Does a Cav’s Victory in Game 7 Change the Legacy of LeBron James and Steph Curry?

We are finally here. The entire 2015-’16 season in the NBA comes down to one game. One way or another, we will crown a champion on Sunday. Does the outcome of that game alter the public opinion of its two superstars? If the Warriors win? Nothing changes. The narrative remains. LeBron James loses yet another Finals, the Warriors did what they were supposed to do, and Steph Curry’s sub-par series will be all but forgotten.

Now, in the event of a Cavalier’s victory, the narrative changes dramatically. LeBron will have been an integral part of something no other team in the history of the game has done before — come back from a 3-1 deficit to win an NBA Finals. Not only would that be historic in its own right, but to do it against the best regular season team ever? That would be legacy changing.

On the flip-side of that scenario, Curry’s sub-par series would be put under a microscope. I can hear the questions now, “How can the league’s MVP play so badly in the biggest series of the year?”  “Is Curry not as clutch as we thought he was?” “Did Jordan ever play second fiddle to Scottie Pippen in their championships like Curry did with Klay Thompson?”

Let’s look at what it would mean to LeBron first. This Finals is James’ sixth straight appearance, and it’s well documented that he is 2-4 in the previous five. A victory would put him at 3-4 for his career and  in an elite company of players that have three or more rings. That’s what everyone points to as LeBron’s downfall. He has lost three Finals appearances and Michael Jordan never lost. On the surface, it’s a fair argument, but when you really break it down you might think differently.

Of the six NBA Finals appearances that Jordan had, you want to take a guess at how many of them the Bulls were not favored to win? Not a single one. Jordan and the Bulls were almost expected to win all the six of their championships. They were the better team every time. James, however, has been the favorite twice, the Heat’s loss to the Mavs in 2012 and their victory over the Thunder in 2013. He is 1-1 in Finals in which he is favored, the Mavs being his only blemish.

The other five appearances include his first tenure as a Cavalier in 2006-’07 in which they were swept by the Spurs, his Heat teams that split two games with the Spurs (neither team was heavily favored), and these last two against the Warriors. Only one of those three losses can you put on LeBron — the 2012 Mavs series. No one gave the Cavs a fighting chance against the Spurs the first time James dragged “a bunch of guys” to the Finals, nor could they blame him last year when they lost both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love for the series, leaving Matthew Dellavedova as the second best player on the court next to LeBron.

A victory in Game 7, coupled, of course, with a huge performance by James, would silence his critics for good. Oh, they’ll still compare Jordan’s perfect Finals record to James’ 3-4 and try to pass them off them as “apples to apples”, but they just aren’t the same when you really look at it. James will have done something no one has ever done before — and was spectacular while doing it. There will be no other way to spin it.

Curry’s image, however, would make a complete 180 if they were to lose Game 7. By his standards he has only one good game in this series — the Game 4 win in which he scored 38 points. Meanwhile, his Splash Brother Klay Thompson has had a huge series and is averaging 29 points over the last three games. Whether you agree with it or not, Andre Iguodala was the MVP of last year’s Finals, not Curry. And, barring a huge performance in Game 7, Curry won’t be the MVP of this series either.

His Game 6 mouthpiece throwing implosion would be to Curry what the Dallas Finals collapse is to LeBron. Every media outlet, every “Skip Bayless”, everyone who is anyone covering the NBA will question his ability to take over a game in the big moments. Yes, it will be overblown. Yes, we will forget every big shot he has ever made to win a game in the regular season, and yes, we will forget what he did in overtime against the Blazers in the second round of this year’s playoffs. All we will remember, just like we do with LeBron, is the collapse.

I asked this question to all of my social media outlets, “Would a Cavs Victory in Game 7 Change Public Opinion of Steph Curry and LeBron James.” here are some of the responses…

Great ones don’t go down 3-1. Good ones don’t lose up 3-1. -@Nicktaur on the FantasyLifeApp

Steph Curry is proving what we knew about him. He’s a great shooter, but not a great player. When there is good D being played on him his FG% goes down dramatically. Also, Irving and Westbrook (his ‘defensive’ assignment) went off, they had to start putting (Klay) Thompson on them. – @johnnychimpo21 on the FantasyLifeApp

LeBron James has been trying to win a title in Cleveland with teams that are less than elite. Take Curry off the Warriors and take LeBron off the Cavs, and the Warriors sweep. If LeBron pulls off this comeback it will solidify his career and tuly put him in the same breath as Kobe and Michael – @trademastaur on the FantasyLifeApp

LeBron is looking like the real MVP! His career will be at a new level if CLE pulls this win out. If GSW wins, Klay for MVP! – @jfox023 on Twitter

Judging by this small sample size, it looks like the public opinion is already changing. Game 7 is Sunday at 8pm. The world will be watching…

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