NBA Finals Game 7 - What Next?

You all knew it was only a matter of time before I posted about this year's NBA Playoffs. They have been exciting and intense, showcasing some of the best players and match-ups that the league has to offer. Now 14 teams have been eliminated, and we find ourselves in every sports fan's dream scenario...

NBA FINALS - Game 7

I am so excited, I am actually counting down the hours to tip-off (just under five as I write this). This is how it should be. The two best teams in the league. Neither team winning more than one game in a row in the series. The most talented team in the world versus the best team in the world. The best player in the world versus the Hall of Famer with four rings already. The old school coach versus the young coach. This series has it all.

I could go off on a long tangent about Game 6 and how the media blows everything out of proportion. I could talk about how important free throws are. I could talk about how Gregg Popovich leads one of the most entertainingly-horrible press conference in professional sports. I could talk about Magic Johnson having the uncanny ability to somehow relate any sentence back to his days playing as a Laker. But I'm not going to. What am I going to do?

Just Watch.

I'm sure ABC will have at least eight pre-packaged highlight reels of the Spurs "Big 3", the Heat "Big 3", Ray Allen's place in history, Kawhi Leonard's free throws, flashbacks to Lebron's "Decision", and Duncan and Popovich's relationship as their run slowly fade into the sunset. But I won't even notice. I just wanna watch this game play out.

The adjustments each team has made have been unreal in this series. The role players have had good and bad moments. The stars have all had their time in the spotlight. And now it comes down to one game to decide the NBA Championship. One game.

Do you realize how insane that is? Forget for a minute that any team in the league, including Miami and San Antonio, would kill for this chance to win one game to win it all. But to reflect on an entire season, all the hours of training, lifting, practicing and shooting...and to see it all culminate into 48 minutes of frenzied glory. The defense will be frenetic. The offense will be calculated. The energy levels will be through the roof. And yet, throughout all that, these guys have to somehow channel the right amount of energy and frenzy without playing careless or with reckless abandon. The line is thin. Razor thin.

So to Lebron James and Tim Duncan - best of luck. I'm not even going to taint this post with a prediction of winner or score, or even a hint at who I'm rooting for. A lot of people would ask to see these players' best 48 minutes of basketball tonight. But not me.

I know they're gonna bring it.

I just want to watch.