Over the years, there have been some historical matchups in the Finals, however the NBA doesn’t always give us fans exactly what we want to see. Each year, expert analysts give their Finals predictions before the season even starts, but they rarely hit the nail on the head. In 2008, most of those experts picked a showdown between the Lakers and the Cavaliers for the 09′ NBA Finals, but unfortunately they would only be halfway correct. During the 2008-2009 NBA postseason, the Orlando Magic got in the way of what is the best and most anticipated NBA Finals matchup that never happened. For both Kobe Bryant and LeBron James fans, the matchup we were dying to see, is sadly never going to happen.
Turning back the clock:
After making the infamous statement that he “would like to be traded” after the 2006-07 season, Kobe Bryant put the backs of Lakers management to the wall. The options were to either get Kobe immediate help, or trade him as he requested. Somehow, the Lakers managed to rob Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies in what was one of the most one-sided trade deadline deals of all-time. Behind Kobe’s MVP season and Gasol’s new contributions, the Lakers were able to make a run to the Finals. Coming up empty-handed, they were forced to accept a crushing defeat and go back to the drawing board for the 2008-09 season.
More hungry and motivated than he’s ever been and armed with new firepower, Kobe was on a quest for his fourth ring. Carrying over the momentum from the prior season, the Lakers put together a remarkable 65-17 record. They were running as smoothly as a well-oiled machine and cruising slowly to their ultimate goal of a championship. Confident in their abilities, making it to the Finals was the least of the Lakers worries. Finishing the job was what they were really concerned upon. Kobe’s work ethic was at an all-time high, and it rubbed off on his teammates. Behind his lead, the Lakers were strictly business, and more focused than they’d ever been. But, there was a different kind of monster out east.
The 2008-09 Cleveland Cavaliers may be the NBA’s most flashy team of all-time. Their pre-game antics & attitude on the court made each of their (season best) 66 wins look so easy. They were on national TV every week, putting on show after show, week after week. They were without a doubt the team to watch. Each game, either a highlight dunk or chase down block from LeBron made SportsCenter’s top plays. Anchoring what was the best defensive team in the league, on top of putting together an MVP season with his contributions on the offensive end, LeBron was playing at an all-time high.
For what it was worth, Cleveland was the best team in the NBA during the regular season. There was a point in time where seeing LeBron play a single minute in the 4th quarter was a surprise. By the end of the 3rd, their games were usually close to being over. While the Lakeshow was strictly business out West, the Cavs were all fun & games in the East.
The two teams were night and day, but were both far separated from their competition, Kobe & LeBron being the De Niro and Pacino of the NBA.
24/23: The 08-09 Kobe/LeBron argument
The Kobe/LeBron argument of 2008-09 may go down as one of the most discussed and debated topics in NBA history. NBA fans all over the globe had their own personal opinion on which player they thought was better. If you didn’t have one, you weren’t a basketball fan. The debate was discussed every day, whether it was in a park, in a gym or in a barbershop. Everyone had personal opinions, and most were very passionate about them.
Over the years, there have never really been two best players in the league at the same time. If you go back and look at the stars from each decade, there was always one player who separated himself from the pack. In the early to mid-2000s, Kobe Bryant was that player. He had three championships under his belt, before chasing out the most dominant player in the game at the time for blocking his shine. Soon after, Kobe quickly emerged as the most unstoppable player in the NBA. Before LeBron came into his own, Kobe Bryant was undoubtedly the NBA’s best player. After scoring his 81 points and putting up 35 a game in 2005-06, the general consensus was that nobody could stop him. In the years following Shaq‘s departure, Kobe’s success as an individual would grow just as he had desired. However, until Gasol came to his aid, his team would suffer.
During Kobe’s reign as the NBA’s best, LeBron was growing into one of the most complete and unique players the NBA has ever seen. While Kobe had the reputation as a better scorer, many looked at LeBron as the more complete, more unselfish, well-rounded player. Each season, LeBron filled the stat sheet with assists and rebounds, on top of being one of the best scorers in the league. Not to mention, he made it look really easy. Once the 2008-09 season came around, he was ready to take the league by storm, transitioning his 45-37 Cavs into the 66-16 monster that I previously mentioned.
Despite the fact that Kobe, or his fans, didn’t want to admit it, age was slowly catching up with him. He would still have his occasional outburst, but he wasn’t the super scorer that he was in his previous years. His fans used the excuse that he had to sacrifice his scoring for team victories, which was actually backed up by the Lakers 65-17 season. But an excuse nonetheless. By this time, it was clear that LeBron had evolved as the better scorer and all-around player. Kobe was just the leader of the better, more complete and experienced team. Lakers fans never wanted to credit themselves with “the better team” because it would belittle their hero’s greatness. Instead, they argued that LeBron had the better supporting cast in order to make it seem as if Kobe was winning just as much, with less talent around him, when in fact, it was the other way around.
