Kobe Bryant Says 3rd Straight Warriors, Cavaliers Finals Wouldn't Be Bad for NBA

While a large sect of basketball fans are grumbling about a third straight NBA finals meeting between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors being nearly set in stone, don't count Kobe Bryant among them. 

"Why is that bad for basketball? That makes no sense," Bryant told ESPN.com's Jackie MacMullan. "Just because it's preordained that's a bad thing?

"I know I'm going to wake up in the morning. Is that a bad thing? I don't think it is."

The Cavaliers and Warriors both swept each of their first two playoff opponents on their way to reaching the conference finals. Cleveland will await either the Boston Celtics or Washington Wizards, while Golden State will face the San Antonio Spurs or Houston Rockets.

A rubber match between the last two NBA champions has seemed preordained since the offseason, which saw the Warriors reload by signing Kevin Durant and no Eastern team standing as a major threat to Cleveland. An inconsistent regular season from the Cavs and ongoing injury issues for the Warriors gave some hope to outside contenders, but those have all but vanished in the playoffs.

The Warriors have outscored their postseason opponents by 17.4 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com. The Cavaliers have outscored opponents by 11.0 points. No other team has a positive point differential of more than four points, and every other team remaining has lost four games. Barring a significant injury—and probably only one to LeBron James—the Warriors and Cavs are playing again in June.

Bryant, understandably, has no problem with dynasties. He won three straight championships from 2000-02 and then won back-to-back in 2009 and 2010. While there were no repeats of Finals opponents, Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers had a rivalry with the Sacramento Kings in the early 2000s that ranks among the best of the century.