What about all those games LeBron and Kyrie were given during the season so they could "rest" ?

While I understand why they want their games on the most watched TV nights (Thursday and Sunday nights) it is ridiculous to have 7 or 8 days in between series.

There are MANY days off right now because both of the conference championship series were cakewalks. If either series would have gone 7 games, there would have been games played this past weekend. The same thing would happen in LCS series' in MLB.

In conclusion, you're an idiot.

Yeah, remember the good old days when parity ruled the NBA and every team had a chance?

1989 Detroit Pistons 4-0 Los Angeles Lakers
1988 Los Angeles Lakers 4-3 Detroit Pistons
1987 Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Boston Celtics
1986 Boston Celtics 4-2 Houston Rockets
1985 Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Boston Celtics
1984 Boston Celtics 4-3 Los Angeles Lakers
1983 Philadelphia 76ers 4-0 Los Angeles Lakers
1982 Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Philadelphia 76ers
1981 Boston Celtics 4-2 Houston Rockets
1980 Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Philadelphia 76ers

If either series went 6 games, you're looking at 4-5 days off until the Finals. It's just a few more days. Not a big deal. If you're an NBA fan, you should want both teams to be well rested. Everyone knew the Cavs and Warriors would meet again this season and they just played about 100 meaningless games the past 7 months. 7 or 8 days off will do them good. Game 1 should be phenomenal.

You know what the best game of the series will be?

The last game, because then we don't have to deal with another NBA game for a few months.

You know what the best game of the series will be?

The last game, because then we don't have to deal with another NBA game for a few months.

If either series went 6 games, you're looking at 4-5 days off until the Finals. It's just a few more days. Not a big deal. If you're an NBA fan, you should want both teams to be well rested. Everyone knew the Cavs and Warriors would meet again this season and they just played about 100 meaningless games the past 7 months. 7 or 8 days off will do them good. Game 1 should be phenomenal.

Yeah, remember the good old days when parity ruled the NBA and every team had a chance?

1989 Detroit Pistons 4-0 Los Angeles Lakers
1988 Los Angeles Lakers 4-3 Detroit Pistons
1987 Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Boston Celtics
1986 Boston Celtics 4-2 Houston Rockets
1985 Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Boston Celtics
1984 Boston Celtics 4-3 Los Angeles Lakers
1983 Philadelphia 76ers 4-0 Los Angeles Lakers
1982 Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Philadelphia 76ers
1981 Boston Celtics 4-2 Houston Rockets
1980 Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Philadelphia 76ers

I can't understand being an NBA fan anymore, really, I can't.

I've said this a couple times here and I'll say it again here because I think there's merit to it: the NBA (and maybe a few other sports) doesn't lend itself to market expansionism in terms of creating a good product (the business side of the product might be fine). You continue to expand then you'll continue to see a watered down league where the disparity between the haves and the have nots only increases.

I think it comes down to the number of active players on most nights. In a league where you'll run teams with just 8 players giving meaningful minutes, each one of those eight is more important collectively than the 22 (+ 3 special teams guys) that the NFL runs. Imagine if we were playing hockey penalty shot games with 30 cities each having 6 man teams. Anyone with a really good shooter or goalie would immediately jump to the top of the league. Baseball is similar (although there is a pitching rotation, there's a greater imbalance of success/failure based on your pitcher, so having a great one can be the same as having two great fielding position guys.)

I've said this a couple times here and I'll say it again here because I think there's merit to it: the NBA (and maybe a few other sports) doesn't lend itself to market expansionism in terms of creating a good product (the business side of the product might be fine). You continue to expand then you'll continue to see a watered down league where the disparity between the haves and the have nots only increases. The league has tried to incentivize superstars to stay in place to spur better competition but if those stars continue to take less to go elsewhere or team up then you're going to continue to see things like this year's playoffs.

I don't think you can continue to expand AND have a good product because, frankly, there's only so many LBJs and KDs to go around. To really reach the heights of NBA stardom you need to have some combination of the following:

- be at least 6'5
- be supremely skilled at dribbling, shooting, defense/rebounding, or some combination thereof
- have preternatural athleticism, especially if you don't have the height

Obvious exceptions apply. There's not that many guys like that, and the guys who are like that end up tilting the balance of the league in their team's favor because they're so uniquely dominant. You can stop that by basically shutting down 3-5 teams so those players are redistributed to less-talented teams to boost up the level of competition within the league. Obviously that's not going to happen but if it did then you'd have better competition. Like other leagues the NBA probably depends on its skills and outreach programs to create future superstars, but frankly I think the NBA, maybe more than any other league, depends on its star players winning the genetic lottery, so the superstar pool is limited to begin with. You can coach a guy to pitch, to tackle, to skate, but you can't coach a guy to be 6'8 and touch the top of the backboard.

It's not just that it's the same two teams in the Finals for a third straight year (and LeBron for seven straight), it's that we knew it would be the Finals since October, and they blew through their conferences like it was nothing. It's one thing that it already feels utterly pointless to be a fan of two-thirds of the league, but this year even made following the Spurs, Rockets, and Celtics feel pointless. Oh well, Appreciate Greatness, I guess.

It's a funny contrast with the NHL, which is currently suffering from too much parity due to the lousy CBA and cratered Canadian economy. The NHL regular season is meaningless because the playoffs are a crapshoot; an 8 can beat a 1 because the 1 seed's captain smokes too much weed and forgets you have to score goals to win. The NBA's regular season is meaningless because the best teams are predestined. Neither seems fan-friendly to me, but again, who gives a fuck, the NBA is balls-deep in Chinese money now.

I was wondering when someone would point this is out. The only notable difference for me and it is relevant pertains to conf playoffs. I don't remember a time when teams were going 12-1 or 12-0 during the conf rounds. That's a joke but you always knew that the same 2-3 teams would be there every year during the 80's. Boston-L.A with a little Philly/Houston sprinkled in during early mid 80's. Later Pistons replaced Philly.

To be fair this is the third consecutive finals featuring Cavs/Warriors

There are MANY days off right now because both of the conference championship series were cakewalks. If either series would have gone 7 games, there would have been games played this past weekend. The same thing would happen in LCS series' in MLB.

In conclusion, you're an idiot.