Laker fans argued that Kobe’s rings were the defining factor in his success. The focal point of their arguments were that since LeBron had 0, he could not be mentioned as the NBA’s best player. They used Kobe’s three championships as a crutch to prove that he was the better player, claiming that since he had achieved more in his career he was superior. Bringing up past achievements has always been a focal point in debates for Laker fans. On the other end, Cavs fans were always concerned with the right now, confident that championships were in their hero’s near future.
LeBron fans credited Shaq for earning all three of Kobe’s rings, negating them by saying “he hasn’t won any rings without Shaq”. Like it or not, Shaq played a big role in getting those three rings and was the stud in L.A. before Kobe was. Kobe fans knew that, they just had a hard time accepting it. Kobe had a lot to do with those rings as well of course, however Cavs fans never wanted to admit that.
The strongest argument Cavs fans had in their favor was statistics. In order to try and prove that LeBron was the superior ballplayer, Cavs fans went straight to the numbers, which clearly showed that LeBron was the better ballplayer during that time (he averaged more points, rebounds and assists while putting together a better record than Kobe’s Lakers that year).
Both sides had their respective arguments and points to support them, however the unknown was yet to be determined. After the season, the playoffs would ultimately prove who was right and who was wrong. Fans all over the globe wanted nothing more than to see the two superstars face off, head-to-head in the Finals in order to settle the dispute once and for all. All season long, NBA fans built up enormous hype in anticipation of a potential matchup between the two best players in the world, with a little help from the media.
Setting the stage: Marketing the matchup
The NBA has never had a more marketable duo than Kobe & LeBron. For Nike, it was a match made in Heaven. They were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to advertise both players together, linking the two in marketing matrimony. Taking the hype that the two had built and running with it, Nike took full advantage of the opportunity. Their series of “MVP Puppets” commercials would become the most popular on television. On one end, you had your more experienced, more polished, veteran who had no plans of letting go of his spot as the league’s best. Then on the other, you had the young, fly and flashy, more electrifying superstar who was beginning to win over the hearts of NBA fans across the globe. Needless to say, Nike took full advantage of the two superstars’ buzzing popularity and turned the Kobe/LeBron relationship into a comical series of commercials. The commercials would become so popular, that Nike had no choice but to continue the series into the following season after the 2008-09 NBA Playoffs.
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Falling short: The Orlando Series
While the Lakers were looking as sure fire as they’ve ever looked in the early rounds of the playoffs, Cleveland looked seemingly untouchable in the first two rounds. Sweeping both of their first two opponents, the Cavs entered the Eastern Conference Finals matched up against Dwight Howard and the Magic. The matchup was very intriguing because the two teams were very different. Cleveland loved to run and show out, while Orlando was always looking to slow the game and work inside-out in the half-court. Many expected it to be a good series, but nobody expected the Magic to execute their strategy to perfection the way they did.
Cleveland lacked the defensive presence on the interior to matchup with Dwight in the post. As a result, they were forced to double team Dwight, and leave the Magic shooters the perimeter to shoot the lights out. Shooting 40% from three for the series, the Magic would do just that. Dwight would have his way with the Cleveland big men when left in single coverage, leaving Cleveland with no choice but to pick their poison. LeBron gave it his all, averaging 38.5 points per game for the Cavs in the series, but it wouldn’t be enough. The Cavs would fall to the Magic in six games.
The Orlando series was a pivotal point in the career of LeBron James. After six seasons as a Cavalier, he had failed to win a championship. After giving the Cleveland organization everything they had asked of him, playing above and beyond and piggy backing a satisfactory roster deep into the playoffs for several years, LeBron began to realize that the organization hadn’t been giving him much to work with. He had bent over backwards for Cleveland, while they sat and watched. Giving the Cavs the benefit of the doubt (they were after all, a 66-16 team, although it was mainly because of his greatness) LeBron would return for the final season of his contract for the 09-10 NBA season, confident that management would bring him a “Robin”. He had proven that he could get the team there, but all he needed was someone to assist him in finishing the job, maybe so he wouldn’t have to average 39 points to give his team a chance to win.
All the past NBA champions had a one-two punch of two great players, whether it was Magic & Kareem, Jordan & Pippen, Shaq & Kobe, Duncan & Robinson, or even Wade & Shaq, it has always taken an elite dynamic duo to finish the job. Frankly, LeBron & Mo Williams just weren’t capable of reaching that elite level.
The Aftermath: “The Decision”
After Dwight Howard and Orlando put out LeBron and the Cavs, they would go on to the finals to face Kobe and his Lakers. Never taking their eyes off the prize for the entire season, the Lakers had made it to the Finals yet again, determined to not come up empty handed. Their interior nucleus of Gasol, Bynum and Odom was enough to keep Howard bottled up inside, while Kobe and the rest of the Laker guards stayed out on Orlando’s shooters. The Lakers would go on to win it all in five games, and Kobe was crowned with his fourth NBA Championship.
