While their Finals futility may disqualify them from any “greatest of all-time” discussions where we’re forced to pick nits about legacy, that doesn’t make James or West any less great.
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Starting with the 1960 Olympics, in which both men starred.
“That was the first guy I idolized”, Lue said of Ali.
“Today I can go to China and all over the world and people know my name and know my face”.
“It was flattering [he was reading my book]”, West said.
“He was a magnificent person”.
Yet, it seems like he was always a bit in awe of Ali.
“You nearly felt a God-like presence around him”, West continued.
“We started our practice with the old song from the 70s, “Catch Me If You Can”, said Warriors coach Steve Kerr, referring to the hit single “Black Superman” which was released by British singer Johnny Wakelin and the Kinshasa Band in 1975.
Why don’t I believe you, Kyrie?
“That was a guy who stood up for so many different things at a time when it was hard for African-Americans to even walk the streets”. “If I were him, frankly I’d probably want to strangle you guys, OK?”
“Muhammad Ali was a big reason why I was able to achieve so much in my life”.
James watched the Thrilla in Manila with friends on Friday night after hearing the news of Ali’s passing.
“It’s a fine line”, James said.
“I had heard of him a little bit, this kind of teenage sensation”, West said Saturday, a day after Ali died.
But he never really got close, despite being a massive boxing fan. “You can’t just key in on guys”.
Teammate Harrison Barnes was amazed by Ali’s conviction. “Then you have to push back and fight”. “I thought we were fine”.
Not surprisingly, Green, perhaps the most loquacious player of this era, also admired Ali for his endless bravado. He conceded he is still bothered by his one loss in the OH high school state championship game, too. I’m wired completely differently, and when you’re like that it hurts more. As a player, West went 1-8 in the Finals. He only hoisted the championship trophy once.
As sharpshooters Curry and Klay Thompson fell ice cold in Game One on Thursday, Iguodala helped lead a Golden State bench that outscored Cleveland’s 45-10 en route to an opening victory. How did that feel?
“I’m just part of a group here that I love to be around”, West said.
If the Cavaliers lose again this year to the Golden State Warriors, he would be the fourth player in league history to lose in the finals five times. West said that would have been reasonable.
According to Sharon Katz of FiveThirtyEight.com, the weak supporting casts James has carried to the Finals means that he has already made 2.5 appearances more than he should have, given his teams’ pre-playoff Basketball Power Index chances.
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“Now we’ll see what happens with a whole complement of players”.
