LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant Is the Best NBA Rivalry Since Bird vs. Magic
LeBron James is a three-time MVP. Kevin Durant is a three-time scoring champ. James, who also owns one scoring title, is only 27 years old. Durant, who will no doubt pick up an MVP award before he's done playing, is only 23 years old.
As the Miami Heat battle the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 2012 NBA Championship, NBA fans are enjoying every minute of this awesome matchup. We should all get used to it because it won't be the last time these two superstars lock horns.
The NBA hasn't seen a rivalry like this since the 1980s, when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson dominated the league.
Bird won the MVP award three straight times (1984-1986). Magic also won the MVP award three times (1987, 1989, 1990). Magic won five rings. Bird won three. Most importantly, the Lakers and Celtics met head-to-head in the NBA Finals three times, with Magic's Lakers winning two of those series.
This was a rivalry with star power, and it was really atypical of NBA history before or since.
The '60s were dominated by Bill Russell and the Celtics. The '70s saw eight different teams win a championship. The '80s were all about Bird vs. Magic. Then a pattern developed where guys had to pay their dues.
Isaiah Thomas had to come up short against Bird and the Celtics before his "Bad Boy" Pistons could get to the NBA Finals, and they lost a heartbreaking seven game series to Magic and the Lakers before finally breaking through and winning back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990.
Even Michael Jordan had to suffer gut-wrenching losses to those same Pistons in two straight postseasons before finally winning his first NBA title in 1991. Of course, as we all know, once Jordan won that first title, the Bulls won it all in six of the next eight seasons.
After Jordan's run was over, the NBA had a back-and-forth rivalry. The Lakers and Spurs, led respectively by Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan, won six out of the next seven championships. The only problem was that they both played in the Western Conference. So the NBA Finals was a huge letdown every year, with the best two teams knocking one another out in the Conference Finals.
No, the NBA hasn't been this much fun since Bird vs. Magic.
Not since those heavyweight matchups of NBA glory days gone by have we seen the two best players in the world, both young and in their prime, having a chance to go mano a mano for all the marbles.
What is even more fascinating about this series is the fact that neither James nor Durant has won an NBA championship yet. When Bird and Magic first hooked up in 1984, Magic already had two rings and Bird already had one.
So LeBron vs. Durant 1.0 has a lot more riding on it.
Even better, not only do we have the two best players alive going at it right now, but they are both on teams that are built to be right back here again next year. LeBron, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh form a devastating trio that figures to only get better as they play together longer. Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and James Harden are even younger, and the Thunder have better draft picks than the Heat do moving forward.
So enjoy the 2012 NBA Finals. Root like crazy for LeBron if you love him. Cheer hard for Durant if he is your guy. One of them is going to win his first ring. Either way, don't get too excited.
This is only Round 1.