Losing to Orlando hurt LeBron and his fans worse than they had ever hurt before. The simple fact that they couldn’t make it to the Finals to take on Kobe & the Lakers themselves left Cavalier nation devastated. Meanwhile, Laker fans were ecstatic to see Cleveland lose, paving the way to their championship.
Despite those playoffs ending in a disappointing, anti-climactic finish, there was still hope to see the matchup of our dreams in 2009-10. LeBron was entering what was potentially (at the time) his last year as a Cavalier, and his fans had a great feeling that he wasn’t taking no for an answer. Still disheartened after being outmatched by the Magic, LeBron was patiently waiting for management to bring him his new tag-team partner. Cleveland had gotten out to a great start in 09-10, approaching the trade deadline. Looking over their options, management chose to go after Antwan Jamison instead of offering the Suns whatever they wanted to bring the more talented, and electrifying Amar’e Stoudemire to Cleveland. Cavs fans all over anticipated Amar’e in a Cavs jersey. He was the perfect fit. Signing Jamison, Cleveland management had failed LeBron again. In his embarrassing debut as a Cavalier, Jamison would shoot 0-12 from the field, scoring his only points at the free throw line with 40 seconds remaining in the game. Needless to say, this was a sign of things to come.
Many Cleveland fans were disappointed in management’s decision to choose Jamison over Stoudemire, but of course, they still had faith in their team and expected nothing less than a championship. It has never been said, but in my opinion, LeBron was more than unsatisfied with management yet again, and secretly began plotting his exit from his hometown as soon as the Jamison deal was announced, right under the nose of all his fans and supporters. LeBron had little to no say at all in the decision to bring in Jamison, and had to have been upset with management over that.
The Jamison move was the last straw for LeBron. After expecting a superstar capable of propelling Cleveland over the top, they got him an old head whose contribution would be very miniscule. It’s almost like being a straight-A student whose parents always get you horrible Christmas gifts. Then, once you finally think times have changed, in anticipation of possibly receiving an amazing brand spankin’ new Xbox 360, they get you a used Super Nintendo.
Talk about disappointment.
Unfortunately, the management’s decision to choose Jamison over Stoudemire, would eventually provoke LeBron’s decision to leave Cleveland in free agency, and link up with the “Robin” he’d always been looking for in Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach. LeBron would receive an enormous amount of criticism and scrutiny from fans all over the globe. Fans everywhere accused him of being disloyal and cowardly for leaving his hometown for South Beach. I would go into just how bad the hate really got, but I have to keep it PG. LeBron ended up going from the most loved to the most hated in the blink of an eye.
My Reaction as a LeBron fan:
Being one of LeBron’s biggest fans, I disregarded all of those accusations and never really entertained them. Personally, I felt all along that LeBron’s “Decision” was provoked by his hometown team’s lack of appreciation and ability to get him a supporting cast capable of winning a championship. I celebrated in excitement with the understanding that LeBron would eventually have the opportunity to win multiple championships alongside his two new teammates. Sure it hurt his heart to leave his hometown, but as the saying goes “ya gotta do what ya gotta do” and winning championships is what “ya gotta do” to succeed in this league. LeBron knows that, and that’s why he left Cleveland for Miami.
After realizing the reality of the situation, I sat and asked myself, what if Orlando would have lost to Boston prior to beating Cleveland? What if the 2008-09 Cleveland Cavaliers were fortunate enough to not run into a team perfectly fit to destroy them? What if LeBron and Kobe faced off in the Finals that year? Jordan had to go through Magic, Kobe had to go through Boston; it was destined for LeBron to go through Kobe, wasn’t it? What if the Cavs were able to get Stoudemire? If that happened, would LeBron have won a championship for his hometown Cavaliers? The million-dollar question is if they won a championship, would LeBron have stayed in Cleveland?
All of these questions came to my mind, but would unfortunately end up going unanswered. I still ask myself those questions to this day.
Ever since LeBron made it to the NBA Finals against the Spurs in 2007, I wondered if he was the only player in the history of the modern game, good enough to do it “by himself”. Ultimately San Antonio and eventually Orlando would prove me to be wrong.
Once LeBron packed his bags for Miami, I officially crowned the 2008-09 Kobe/LeBron matchup as the best NBA Finals that never happened. Now that LeBron has failed in his first attempt to win a championship with his new team, it makes this that much more significant. If he would have been able to out play Kobe Bryant, his favorite player growing up, in a Finals showdown for his first NBA title, in his hometown, it would have been one of the most special championships earned for any player in the history of the game. Now that he’s left for Miami and Kobe seems to be on the downward slope of his career, the Kobe/LeBron Finals matchup is officially the Mayweather/Pacquiao of the NBA. It’s sadly just never going to happen.
What do you think? Is this the best Finals matchup that never happened?
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