The Cleveland Cavaliers are going to win the 2008-2009 NBA "World" Championship.
I've made this predicition before.. It was in DECEMBER of 2008 when the thought of the the once lowly Cleveland Cavaliers winning ANYTHING was laughable.
As a matter of FACT, when I made this bold prediction last year, I WAS INDEED LAUGHED AT, by my ex-drummer and running buddy BernaDave and his delusional, die-hard, laker fan of a brother, Danny.. Seizing the moment, I whipped out the trusty new fangled-21st century cell phone and videoed the moment..capturing the prediction and the requisite "guffawing" that followed..
Oh how I cant wait til June!
George Orwell once said: "He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future". I believe this sentiment with every fibre of my being.. And I apply it to the NBA.
Being a lifetime student of the game, albeit, an unwitting one, I've learned a few things.. One of which is: As long as human beings are made up of the same DNA, as long as basketball is played on Earth, and the main goal of the game is to put the "ball in the hoop"..then if you know the past, you'll know the future..FOR CERTAIN.
Lebron James is a MONSTER. He is the truth incarnate. He is a real life, "urban myth". If I were to "speak" of a "Lebron James" you would swear I was lying.. e.g. "Yeah..dude(!)..there's this cat outta Ohio that could have been a pro at 16.. he's about 6-9, can run the 40 in like 3.2 and shoots 60-foot jumpers on the regular..hittin all NET!" If you didn't see him every week on television, you'd SWEAR I was making it up.. But he's real. And BEEN real since Junior High school.
Tho' King James is a phenomenon and something people like to say they've "..never seen anything like...before!" LeBron has indeed been seen before.. A few times actually..
You see, LeBron James is Lew Alcindor, perhaps the most storied and spectacular high school baller there has ever been. In the age of limited press and television coverage, Alcindor may have been BIGGER than LeBron, or Magic or Pete Maravich, or Damon Bailey..or any other superstar schoolboy baller. And this was in the early 60's! And BOY how big Lew lived up to all that potential! I mean..talk about ACHIEVEMENT. There's a strong argument that Kareem is in fact..the G.O.A.T. He certainly has the stats, the championships, the longevity and the SHOT to prove it, now doesn't he..
LeBron James is Wilt Chamberlain.. A BEAST. The ORGINAL "Beast". Unstoppable, immovable, unbelievable, unimaginable. They CHANGED the rules to STOP Wilt. To S-T-O-P him. Had they not, the Dipper might have averaged 60 points a game and 40 rebounds! ..think I'm joking? Just ask people who played against him. Wilt could run.. He could jump.. He could shoot.. He could pass..actually led the league in ASSISTS because..HE WANTED TO. And..he was SMART.. The complete package..known for years as the G.O.A.T..and this was without question.
LeBron James is Michael Jordan. Yes..we have finally found a successor to His Airness. LeBron has the charisma, he has the leadership, he has commercials, and he has that uncanny ability on the court that leaves you wondering..is LBJ actually a "human being".. EVERYONE loves LeBron..from his teammates, to the media, to the fans, to the OTHER NBA PLAYERS.. How can you not?? Everyone loves to hate Kobe Bryant..but everyone just plain "loves" Bron-Bron. Bron has "IT". Whatever that is..he has it.
So, we've seen the past, but how does it calculate to now..?
The 2008-09 Cavs are the 1967 Philadelphia 76'ers and the '91 Chicago Bulls rapped into one package.. Each of those teams went on a rampage thru the NBA, and until it was over, went nearly unnoticed..
Sure the Sixers had Wilt..and he was a BEAST.. But Wilt was in his NBA PRIME. He was a grown man with at least 6 years of NBA schooling..having his brains beat out by legendary Boston Celtics' teams year after year..after year. How great a classroom must THAT have been! And in '67, Wilt was completely unstoppable. He knew he could score at will. He knew how make his teammates score at will. He knew how to rebound, when to block shots, how to space, when to pass, when to shoot, when to D' up..and WHO to D' up.. EVERYTHING about that team and the monster in the middle was CORRECT. There was no stopping that train that year and EVERYONE knew it.
The '91 Bulls had Mike.. beat up for 6 years in an NBA filed with a golden age of talent not seen since.. The Bad-Boys of Detroit routinely took Jordan's lunch money and left him bloodied in the back of the school playground.. But MJ kept holding on to his money, fighting the bullies every year. MJ got schooled by Larry in a shootout in '86 that many people forget, that Larry had 40 somethin and the CELTICS WON that game.. SCHOOLED.
..Until finally in '91..with a bunch of YMCA'ers, as they were ingnorantly called back then, Michael Jordan had the whole package. His Bulls team ran thru the NBA like a hot knife thru butter, destined for a showdown with the last remnants of Magic's showtime Lakers. EVERYONE KNEW Magic and Lakers were going to beat the perennial "loser" Mike Jordan and his YMCA'ers. "Scottie WHO??? ..from where..??? Central Arkansas?? Are you KIDDING ME!" Well guess what..the BULLS were GREAT. Scottie Pippen was GREAT. John Paxon was CLUTCH. Phil Jackson could COACH.
And that little talented North Carolina kid was a CREATURE..and very very ANGRY for being beat up after school for 6 years straight. A grudge and an "anger" that he would ravage upon the league for the next 8 years, nearly DESTROYING IT forever. And this is completely serious.
If you know these historical facts instinctively. If you realize what these individuals have done and their relative impacts to the game..then you see clearly how and why LeBron James has been here before. You see exactly why the Cavs tore thru the league and nobody noticed. How the Cavs were nearly UNDEFEATED at home..and nobody cared. How the Cavs led the league in nearly every statistical category..and nobody blinked. How the Cavs won 66 or 67 games and nobody gave them any credit..
It's been done before. You've seen this before. The Cavs are 8-0 in the playoffs as of this writing and JUST NOW people are beginning to look up and think..: "hey..the Cavs are actually pretty good..!" ..Sorry..TOO LATE people. You should have seen this LAST YEAR. It wasn't that hard to see if you were looking thru the correct lens.
LeBron James is going to win the NBA Championship this year. I'm not even concerned about it. I didn't even watch the first round of the playoffs. It was a waste of time. Lots of folks talked about the Celtics-Bulls series, with all the overtimes, the great shots, blah, blah blah.. NO FIRST ROUND series should EVER be considered as a G.O.A.T series.. That would be basketball blasphemy. I caught parts of it and, accordingly, it was an entertaining EXHIBITION. The '76 Celtics-Suns triple overtime classic was much better (understatement) and I watched that entire series when I was 12 years old.
Dont even ATTEMPT to talk to me about any first round series in 2009..PLEASE!
To the point..LeBron James is coming out this year in full royal regalia. He gets his coronation in June. You heard it here and I stand by it. There is indeed a reason for the saying: hindsight is 20/20.
History tells you everything you need to know.
