Monday, June 11th, 2012 at 10:55 am  |  64 responses

LeBron James to Face Kevin Durant in Dream NBA Finals


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

The two best players in the League are going to duel it out for the ultimate prize, starting tomorrow night in OKC. Kevin Durant and the Thunder are awaiting LeBron James’ Miami Heat, on the sport’s biggest stage.

And both superstars – who famously worked out together in the offseason, on and off the basketball court – say they’re ready to fully embrace the challenge.

From the AP:

“It’s only right. It’s only right,” James said. “We look forward to the challenge. It’s going to be a big test for us.”

James played at a rarely seen level in the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics. James is the first player since Shaquille O’Neal in the 2000 finals to have six 30-point games in a playoff series. In the one contest where James didn’t score 30, he finished with 29 in Game 4, fouling out in overtime. “He was absolutely brilliant this series, and we all know it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. Criticized last season for deferring too often in crucial situations, James went into the offseason driven by the pain of failing in the NBA finals. In the [workout[ sessions with Durant, they pushed each other to the limit. ‘Me and KD, man, just tryin’ to get better,’ James said … ‘I envisioned it every day we worked out,’ James said. ‘I understood what his passion was. I understood what his drive was.’

“It’s going to be a battle,” Durant said. The Heat and Thunder split two games during the regular season, both winning at home. Durant scored the most points in the NBA this season at 1,850, James was second with 1,683. James won the MVP award, Durant finished second.

The winner of this NBA Finals won’t be determined by who wins the matchup between LBJ and KD – those two are more than likely to cancel each other out – but by who else steps up on either side.

However, let’s not kid ourselves. In terms of storylines, this all about Kevin Durant and LeBron James, arguably the most riveting superstar showdown for the championship since Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson in 1991.

Not too bad a finish to a season that was nearly wiped out by the NBA Lockout.

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  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ ti-sizzle

    I <3 LBJ. best player in the nba……………

  • http://slamonline.com Datkid

    ldub has been making dope points. props to him.

  • Bill Haverchuk

    I’m not sure why everyone is talking about Miami like its Lebron with the Cavs all over again? Yeah, Wade has been inconsistent, but he showed up in game 7. Bosh seems to be at least healthy enough to be a threat so this isn’t some garbage team with one godly player, this is going to be a battle. Heat in 6.

  • DS44

    Has LeBron won the championship yet?

  • http://www.offthebackboard.wordpress.com Off The Backboard

    Lebron/Durant is much more exciting than Kobe/Lebron because of the closeness in their ages – only a 4 year gap as opposed to 6. The fun part is that Lebron still has at least 4-5 years of elite play left in him before he tails off (weird to think that his apex is likely this season). This is going to be fun series and could be the start of a Finals rivalry. I have OKC in 6 like many others because while Lebron is playing out of this world, the rest of the Heat are not. And if you can beat a Spurs team that won 20 in a row 4 straight times, you deserve to be the favorite in the NBA Finals.

  • http://nba.com/celtics lights out

    i think i’m part of a minuscule minority when i say i’m not thrilled about this matchup. i like the storyline of Bron-Durant, probably the two best players in the league (as Off pointed out, the closeness of their ages makes it even more interesting), but other than that, little excites me here. these are two teams that play backyard basketball, which can be fun to watch, but not nearly as interesting to me as truly cerebral basketball. this is not going to be a chess match of a series. i’m not taking away from how good these teams are; i’m just saying they’re not good in the ways that i enjoy most.

  • DukeFromDeep

    OKC in 6. Book it!

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    Spo > Scott Brooks.

  • lebron james

    Thunder in 4 watch I’m not clutch

  • Drig

    Sigh……I was looking forward to Spurs vs Celts so damn much. This one will be a make-miss series. Coaching be damned. (And I hate that. I was hoping to see Pop vs Doc )

  • http://streetlights.dk/ Streetlights

    Funny how the NBA had a front page headline that said all “true hoops fans” would want the Heat to move past the Celtics and advance to the Finals. This should be interesting, sure, but I’d rather have a series where I can see myself cheering for both teams.

  • AQWORD

    Phuk all your weak predictions & assumptions. Lets play ball. Bring it!

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    Make NO MISTAKE… LeBron and Durant will not cancel each other out…. THESE GUYS ARE THE SUPERSTARS ON THEIR TEAMS…which ever one plays the best will win the championship.

  • Da-Meat-Hook

    Caboose’s mom> nbk’s mom in bed.

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