami. The next season, the two met in the conference semifinals, where the Heat beat Chicago, 4-1. In 2015, LeBron returned to Cleveland and defeated Butler and the Bulls again (4-2) in the second round. Jimmy summed it up perfectly: “If you want to win, you are going to have to go through a LeBron James-led team.”
Anthony Davis vs Bam Adebayo
Davis: 28.8 ppg (1st) 9.3 rpg (2nd) 3.6 apg (3rd) 1 3pg 9.8 fta (1st) 1.2 spg 1.2 bpg (1st)
Adebayo: 18.5 ppg (3rd) 11.4 rpg (1st) 4.9 apg (1st) 6.1 fta (2nd) 1.2 spg 0.9 bpg
Just when everyone thought that the league has fully committed to small ball, a pair of frontcourt superstars is at the center of basketball's biggest stage. The former Kentucky Wildcats represent the modern NBA big man (a.k.a. unicorns) — offensively skilled, defensively versatile, and has a knack for game-winning plays. AD might be the better shooter, but Bam is the better playmaker.
THIS IS PERSONAL
LeBron James vs Andre Iguodala
Head-to-head record: James 35-27 Iguodala
Finals: 1-3
James: 29.1 ppg 9.2 rpg 7.4 apg 1.7 spg 1.2 bpg
Iguodala: 13.2 ppg 5.5 rpg 3.9 apg 1.3 spg 0.5 bpg
If there's such a thing as a LeBron stopper, Iguodala would be the closest thing to it. James holds the advantage over Andre in terms of numbers and regular-season wins, but when it mattered the most, the latter has had the upper hand. In 2015, Iguodala even snatched a Finals MVP from LeBron (35.8 ppg 13.3 rpg 8.8 apg) with series averages of 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and four assists.
Pat Riley vs Los Angeles Lakers
Despite winning more titles with LA ('72 as player, '82, '85, '87, '88 as coach) than Miami ('06 as coach, '12, '13 as executive), the Godfather ended up with an acrimonious relationship with the "Showtime" Lakers. In 1989, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar blamed Riley for Pistons' Finals sweep. The next year, Magic Johnson and Co. were straight-up disrespecting their coach even with a 63-19 record as the No. 1 tea, in the West.
Ex-Lakers public relations director John Black shared in the book Showtime: "They had a team meeting and they’re motherf---ing him. Motherf---er this and motherf---er that and all these motherf---ers directed at Pat. I didn’t know it was to that extent. And I was like, 'Holy f--.' It was all melting down."
LeBron James vs Pat Riley
For a partnership that saw the best player in the world at the peak of his powers and brought a couple more trophies to Miami ('12, '13), LeBron and Riley's time together in Miami . It all boiled over when the Heat lost to the Spurs in 2014. Pat told reporters: “This stuff is hard. And you go to stay together, if you've got the guts. And you don't find the first door and run out of it.” That didn't stop James from returning to Cleveland.
After leading the Cavaliers to the Promised Land in 2016, James was dropping all that tea on Riley, tellingESPN, "When I decided to leave Miami — I'm not going to name any names, I can't do that — but there were some people that I trusted and built relationships with in those four years [who] told me I was making the biggest mistake of my career.
"And that sh*t hurt me. And I know it was an emotional time that they told me that because I was leaving. They just told me it was the biggest mistake I was making in my career. And that right there was my motivation."
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