The games don't begin for another six days.
The Warriors and Cavs will get it on with a title on the line for the third-straight year when the NBA Finals tip off next Thursday, but LeBron James has already started toying with the psyches of his opponents.
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The rivalry basketball fans have waited nearly a calendar year to see renewed is finally (word to CeCe Penniston) upon us. All that has transpired during the 2016-17 season prior to this matchup has been an undercard to the main event — the most anticipated Finals in recent memory.
As the final seconds ticked away in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden in Boston on Thursday night and the Cavaliers put the Celtics out their misery with a 135-102 victory to advance, social media lit up with the ra-ra type chatter befitting of what's become an era-defining rivalry re-upping for yet another potentially classic installment. Watch this 16-second clip of an October interview with Warriors forward Draymond Green, expressing his desire to "destroy" and "annihilate" the Cavaliers should the two teams meet up again in the Finals resurfaced at a rapid pace.
Draymond Green saying he wants to destroy the Cavs in the finals from back at the beginning in the season pic.twitter.com/D5VwuwP40V
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) May 26, 2017
Oh yeah, once again, it's on. The participants, even more than the spectators, are raring to go. Kyrie Irving could barely contain himself, smiling and nodding his head in unbridled, anticipatory exuberance as TNT's Ernie Johnson asked him to share his thoughts on taking on Golden State again.
But instead of obliging reporters, and their investigative, instigating inquiries and immediately addressing his team's prospects, James chose to live in the moment. He passed out ECF championship hats and shirts and soaked in every moment of his most recent achievement along with teammates such as Deron Williams and Kyle Korver, veterans reaching the apex of their profession for the first time in his careers.
He played it politically correct, diplomatic and extremely complimentary, probably overly complimentary, considering his stature and resume.
"I'mma be honest. I'm not in the right mind to even talk about Golden State. It's too stressful and I'm not stressed right now. We're happy about our accomplishment. I have no discussion. Golden State is ... they've been the best team in our league and they added an MVP (Kevin Durant). That's all I can give you right now 'cause I'm happy and I don't want to be stressed. They cause a lot of stress and I'll get to that point when we start to prepare for them."
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Those words uttered, during the Cavs' postgame press conference, echoed sentiments he expressed on the court right after the game when he referred to the Warriors as "that juggernaut out West" in an interview with sideline reporter Kristen Ledlow. James wasn't lying. The winners won 207 of their last 246 regular-season contests, recording 73 wins last season, both NBA records, and captured the 2014-15 title.
But why would James take the humble approach now?
This is the same King James who matter-of-factly stated he felt confident the Cavs could defeat the Warriors in the 2015 Finals without Irving and Love, who were sidelined by injuries, because he's "the best player in the world." This is the same King James who bowled over in laughter after hearing of a slight from Golden State guard Klay Thompson when the Cavs were down 3-1 in last year's Finals before going on to drop back-to-back 41-point performances to lead his team to wins in Games 5 and 6, and a triple-double in a Game 7 triumph to capture Cleveland 's first professional title in more than 50 years.
This is the same King James who hopped off the team plane, decked out in a Kermit hat and "Ultimate Warrior" shirt while cuffing the Larry O'Brien trophy when the Cavs arrived back in Northeast Ohio after winning the title on the Warriors' floor last year. This is the same King who had attendees step over a Stephen Curry dummy as they entered his Halloween party. This is the same King James who, in a moment of jubilance after downing Golden State in much-hyped Christmas Day meeting, jokingly referred to the Warriors as some "trading ass (expletive)," according to ESPN's Chris B. Haynes. This is the same King James who openly admits he's chasing Michael Jordan.
The answer isn't that James was doing it for the cameras. If any star respects his competition, past and present, it's James. However, it is to say he's not beyond being publicly petty, especially when continually poked and prodded. More importantly, he understands it's paramount that he and his teammates do what's prudent in the short-term to have a puncher's chance at winning the long game.
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Right now, in the days leading up to the Finals, as Sun Tzu advised in "The Art of War," "they must appear weak when strong." The ultimate company man, James, in delivering company lines, was setting the tone for rest of his teammates to do the same. They simply can't afford to give the Warriors any bulletin-board material. Saying all the right things before battle is simply the strategy of a savage. They'll do their talking, if they can, when the ball goes up in the air.
These Warriors aren't the happy-go-lucky bunch that took the basketball world by storm with their up-and-down pace and borderline cocky camaraderie two years ago, nor are they an overconfident squad that had to feel invincible heading last year's championship. With the addition of Durant, to a unit that already boasts Curry and Thompson, they possess the most lethal triumvirate of shooters ever assembled on one team.
Humbled after last season's defeat, they're fiery and focused, and James' Cavs are square in their crosshairs. A Golden State sweep isn't out of the question at all.
James, the newly-minted all-time leading scorer in NBA playoffs history, believes his team is capable of pulling off an even more unlikely upset, but, this time, even fewer mistakes are allowed. If the Warriors, in anyway, begin to think the Cavs view the odds against them as insurmountable and they can't shake up the world again, that's a competitive advantage for the James gang. As Chris Partlow told a young Michael in Season 5 of "The Wire," James doesn't want anyone setting up on him while he's setting up on them.
Game 1 tips off next Thursday at 9 p.m. ET at Oracle Arena, but James is already playing mind games.