Photo Credit: The Mercury News
For the third consecutive season, the Golden State Warriors of the Western Conference will match up against the Cleveland Cavaliers of the Eastern Conference to decide who the NBA champion will be. But fans across the world complained all season long about how boring the NBA was and how predictable the outcome would be. Here’s why, despite the fact that this matchup is the third of its kind in the past three seasons, that complaining is ridiculous and fans should know better.
First off, yes it was predictable, and yes we did know that this was going to be the matchup yet again. LeBron James hasn’t failed to qualify for an NBA Finals since 2010, and the 73-win Warriors team from a season ago added superstar small forward Kevin Durant in the offseason. So why bother complaining about the predictability of the NBA when everyone else already knows it’s predictable as well? It’s called beating a dead horse. Simple solution: don’t like it, don’t watch it. No need to complain for seven months about it.
Secondly, the predictability of the NBA may make the semifinal and quarterfinal playoff matchups boring in addition to the regular season games. However, no team in the history of any sport has ever played to be the best in any of those categories alone. Teams want to win championships. That is the goal, the only goal. And given the great NBA Finals matchups we have seen the past two seasons with the Warriors and Cavaliers squaring off, with the Warriors winning in 6 games in 2015 and the Cavaliers rallying from a 3-1 deficit to win in 7 games last season, no one should be complaining that we are likely going to have another great NBA Finals series.
Thirdly, the predictability guarantees us something that not many other leagues do. It guarantees us that the best two teams will, in fact, square off for the NBA’s ultimate prize: the NBA championship. In regard to the previous paragraph, yes this adds to the excitement. Now an average fan might say something like “certainly there can be other exciting series to decide a champion; does it really have to be the same two teams each season?” Well, sure, there can be other teams, but is there anyone out there that wants to watch a Bulls-Blazers or a Pacers-Grizzlies 7-game NBA Finals when you can have Warriors-Cavaliers? I’ll wait…maybe someone in Portland, Chicago, Indianapolis, or Memphis will raise their hand…but even in those cities, probably not.
Finally, the predictability everyone is complaining about really isn’t predictable when you look at it in the long run. A few years ago, would anyone have predicted the rise of these two dynasties at the same exact time? The Warriors set the record for the most wins in three seasons with 207, and LeBron James is making his case as a top 3 NBA player of all-time. While dynasties do happen and people may be able to predict them, are you telling me that everyone out there complaining about how boring the NBA is predicted that these exact two teams would peak during the same exact time frame? “Predictable”…that’s cute.
All in all, the complaining is ridiculous. In addition to all of these reasons, fans are wasting their opportunities to witness greatness by crying about it. Ask yourself: is it really worth it? Is it really worth giving up the opportunity to watch two great teams duke it out for multiple NBA championships just so you can hear yourself and everyone else can hear you whine while changing absolutely nothing? Just a thought…
-Asher Fair
SportsPress 