The Golden State Warriors delivered a momentous, title-clinching victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, with Kevin Durant scoring a team-high 39 points for the Warriors in Game 5 Monday en route to being named as the deserving NBA Finals MVP .
Durant was simply phenomenal, scoring at least 30 points in each of the five games in the Finals. But not far behind from his gaudy numbers was none other than LeBron James, who ended up with a triple-double average for the series and finished with a game-high 41 points in Monday night's loss.
The back-and-forth one-upmanships on the courts between KD and LBJ have been a sight to behold, with the former finally getting the better of the latter in this year's edition of the Finals. In his brief post-game interview with Doris Burke, Durant had nothing but praise and respect for LeBron.
From NBA on TNT:
"Since 2012, he's the only one I looked at and said he's the only guy that can look me eye-to-eye…" – KD on @KingJames #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/AAImJS0aMJ
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) June 13, 2017
Some fans might interpret Durant's words as braggadocio, but he does have a good point: he and LeBron have indeed been widely considered as two of the very best players in the NBA for the past five years. And for at least this 2016-17 season, Durant got to exorcise his biggest demon by finally becoming a champion, and against none other than the King himself in the final showdown.
Durant sees himself as an equal to James when it comes to basketball prowess, and winning the NBA title does virtually put him at that same level where James is, especially now that he has the actual hardware to back it up. Although KD still has a lot of catching up to do in terms of championships won and other individual accolades, there's no doubt that this captivating saga between he and James has just begun, and that he's very much up to the task of making their rivalry the best that the NBA has ever seen for many more years to come.
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