LeBron James and Gregg Popovich have met in the NBA Finals three times. Is it safe to say the elder of the two is the superior basketball mind?
In 2007, a young 22-year old felt the pain so many have also had to deal with.
Throughout NBA history it’s become a “rite of passage” to lose on the biggest of stages before you can finally officially breakthrough. Isiah Thomas and the Bad Boys had to conquer Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics in the late 1980s. Michael Jordan then had to figure a way to navigate through those very same Bad Boys once they were at the top of the game.
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Two seasons ago, LeBron James needed to pull that Gregg Popovich monkey off his back.
OK, while admittedly the LeBron example is completely ridiculous when comparing it to the Pistons and Bulls breaking through, the sentiment still rings true for that young 22-year-old back in 2007.
A much-needed lesson was learned.
LeBron and his upstart Cleveland Cavaliers completely shocked the beasts of the East, in the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons, en route to the NBA Finals. As quickly as they started though, they failed miserably in four straight games to Tim Duncan and Popovich.
Whatever James tried to do in the series was completely neutralized by Pop’s genius defensive team-oriented defense.
In 2013 James narrowly, and I mean narrowly, got past Popovich in the NBA Finals thanks to the heroics of Ray Allen and a Chris Bosh tap-out.
Popovich continuously preached a sagging defense on James throughout the entire series which suffocated the four-time MVP. Only when LeBron decided to completely muscle his way to the basket (without his headband) did Miami find success in that series momentum swinging sixth game.
Last season Pop and the Spurs once again dominated The King. In fact, dominating his team in historic fashion — winning by an average of 14.5-points per game, the biggest margin in NBA Finals history.
Aside from the 2013 Game 6 heroics, James has been overwhelmed by the San Antonio coach.
Thursday night they’ll meet once again, this time with James back in the uniform Pop saw in 2007. Both teams are right where they want to be. The Cavs are hitting on all cylinders after the acquisitions of J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov; and the Spurs are locked into a playoff spot (as they could care less which playoff slot it is).
It’s hard to argue the fact that this game means anything, for this is the NBA regular season, and both of these teams are two of only a handful of legitimate championship contenders.
For LeBron though, it could have a bit of extra appeal.
The 2014-15 season has presented a monkey wrench in the life of the best baller in the world. While his Cavs have risen to the cream of the crop in the East, there remains another team in the East that could be superior — the Atlanta Hawks.
In any other scenario most would just toss them out of the window, as a great regular season team with no real shot in the playoffs because of the lack of a real superstar, but with Mike Budenholzer behind the bench, all bets are off.
Budenholzer spent almost two decades honing his craft under Popovich in San Antonio, and because of this the other elephant in the East room would be the question of whether Budenholzer could also have James’ number.
Five nights ago the Hawks and Cavs met in a highly anticipated playoff preview. Atlanta won handily, 106-97, as James was a non-factor with an unimportant 18 points on 5-for-13 shooting.
King James Gospel
The victory provided the Hawks with the 3-1 season series lock-down on the Cavs.
Not only does James have to worry about the distant Spurs, but he now has another clone in his own conference.
While most can always point to that 2013 championship, as James played alongside Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Ray Allen, the majority will still feel Popovich owns The King.
Only view Thursday as a sample. The real test will come against the understudy in the Eastern Conference Finals.
And only if James meets and exceeds those Spurs in the NBA Finals this spring can people say Popovich doesn’t own The King. While the odds are stacked against us that the two will meet for the third straight season, remember, this the NBA and change at the top doesn’t happen frequently.
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