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What Had Happened Was

What Had Happened Was: 6/20/16

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    NBA: Finals-Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors
    Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) blocks a shot by Golden State Warriors guard Leandro Barbosa (19) in game seven of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. John G. Mabanglo-Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports
    By Ryan Cortes Rhiannon Walker Kofie Yeboah

    GAME. BLOUSES.

    Here is the crazy part about today, amid many surreal moments from an epic Game 7 on Sunday night: There is nothing you can say praising Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James that is too overboard or too much today. Nothing. Best Finals performance we’ve ever seen? Yeah, maybe. Best player of this generation, without question, and maybe more? Perhaps. Most impressive block anyone has ever witnessed? Man, it just might be.

    Shoot, if you ask Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Jim Boylan, that ridiculous, soul-snatching swat was even bigger. “That is the greatest play I’ve ever seen,” he told ESPN’s Zach Lowe after the game.

    James was so good this series — he averaged 33.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.8 assists after going down 0-2 — he broke the math involved. All the numbers kept pointing to an eventual Warriors championship — how many times could they miss wide open 3-pointers? How many times was Stephen Curry going to flounder? How much damn money was Harrison Barnes going to light on fire before he changed course?

    The answer? LeBron James. Stop asking your questions.

    The Warriors didn’t score in the final 4:39 yesterday, Draymond Green cost the Warriors a pivotal game earlier in the series with a silly suspension, Curry chucked his mouthpiece at a fan and got ejected, Kerr took a $25,000 fine for trashing the officiating and yet — the narrative today shouldn’t and can’t be about the poise that leaked out of the Warriors over and over, not yet. It should be about the man weeping on the court after the game, emotionally spent, pounding the floor because he delivered what he promised to a city that deserved it.

    Salute, LeBron. You earned this.

    You, too, J.R.

     

    BLESSINGS!

    We’re just going to take a moment to enjoy social media’s creativity here.

    https://twitter.com/Ohen_/status/744723078819741696

    SOCIAL STATUS

    ESPN’s Dave McMenamin spoke with our comrade Mike Wise after the game to discuss James’ “secret motivation”:

    FOR THE CULTURE

    Fifty thousand people attended the vigil for the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.

    Thirty years after his death, Len Bias is remembered by the University of Maryland for what he meant to the College Park community and basketball as a whole.

    Ayesha Curry’s father was almost arrested over the weekend after Quicken Loans Arena officials nearly mistook him for another man they believed to be entering games without proper credentials.

    The Washington Post analyzed past presidential fathers and determined that President Barack Obama is the outlier — who set a benchmark for how to be a good dad while in the White House.

    Oh yeah, black dads are more involved with their kids daily than any other racial group, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We’ll say it one more time for the folks in the back.

    TOP THREE TWEETS

    Every morning we’ll hit you here with the best of what we saw on social media the previous night. Why? Why not?

    1. OH, WORD

    2. WELL THEN

    3. THAT’S MINE, THANKS

    #ICYMI

    Jeff Rivers wrote a moving Father’s Day column on the lessons sports taught him about both his own father and his kids:

    Perhaps daddy switched days and hours with somebody else. Perhaps he had to work a double to make up for missed time. I didn’t ask. I didn’t care. I just wanted my dad to see me play and make him proud. Instead, as my team’s leadoff batter, I struck out on three pitches. Later, I went to play left field. A batter hit a single over the third baseman’s head. The ball rolled under my glove and between my legs. The batter scored. My coach pulled me out of the game. That was the last and only time my father ever saw me play youth league baseball. My father died about two years later. After my disastrous game, my father tried to console me. He tried to make me understand how unimportant the game really was. I tried to make him understand how really important I thought the game was: I wanted my daddy to be proud of me.

    PICTURE PERFECT

    http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=espn:16350433

    Ryan Cortes is a staff writer for The Undefeated. Lemon pepper his wings.

    Rhiannon Walker is an associate editor at The Undefeated. She is a drinker of Sassy Cow Creamery chocolate milk, an owner of an extensive Disney VHS collection, and she might have a heart attack if Frank Ocean doesn't drop his second album.

    Kofie Yeboah asks for Sweet Tea at every restaurant and recites approximately 2.5 Spongebob lines per hour.

    This Story Tagged: What Had Happened Was NBA Playoffs LeBron James Golden State Warriors Cleveland Cavaliers