Stop Debating if Stephen Curry or LeBron James is the Face of the NBA
By Kyle Koster
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors will play Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight. The first team to notch four wins will be crowned champion. Stephen Curry felt it necessary to point out this story line is as important as the “who is the face of the NBA” angle that’s dominated the conversation in recent days.
"“It’s really annoying for me,” Curry said Wednesday. “That’s not what I’m playing for, to be the face of the NBA or to be this or that or to take LeBron’s throne or whatever. You know, I’m trying to chase rings, and that’s all I’m about. So that’s where the conversation stops for me.”"
It is so, so refreshing to hear an athlete erase a sports-shouting topic from relevance succinctly. Those of us on the outside can project all our narratives onto Curry and James and debate their legacies in real time but doing so is missing the forest through the trees.
It’s probably against my best interests to say so, but these make-believe, subjective topics only serve to obscure the greatness. What we have on our hands is a tremendous rematch between two teams led by superstars.
In short, it’s good stuff. The stakes are already as high as possible without adding any extra sauce.
"“I’m not in the business of ranking or debating who is what,” Curry said. “At the end of the day it’s about winning, and the fact that we won a championship last year and were the last team standing, obviously, is what was most important to me.”"
Now, do I expect Curry’s comments to change anything? No.
It’s 2016 so athletes are either clutch or chokers, legends or frauds, the all-time greatest or nothing.
My advice? Enjoy the actual 48 minutes of game time because they’ll soon be buried under an avalanche of takes.