In search of Larry O'Brien: 2015 NBA Playoffs

[FiddySicks]

Awesome. Considering just how downright AWFUL the Warriors have been throughout my lifetime, I NEVER thought there would be a day where they would make the Finals.

Pretty exciting few years for Bay Area sports.

[Rockstar Matt]

This is going to be a fun series. Definitely pulling for the Warriors. Nothing against the Cavaliers, but these Warriors are fun to watch.

[Sport]

Either the Cavs or Warriors will win an NBA championship. Neat.

beat it, Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Spurs, Heat, etc.

[DaRadniz29]

Woohoo!! Warriors!! This is great, a perennial bottom-feeder with a changing culture and the best back background arguably ever. Let's go Dubs!!

[HedleyLamarr]

And now, a full week until the next game gets played.

Hope there's some exciting NBA bowls to tide basketball fans over until then.....

[FiddySicks]

The past few years have been great here in the Bay. Giants & Warriors!!!!!!!

Even though they ultimately fell short and are a G*ddamn dumpster fire now, I'd even throw the Niners in there as well. Had the best stretch for them in a LONG time.

A few things:

Gotta feel for James Harden tonight. He had two duds in this series, but he played like a man possessed this year and for the majority of the playoffs. He carried the Rockets to within three games of the Finals. Definitely proved that he was a worthy candidate for MVP consideration.

I used to be a HUGE Dwight Howard fan, and there was a good stretch there where he was a solid #2 for me behind Lebron when it comes to my favorite players in the league. I even kinda felt for him for all the flak he got towards the end of his Orlando days and remained a pretty big fan. Lost a good amount of that love these last two series. The guy is just a douche.

Anyone that thinks the Warriors are just going to roll over the Cavs in the Finals I think is wrong. I expect the Dubs to ultimately win, and it may be fairly quick, but with Lebron they definitely have the inside presence to give Golden State some problems. I wouldn't be surprised if they keep it close. The Warriors turn the ball over disproportionately high for a team as good as they are (at least that's what it looks like), and Lebron is a guy who's good enough to eat silly little mistakes like that up. If Kyrie Irving can get healthy, he could have a BIG series, too.

This is definitely the first time I've ever seen an NBA Finals that is guaranteed to have some very favorable outcome for me either way. As much as I can't stand Cavs fans and their idiot owner, Cleveland as a city is definitely due. It's my favorite player in the league (Lebron) vs a Bay Area team. I'll take that all day.

[ninersdd]

5 conference titles since 2010 for the Bay Area. Not one of those for the Sharks. Sigh.

[Unocal]

It's gonna be a VERY interesting series.

As dissapointated as I was last year with Heat-Spurs II, I am thrilled with this.

Cleveland has some things that annoy me (Blatt, JR Smith, Dellevedova) but big picture that city is starved.

And GSW? 40 years.

One prediction- regardless of outcome, they will have a Finals rematch on Christmas Day.

[DarkJourney]

Adorable:

Not so much:

[DaRadniz29]

I heard someone say "we're gonna do this again?" When Curry had Riley at the podium and Curry just shot a look like, "what did you just say?" You know he wanted to say something but he was just like "whatever my kid is TV gold and she has overruled you. And now she's behind the curtain."

While sure it can create a hindrance to media, didn't they have a hand in the league(s) forcing players to do these press conferences? Curry won the WCF, to me that's as much a family moment as a sports moment. I don't know if it's necessary every win, loss or early in a series though.

Steph Curry NBA MVP by day, gum holder by night.

[Still MIGHTY]

He had his moment with his daughter on the court after they won. I'm sure he had moments with his daughter after the press conference too. These pressers only take 5-10 minutes at the most. I'm sure his wife/mom/whoever can watch his daughter for 5-10 minutes while he answers some questions like they have to do for the entire 3 hours of game time.

People act like the media are being unreasonable or squashing fun or whatever. Like I said, it's 5-10 minutes at the most. Curry is distracted. She's getting all up in the microphone too. It's like I said during the Marshawn Lynch thing, reporters like those press conferences as much as the players do, but they need to do them to get the quotes for the story. The faster/easier these things get done, the better it is for everyone. It's not a ridiculous requirement.

[truepg]

There's a parody coming of this, mark my words.

[CLEstones]

How come no one is crying foul after last nights game? One of the Rockets players dove on the ground for a loose ball and his Steph Curry on the legs, causing him to limp for a few minutes. Such a dirty play! Their is a history now.

