[ad_1]
The 2020 NBA Finals features the fight between two very familiar opponents in the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat.
The Los Angeles Lakers are in the NBA Finals for the first time in 10 years and the showdown includes two ancestral beings of basketball.
“We finally meet again. The circle is now complete. When I beat you, I was just a champion, now I’m the GOAT. “
We could imagine the meeting between LeBron James and Andre Iguodala in the next NBA Finals to start this way. The two players will finally meet after a year hiatus.
This is the clash of two wise old veterans who have been Finals champions and MVPs, two of the best examples of longevity in the NBA. But they are the representatives, like the light side and the dark side, of two diametrically opposed types of players.
The superstar, burdened with dragging his team to the ultimate prize with exceptional performances, and the ultimate RPG player, the one who is willing to sacrifice his minutes and production to give the team whatever it takes to get to the finish, be it filling in the statistics sheet or with defense, intangibles and leadership.
These two represent the best sports and medical science that can be achieved today in terms of extending the career and performance of professional athletes. At 35 and 36 they still look in incredible shape, taking care of their bodies with manic attention.
They are meeting for the fifth time in the last six years. They have both beaten each other and have been Finals MVPs. This is really some kind of meeting between Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader. Two wise old opponents, once teammates on the 2012 Olympic Team, who meet again after a (not so) long time to fight for the fourth championship.
Even his path to the current situation has been the same and quite the opposite. Iguodala, traded from the Golden State Warriors to the Memphis Grizzlies, sat for most of the season as they searched for a suitable trade. Until he finally joined the Miami Heat, giving them an injection of veteran championship experience and reaching the finals with a new team.
LeBron, for his part, joined the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent last year, but was forced to sit for a long period last season with a groin injury. This year he came back on a mission, with a revamped lineup, and reached the final with a different team than in previous appearances.
Iggy has provided the newly assembled Heat with a stabilizing presence, providing leadership and his usual overall production in limited playing time. His contribution has been much more spiritual than statistical, but that does not mean that it is less fundamental for Miami to get where they are today.
There is no comparison between the numbers of James and Iguodala. The Chose One ranked second in MVP voting this year, and a consistent triple-double flirter in the playoffs. The former Warrior has scored in double figures only once during the current postseason. But their roles have been just as crucial for their teams.
Without LeBron, the Lakers would never have been contenders. Without Andre, Miami would never have found the cohesion and relentlessness to beat all of its opponents in the playoffs.
They both experienced long and successful careers and now this could be the climax of this geriatric rivalry that they have built over the years. This is possibly their last encounter in the finals, but their competition could eventually end up trying to establish who will last the longest in the league, surviving through the eras, playing styles and super teams.
“In the end, there can only be one.”
[ad_2]
