USA - NBA finals start of a new dynasty?

From english.ohmynews.com
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On June 7, the NBA finals will begin a seven-game series that will crown this year's basketball champion in the United States. The games will pit the Cleveland Cavaliers against the San Antonio Spurs. Both teams play a tough defensive style of basketball and feature an NBA superstar.

For Cleveland, this is the first finals appearance of the franchise's 37-year history. When they beat Detroit for the AFC championship, it ended the longest stretch of time a franchise had ever gone from its inception until it reached the finals in NBA history. They were 50-32 during the regular season and went 12-4 during the playoffs.

Their superstar is the 22-year old phenomenon, Lebron James. James was a highly touted high-school player who was the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft. For many years he has been heralded as the next great NBA superstar. Lebron, whose nickname is "King James," has been compared with Michael Jordan by some. But, his style of play resembles that of another past NBA superstar, Earvin "Magic" Johnson.

To get to the finals, James had to overcome a lot of media criticism. In the Eastern Conference finals against the Detroit Pistons, the results of games one and two came down to the last play of the game. King James had the ball on both of these plays. In game one, Lebron did not try taking the game-winning shot, instead passing to Donyell Marshall. Marshall missed the shot, giving Detroit a victory. In game two, Lebron did take the shot, but he also missed, and Detroit had won another game.

As Detroit led the best-of-seven series two games to none, James and the Cavaliers had their backs to the wall. But Cleveland would win the next two games to even the series. Then, in the pivotal game five, James would score 29 of the Cavaliers' last 30 points (48 points overall), leading Cleveland to victory and the series lead. The Cavaliers eliminated a listless Pistons team in game six to reach the NBA finals.

For San Antonio, this is their fourth NBA finals appearance. They won the championship each previous time they reached the finals, in 1999, 2003, and 2005. They were 58-24 during the regular season and they also went 12-4 during the playoffs.

The Spurs superstar is Tim Duncan. He has twice won the NBA's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award and has been the MVP of the NBA Finals all three times that the Spurs have won. Although he did attend college, he was also a highly touted player and another first overall pick in the NBA draft (1997).

The Spurs faced their biggest challenge in the playoffs when they faced the Phoenix Suns in round two. This series was full of controversy and may have been influenced by the suspension of a key Phoenix player. With the NBA's best team, the Dallas Mavericks, being upset in the first round, San Antonio faced an overmatched Utah Jazz team in the Western Conference Finals, easily eliminating them in five games.

The finals will be well represented by non-American born players. The Spurs feature Fabricio Oberto and Manu Ginobili of Argentina, and Francisco Elson of the Netherlands. Tony Parker, whose father -- an American with the same name -- has long been associated with basketball in Europe -- was born in Belgium, and Tim Duncan was born in the Virgin Islands. The Cavaliers have Zydrunas Ilgauskas of Lithuania, Sasha Pavlovic of Yugoslavia, and Anderson Varejao of Brazil. This series may well be decided by the play of these players.

Everyone that watches this series (outside of Spurs and Cavaliers fans) will be watching to see if this is the beginning of a new era. The Spurs have been consistently one of the NBA's best teams for nearly a decade. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, were a very bad team that built themselves toward greatness in Lebron's tenure. The Spurs are the closest thing the NBA has to a dynasty right now, and the Cavaliers may very well be the next NBA dynasty.

Cleveland won both times these two teams met during the regular season. Although many analysts are still favoring San Antonio winning the series, it may be Lebron James's time to become the champion that many proclaimed he would be. Much like the Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls of 1991, James and the Cavaliers may be ushering in a new era in the NBA.