[JasonFromMiami]

I think you should wait on bringing the family out on TV till you are holding a championship trophy, otherwise it can get a bit much

.

.

So i guess we are forced to see Riley again June 11

[DaRadniz29]

He had his moment with his daughter on the court after they won. I'm sure he had moments with his daughter after the press conference too. These pressers only take 5-10 minutes at the most. I'm sure his wife/mom/whoever can watch his daughter for 5-10 minutes while he answers some questions like they have to do for the entire 3 hours of game time.

People act like the media are being unreasonable or squashing fun or whatever. Like I said, it's 5-10 minutes at the most. Curry is distracted. She's getting all up in the microphone too. It's like I said during the Marshawn Lynch thing, reporters like those press conferences as much as the players do, but they need to do them to get the quotes for the story. The faster/easier these things get done, the better it is for everyone. It's not a ridiculous requirement.

Yeah, that's a bit much. I really don't think the media was unreasonable not wanting kids at the podium, because she was definitely distracting, though as a fan - it was entertainingly distracting and awesome.

Though, you just know ESPN is going to try and get her in a SportsCenter Commercial with her Dad, especially if the Warriors win the 2015 NBA Championship.

I'm not going to go into depth debating the whole is it right/not right again (partly because I just re-watched the ESPN video on the FIFA thing, and wow, my head hurts) but also - I just want to enjoy the WCF Series clinching victory.

All in all, I'm happy the Warriors have finally made it back to the NBA Finals, I wasn't even born yet when they won their first one in 74-75, but the goal hasn't been reached yet. Need to take 4 of a possible seven games against a tough Cleveland team. Hope it's a good series.

[FiddySicks]

I heard an announcer sum up Curry having his daughter at the podium pretty well. When you reach the pinnacle of your profession, no matter what you do, you want to be able to share such a big moment with the ones you love. Having family to embrace during those moments make them even more special.

That being said, I agree that they had that moment, and it's already getting kind of old. Like MIGHTY said, those things take ten minutes at most and are usually pretty dreadful to have to sit through. Celebrate on the court with them, separate for ten minutes, and then go back to them. I don't really have a problem with Curry having his daughter up with him once or twice, but I REALLY don't want this to catch on and become a trend.

Could you imagine how awful it would be if we're subjected to another Pats Super Bowl win and we're all stuck having to watch Tom Brady's smug face AND have to look at one of his Derrick Zoolander looking little brats screaming into the microphone at the same time? YUCK.

BTW, I don't know if he has any kids or not, but I'd imagine that's what they'd look like.

Another point, and a totally different topic, I just heard a stat that really sums up how much harder the road to the Finals was for the Warriors than it was for Cleveland.

With this Finals appearence, Steph Curry becomes the first player to have to face every single member of the NBA All First Team on his way to a (potential title).

First round: Anthony Davis

Second Round: Marc Gasol

Third round: James Harden

Finals: Lebron

That's absolutely crazy.

[CLEstones]

Call me bitter and mean, but I find Steph's daughter annoying. Bringing the kids on stage has become so status quo... there is not novelty in it anymore and I would even say there isn't much sincerity in it either. I don't like the fact that there are reports and beat writers trying to make their living but all they get out of Steph is some half-arsed answer while his kid makes noise and distracts everyone. It seems disrespectful to the reporters.

[The_Admiral]

Remember what Jerry Krause always said,

Organizations win championships!

[TheOldRoman]

I've been away from this thread for a while, but what is the deal with Curry's daughter? Did the media's whining get her banned from the presser?

Honestly, as cute as it was, she shouldn't be at the podium with him. Everybody criticized dope Dusty Baker for bringing his young son to the podium to deflect criticism when his teams blew it in the playoffs in 2002 and 2003. To be fair, we should just stop that practice entirely. Celebrate on the court with your kid, but have someone else watch her while you answer inane media questions. I'm someone who generally is against whining from the pampered sports media, but I agree here.

[TheOldRoman]

Remember what Jerry Krause always said,

Organizations win championships!

At least they got it over with rather than waiting until all other jobs were filled, which would be sleazy as hell (although within their right as they're still paying him). Like I said before, he deserves it after the way the team played against LeBron and the Island of the Misfit Toys. That was a series the Bulls should have won, even with Gasol finally turning into a pumpkin. If they can't beat James in that series, they're not going to beat him with a healthy Love and Irving. It's over for the Bulls. Blow the whole damn thing up. Get rid of GarPax, too.