I am sad. Quite sad actually. 2023 has been a rough sports year for me to say the least. The Oklahoma Sooners had their worst season in a decade, the Cowboys blew it in the playoffs, and now Lebron’s conquest for a 5th ring is coming to an end. Usually I can count on at least one of those things to come through for me. Not this year 😦
No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in NBA history. I’d like to think that if anyone could do it, it’d be Lebron, but at this point I’d be Lelying to myself. Lebron clearly isn’t the same guy from his last title in 2020. Hell, he isn’t even the same guy from when he broke the scoring record a few months back. His foot injury is clearly hampering him, and when you combine that with a 38-year old man body, it’s a recipe for heartbreak. He’s still playing fine, but it’s far from the Lebron we’re used to. He can be great in spurts, but he no longer has that take over gear where he can just will the team to victory. It doesn’t even feel like that long ago when I was watching the greatest playoff run in NBA history when 2018 Lebron was nuking teams left and right. Those are the glory days I’d like to go back to.
Every other Day-vis showed up right on schedule after sucking in game 2. In all honesty, game 2 is where the Lakers really lost this series. They had several chances to steal the game but couldn’t quite hold on. I wasn’t confident they’d win both games in LA, and going down 3-0 or even 3-1 against the mighty Nuggets seemed unlikely. If they could head back to Denver for game 5 tied 2-2, hope would still exist.
The fact of the matter is, Denver is just the better team. Every time it seemed like the Lakers would cut the lead or try to build one, Denver had an answer. It pisses me off when role players turn into superstars against Lebron teams but it doesn’t surprise me anymore. Lakers cut the lead to 2? Here’s a Jeff Green 3 right in your fucking mouth. Lakers actually take the lead?? Bruce Brown is there to make sure that doesn’t last more than a posession. It’s so fucking annoying. It also doesn’t help when Jamal Murray turns into the greatest basketball player ever for a half. He’s officially been added to my hate list, because I know he’ll turn right back into his average self in the Finals. He’ll go from 85% shooting in the WCF to 40% in the NBA Finals just because he’s not playing a Lebron team. Gross.
At least I’m watching the Celtics implode against the Heat on the Eastern side. It feels good to root for a Miami team again, and I’ll be rolling with JIMMY come Finals time. It’s impossible not to root for that fucking team. They will be severly outgunned in terms of talent, but they got 100x more DAWG and that’s all that matters. Real dawgs got that Jimmy in them, and the Heat have a shit ton of Jimmy. I’d like to see Jamal Murray think he’s big shit against that guy. If he sniffs an ounce of disrespect, he’ll catapult Jamal Murray’s confidence into the sun. RIP Grant Williams, poor guy might be out of the league soon.
It’s an L season for me, and an L for the NBA. I can’t imagine Denver vs. Miami is going to do any favors for the ratings. The thought of that brings me back to when people were complaining about super teams and wanted “parity” in the league. Well this is what that looks like you dumb pieces of shit. Lebron James IS the NBA, and we should all be very sad that his time is coming to an end. Even the haters. It’s been a great 20 years Lebron, and I’ll still hold out hope that there’s a little magic left for 21. See you next year King.
The Armchair Experts 
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