OAKLAND, Calif. — The Cleveland Cavaliers’ bid to defend their NBA championship ended in defeat Monday night, as the Golden State Warriors prevailed 129-120 to win the league championship series in five games.
Kevin Durant, the Warriors’ key free-agent acquisition last offseason, averaged 35 points eight rebounds and five assists during the series — setting a record for the highest point total in a five-game playoff series — and claimed the Russell Award as the Finals Most Valuable Player.
While the former Oklahoma City Thunder star was clearly a deserving choice, there’s a case that could be made that Lebron James was the better option — even though his Cavaliers managed to win just one game during the series.
James racked up 41 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in Cleveland’s Game 5 loss. He averaged a triple-double (33.6 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists) during the series. It was his 31-point, triple-double effort in Game 4 that gave the Cavaliers their only win of the series.
But there’s only one time in NBA history has the NBA Finals MVP award gone to a player from the losing squad — Jerry West claimed the award in the 1968-69 season, when his Lakers fell to the Boston Celtics in seven games.
Did James deserve to win the award — named for Celtics star Bill Russell by NBA commissioner David Stern in 2009 — this year? Or did the voters get it right in awarding it to Durant?
Share your opinion in our poll.
