LeBron is showing his greatness in defeat

LeBron James is the Shaq and Michael Jordan of his generation rolled into one. Insanely difficult to guard. Even more difficult to officiate. James is the poster-child for his generation.

Wilt. Magic. Bird. Pretty good company for LeBron James. #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/n6TsHHB7Ny

— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 15, 2015

Anybody can criticize him for choosing to go only to teams with good players, but it’s nothing dozens of other NBA stars haven’t done in search of an elusive title.

So when BOTH Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving sustained season-ending injuries during the playoffs, James was left on his own. I guess I shouldn’t feel bad for him exactly — these things happen — but it does give us the opportunity to see what happens if one player is left to do it all on his own, how that would go.

I mean even MJ had Pippen.

The last player I can think of to win a title without another dominant hall-of-famer?

Well, the Pistons didn’t have any HOFers, did they? The Rockets, with just Hakeem Olajuwon, won the title in back-to-back seasons. Hakeem was and is still vastly underrated.

But back to my point. LeBron James of six years ago maybe would have done something silly and rolled over. People still don’t like what they call “antics,” but I see a guy who is doing everything he physically can right now to give his team a chance to win. Their offense runs through him every time. It’s a conscious choice everyone on the team makes — from the coach on down. You have to get the ball to your best player as much as possible. LeBron isn’t giving me any reason not to just sit back and admire his game. Two or three years ago, I’d have been REALLY hesitant to name him in a top-10 all-time list. I think he’s a no-brainer top-five at this point. A few more seasons could see him sniffing the very top.

Let’s not forget, LeBron James has gone to five straight NBA Finals and six overall. In his two finals appearances with Cleveland, who has been the second-best player on the floor for the Cavs? Zydrunas Ilgauskas? Anderson Varejao? Definitely not Matthew Dellavedova. It very well could be Tristan Thompson. Think about that for a minute. Going into gave five, LeBron was AVERAGING 36 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. He raised his averages in all three categories, but not surprisingly, it looks like he’ll end up 0-2 in the finals with Cleveland.

We are witnessing greatness. To call it anything else is to not give yourself just due. It’s one of the greatest performances of my lifetime, and it’s coming in a losing effort, which makes it all the more remarkable.

The rest of the Cavs team aside from LeBron is how much better than, say, the Lakers? I don't think much better, honestly…

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) June 15, 2015

The Warriors are going to do it, and surprisingly easily

Yes, I’m not a total curmudgeon. Let’s talk about the W’s!

I’m also enjoying the Warriors’ greatness they’ve captured this year. Most of the time, a team like Golden State, with its young nucleus, has to go through a gauntlet of more experienced, and equally talented teams along the way. Much of the time, teams see playoff heartbreak multiple seasons before ever ascending to the top.

The Lakers sure had to. Who remembers Kobe airballing shots in Utah? Or Shaq not able to overcome San Antonio. Other teams, like the Kings and Blazers of 15 or so years ago, never actually even got over the hump. Those were great teams, too.

Which is why Golden State’s ascent to, what I’m assuming will be, an NBA championship this season is so remarkable. The core guys went through a lot of garbage seasons together to get here, but they weren’t ever at a level where they were great, but not quite good enough. They’ve managed to get though the season and playoffs pretty healthy and, relative to other teams, adversity-free.

Props to Steve Kerr, the training staff, and the players themselves for making that happen. It’s also nice when you have such a unique player like Steph Curry who the front office has surrounded with all the right parts.

I don’t care that Andre Iguadala, for example, can’t make free throws. He’s a perfect fit as a part of a winning team. Just the kind of supporting cast member that an MVP-level player needs.

In a few days, the Warriors are going to, almost certainly, be THE winning team in the NBA this season.