Quit Cramping My Style, AMIRITE?!

The world watched Game 1 of the 2014 NBA Finals last night between the defending champs, the Miami Heat and the contenders from last year, the San Antonio Spurs. So many stories revolved around this match-up from the moment the Thunder were beaten in Game 6 in Oklahoma and the Spurs locked in their 5th Western Conference Championship in 15 years.

I've gotten tired of hearing words and phrases like dynasty, all-time greats, best (insert NBA position here), future hall-of-fame player etc. in the past week. Sure the media needs to create a buzz around the NBA finals to get viewers and clicks on their site. I mean that's what I'm doing here too but was there ever a doubt who was going to be in the finals this year? We all knew Miami was coming out of the East unscathed. The Oklahoma City story-line was a joy to follow and they planted seeds of doubt in everyone's minds about who would take the Wild West but come on, we knew it was going to be Heat v. Spurs - Part Dos right?... Cool.

Shots were fired here and there. Little jabs thrown. Words misunderstood. Whatever. I'm not here for controversy. I just want to watch some damn good basketball. And Game 1 was great. Good shooting, great ball movement, defense and a great subplot starring the AT&T Center's A/C repair guy.

Lebron James has forced me to change my stance on the Miami Heat from 2011 and himself as a player. I admire his growth and the effort he's put into improving his game. Chris Bosh is a future Hall-of-Fame player (cringe) anyone would love to have as a teammate, always giving a 100% despite what the casual basketball fan on Twitter will tell you.

And as much as I hate Dwyane Wade (dude can't even spell his name right), when his career is over, he'll be considered the 3rd best Shooting Guard of all time behind the GOAT and Bean. Head Coach Erik Spoelstra, has elevated himself from being known as "Pat Riley's figurehead" to a Future Hall of Fame coach with a great future ahead of him.

Then we have the San Antonio Spurs. 24 out of 25 playoff appearances since the 1989-90 season. 14-straight 50-win seasons. Another NBA Finals appearance even after many thought they were done last year. 4 Hall of Fame candidates. Tim Duncan, the greatest Power Forward of all time, Obi-Wan Ginobili and the best player on the team, Tony Parker. And of course, the "lovable" Coach Gregg Popovich. 'Nuff said. As "boring" and effective as they come, the Spurs quietly sweep the Western Conference under their rug like some irritating dust bunnies. 

Both teams came into the season focused and ready to compete for this chance again. Albeit, there were doubts about the age of the Spurs players and whether they could do it again but Tim Duncan and the gang came in motivated. The Heat players are going for a 3-peat. Trying to join the likes of Kobe and Shaq's Lakers and Michael Jordan's Bulls. I'm not even going to put The Great Bill Russell's Celtics in that conversation cause they won 8 in a row and I'm a tad biased so tough cookies.

My point is there's a lot on the line in this championship. The winners will have their legacies (raised to even higher standings). The losers (even though they will still both be amazing teams) will have to ride the plane back home and deal with contract negotiations and team restructuring in the off-season. It seems like there's only one player whose legacy may be tarnished by a loss in the next two weeks. Oh hi Lebron.

A loss in this NBA finals will keep ESPN and basketball bloggers excited till October. The fans that hate him will be happy because he'll be further away from their favorites (Kobe or Michael). First Take on ESPN2 will beat the story into the ground in order to get more viewers. I don't know man. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd defend Lebron James, but damn.

It's honestly painful to watch, when you see people who are just WAITING to attack the guy after the Heat lose a game. It might be the age of social media, where we are more in tune with the thoughts of the millions of people around the world. I'm not sure. There just seems to be this piggyback effect that causes the casual NBA fan, plus people that don't even watch games to attack a player when they lose a game.

Now if Lebron had put up another 8 point performance like he did in 2011, then I'd say the slander was deserved. However, a cramp in one's leg...? It kinda sucks to see a player that loves the game get slandered for cramping up while playing a game in a 90+ degree arena. It just shows how ridiculous the nature of things have become. 

It was hot at the game. That was all we heard as viewers for three-and-a-half quarters of the game. Jeff Van Gundy was sweating balls, and bald heads. NBA reporters tweeted about having to change their shirts. Tim Duncan was soaking. The A/C repair guy couldn't get it done. It was reported that it was 90 degrees on the court.

We knew something was up when Lebron asked to be taken out of the game in the 2nd half. The guy is a machine. As durable as they come. A damn freak of nature, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. He cramped up in the 4th quarter and the Spurs, like the great team that they are, were able to exploit that sign of weakness and exploded on a 31-9 run to end the game.

Tim led the way for the Spurs with 21 points, 10 rebounds off a 90% shooting exhibition (this guy is 38 years old. Ridiculous). 

Manu and Tony Parker had fine games with 16 points, 11 assists and 19 points, 8 assists respectively. Role players in the form of Sugar K Leonard, Patty Mills and Boris Diaw aka The Lebron Stopper were great in helping execute the game plan and move the ball around. I know this came from the series against the Thunder but what do you do on defense against a team that moves the ball like this???

The game was pretty close up until the cramps took place which left Lebron on the sideline for the rest of the game, which actually caused Pat Riley to show some emotion (that's when I really knew something serious was going on). James finished with 25-6-3, which are nnnooottt quite his numbers. Unfortunate. Wade started off effective, but his shooting fell off as the game went on. Maybe the Heat got to him (yeah, I had to throw at least one in here). Bosh was my favorite player from the Heat in this sauna with 18 and 9, and he was the only player on the team that didn't complain about the heat in the arena. 

Just play ball and stay hydrated. I'm ready for Game 2. Blood will be spilled in this series if Game 1 was an indicator of anything. Stay hydrated kids. Ice up.

P.S. Romo Curse? Perhaps. Only kidding.