Who do you want to win the NBA finals this year?

Yeah!

Meanwhile the Cavs are in the finals again! I seem happier about this than I expected when this thread started. I'm not going to predict that they'll beat the Warriors or Thunder but they definitely have a fighting chance.

So it's a rematch!! What are you guys thinking now? Tuned out if your team didn't make it? Just rooting against one of them? Or happy about the match-up?

While I'm rooting for the Cavs, the Warriors are currently my second-favorite, so that works. I'll probably get much grumpier about the Warriors as the series goes on. I do like Curry a lot though, more than other post-Jordan phenoms like Kobe.

I've said from the start of this that I was rooting for the thunder but it wouldn't hurt my feelings if the Dubs repeat. Anyone but LeBum.

Hmph.

He's a lovely guy, really.

Yeah, lots of people think so, and everyone's certainly entitled to their opinion.

What don't you like about him exactly? I'm kind of assuming but maybe there is something worse I don't know about.

Look, I have no problem if you like the guy. He's a great basketball player. I have my reasons, but I don't expect to convince someone who likes him, not to.

Some of it goes back to the first couple of times I saw him interviewed.
He typified the players who became "stars" after the era of Magic, Bird and Jordan. Quick to toot his own horn. Quick to put himself in the company of the legends of the game. He has that trait in common with Kobe.

I had never heard people like Julius Erving or Kareem talking about how great he was, himself. Even Michael Jordan - who I believe is the greatest of all time - was hard pressed to talk about how good he was. He let his actions speak. People like Shaquille O'Neal (met him in person - a loudmouthed bully) and Kobe Bryant are quick to talk about their own place in the annals of greatness. Lebron James is of that ilk. He's an entitled punk who flops and whines more than any "superstar" I've ever seen. When he was asked about detractors, he said " Well when they go home, they're still in their lives. And I'm still LeBron James". I don't like the guy. You're not going to convince me to like him. If you like him, fine. You can have him.

Gotcha. I'm not interested in convincing anyone else, just got a little worried there was more to it than I realized. Because I like him and want to be able to continue.

I moved to Ohio in 2004 and he left in 2009 so we overlapped for that first stint, but he wasn't really on my radar at the time. I definitely wasn't a fan. (I didn't really have a favorite basketball team at the time, Bulls if anyone probably.) Didn't really notice him until late Miami, then have only been a FAN since he moved back to Ohio. And he's generally been super gracious and mature in this second stint. We're always seeing him do this or that charity event or other good deed. (Plus I loved him in "Trainwreck." )

Great. You'll never be his number one fan though. That place is already taken. By him.

Ha probably! True of Jordan too though. I have tolerance for a certain amount of swagger in people with real talent.

No, don't equate Jordan with this guy. Jordan won and let his play do his boasting. This guy boasts of future championships and touts himself. If you like him, like him. But he ain't Jordan.

Jordan's better than LeBron. (That was the premise of much of the early part of the thread, Robert and I rooting for Jordan-era Bulls and their legacy.)

But LeBron's talented in his own right. That doesn't seem to be a controversial statement.

(And of COURSE Jordan boasted! He was a trash-talker extraordinaire.)

No. Jordon trash talked ON THE COURT. There's a difference. You can look for interviews of both and you can find The chosen one talking about his own talent - not Jordan. Yeah, we both say we're not trying to convince the other, but seems we keep trying. Can we just leave it at, you like him, I don't?

OK.

Meanwhile, god Love looks slow in this context.

I was actually cheering for both these teams throughout the playoffs, but now that they're both in the final it's like, meh...who do I cheer for now? (Because sadly one of them has to lose.)

I think in the end I'm pulling for the Warriors, because when you win 73 games it leaves a bitter aftertaste if you don't finish things off right.

LeBron still can atone for breaking Cleveland's heart when he packed up and left for Miami and an easier path to a title. He can win one for Cleveland next year. I want the Warriors to finish the job.

I get that reasoning.

The Cavs looked totally overmatched last night so I don't really see a path for them to the championship -- but there have been some swings on both sides of the path to the finals (Toronto looked unstoppable at one point) so we'll see. Not a promising start though.

I was thinking this would go 6, until tonight. Now, I'm thinking sweep.

It's looking baaad for the Cavs, for sure.

I was rooting against both teams. But now I'm begrudgingly cheering for the Cavs. Looks like LeBron is gonna be an underdog the rest of his career, so I'm ok rooting for him now. But it doesn't look good for them, looks like it will be a sweep.