Interesting cover for Sports Illustrated this week.
It features Kevin Durant with the headline: “New Era.” Over to the left, is a small photo of an SI cover of LeBron James with the same “New Era” headline.
Youhave to say SI is right based on Tuesday’s game. However, if James and the Heat win the series, what will be SI’s cover headline? Return of the old era?
From the release:
A new era in the NBA has arrived and it has taken two men to deliver it. LeBron James, 27, and Kevin Durant, 23, are the key players of this post-Kobe era, and each is seeking his first title at the other’s expense. The last Finals to launch a new generation with so much anticipation and promise was the showdown between the Lakers and the Celtics in 1984, when Magic Johnson’s Lakers lost to Larry Bird’s Celtics over seven memorable games. A look inside the much anticipated match-up of the two best players in the league during this year’s NBA Finals is the cover story for the June 18, 2012, issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands now.
Unlike Johnson (a point guard) and Bird (a small forward), who rarely guarded each other, James and Durant will match up for a majority of their minutes, making for must-watch TV. The two players forged a friendship this past off-season. Durant spent four days in Akron working out with James, where they consoled each other about their shared troubles with the veteran Mavs, who had KO’d the Thunder last spring before upsetting the Heat in the Finals.
LeBron James said, “We pushed each other each and every day. I envisioned us getting to this point.”
Also, here’s a preview of story by Chris Mannix on Durant and Russell Westbrook:
Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook may not be the biggest name in the Finals, but how well he runs the Thunder’s offense will determine which team goes home with a championship. Consider Westbrook’s job description: Don’t just score, create, and do it while keeping the turnovers down, the shooting percentage up and, oh, yeah, making sure the NBA’s scoring champ, Kevin Durant, is getting enough shots. Not since Allen Iverson has an elite point guard been asked to play such a multifaceted role.
Westbrook’s relationship with Durant has been dissected at a Kardashian level. Critics have wondered whether two alpha males can coexist, bringing up examples of discord (a well-publicized blowup on the bench in Memphis last December) and statistics (Westbrook’s hoisting up nearly as many shots as Durant in a bumpy 2011 playoffs) as proof that they can’t. What’s rarely cited is how Westbrook and Durant were inseparable during All-Star weekend or how the two routinely text each other about anything, from basketball to video games, late at night. Nor is it often noted that the duo scored more points per game (51.6) than any other tandem this season, or that when the game is tight, Westbrook defers: With a minute to play and the score within three points, Durant has attempted 37 shots, Westbrook eight.
Says Westbrook:“People keep trying to break me and Kevin up. But we just keep getting closer.”