They’re still here.
You look up, you look around and see so many new faces ready to take their place among the NBA’s elite. It should’ve long happened by now, but they’re still here.
Fortified by acquisitions of various degrees, the lords of the rings find themselves back in the hunt for title No. 5, leaving us wondering how deep LeBron James and Stephen Curry can pull from their respective reservoirs to make it to June — one more time.
It was fair to deduce we had seen the last of these great titans. Four months ago, we thought the Los Angeles Lakers were hoping to pry Walker Kessler from Utah to bolster their front line — a nice move, not a world-changer. Four months ago, we thought the Golden State Warriors were sitting by and watching the NBA world go past them and turning Curry’s golden years into a spectacle of mediocrity.
But then the Dallas Mavericks came to the Lakers with a care package, titled “generational superstar,” and the Miami Heat had a disgruntled superstar whose time was up and whom few teams were willing to seriously bid on.
That’s how we got here. Luka Dončić and Jimmy Butler seamlessly joining the incumbent stars on their turf, and now they’re looking to take corners — the old-fashioned “Wire” way.
The Lakers were already putting it together, but they weren’t thought to be a true Finals threat, and now they seem to have more than a puncher’s chance. There’s a reason eyes rolled at the Mavericks for not engaging the rest of the league when Dallas decided to get out of the Dončić business. Because even though James isn’t the 48-minute house of fire he once was, it’s an unnecessary worry, putting him with Dončić and preparing for all the possibilities of what could come when the weather gets warmer.
The Warriors were in play-in territory before Butler and, thanks to a final week slip-up, found themselves there even after he arrived. But they were 23-8 since acquiring him for the low-low. That’s no shade to Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Anderson — it’s just that playoff superstars shouldn’t be paired with generational supernovas so damn easily.
That’s why all eyes will be on both champions in the coming weeks.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have dominated the West all season long, same with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East, but the challengers and stars who lead them are feeling reasonably confident about their chances.
This isn’t about a passing of the torch, not exactly. There have been plenty of players and teams holding the belt over the last seven years not named James or Curry.
It’s not what this coming postseason will be about, either. The Boston Celtics are the champions, and probably the most likely team to repeat since the Curry-Kevin Durant Warriors.
The Celtics have been at this stage, in this era, quite awhile. They’re respected, carrying a lineage fitting of Russell and Bird and contenders since. Any team that beats them, if a team should be so fortunate, would come with applause and a firm handshake.
But there’s something different about the old guys, because we know how much of a hold they have on basketball culture, on the NBA at large.
They’ve endured, and perhaps that’s what makes them endearing. In a space that’s ever-changing, these two are box office, ratings certainties, topics of every important conversation in the sport — sometimes to the detriment of the new stars.
And that’s where, despite the admiration and perhaps appreciation for where they’ve taken the game, there’s an equal bull’s-eye on those jerseys. Because knocking them off, getting that pound of flesh, still means so much in today’s game.
The currency the Houston Rockets would get, the measure of revenge coach Ime Udoka would exact dating back to the 2022 NBA Finals when Curry put the finishing touches on his career masterpiece in capturing the Finals MVP, would be immeasurable.
The skins on the wall for Anthony Edwards — he’s already got his idol, Kevin Durant, courtesy of last year’s shocking first-round sweep — will keep increasing. You can bet he’s eyeing a spot next to Durant’s, for James and definitely for Dončić. We expect Edwards and Dončić to be front and center for the next decade, battling for supremacy, or at least temporary control in this nomadic NBA.
It wasn’t premature to look at the current players in their primes as snatching something away. Nikola Jokić is the game’s best player, and Giannis Antetokounmpo is its most irresistible two-way force.
But as has been proven, staying on top is damn near impossible these days. So many factors out of one’s control must go your way in order to consistently compete at the highest level. There must be a commitment from ownership to spend and exhaust every resource — hence James flexing on the Lakers at every opportunity, either by forcing them to draft his son or making those passive-aggressive statements on team building that have mysteriously stopped since the Dončić trade.
There has to be stability on the sidelines — as the Bucks have changed coaches twice since winning it all in 2021, and the Nuggets are still smarting from the firing of Michael Malone.
Crazily enough, it would almost feel like a shocker if the Bucks or Nuggets made the climb from the 4-5 seed to the Finals, because that’s how quickly this league moves.
Faster than ever, quicker than ever.
It’s not supposed to be like this, this seismic, which makes those older fellas that much more impressive— the fact they’re even in the title conversation.
History says James at 40 years old should be powering down, the years of playoff games finally taking their toll.
History says Curry’s legs should be getting heavy. The years of running around screens, escaping the clutching and holding, negotiating the junk defenses geared specifically to stop him and only him should’ve beaten him down by now. He’s 37!
But they’re both still here.
Maybe a second-round matchup awaits, if they manage to escape the first.
Or maybe, just maybe, some of these new jacks are ready to put them away again, put them away for good and shift the league’s bandwidth elsewhere.
But somehow, even if they do, you get the feeling James and Curry will gear up to rise again, same time next year.
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