Those legacies belong to 1998 rookie of the year, Tim Duncan, and 2004 rookie of the year, LeBron James. Duncan is looking to earn his 5th NBA championship ring, which would tie him with some other NBA greats such as Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant.
LeBron will be trying to earn his 3rd straight NBA championship, matching what only the greatest players have been able to accomplish, leading their team to a three-peat.
It's no surprise that LeBron James has made it back to the NBA Finals since he has been the best player in the game since Kobe has aged past his prime, and this year he will have a chance to do something only a select few teams have accomplished, and that is the legendary three-peat.
LeBron wasn't able to bring an NBA championship to his hometown while he was in Cleveland, and jetted for better chances in South Beach after the 2010 season. In Miami LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh formed a very formidable Big Three. That combination has helped lead the Miami Heat to four consecutive NBA Finals (The last team to play in four consecutive Finals was Larry Bird's 1984-87 Boston Celtics) and a chance to pull off a rare three-peat (The last team to pull of a Three-Peat was the 2000-2002 Los Angeles Lakers).
Tim Duncan has the nickname "Mr. Fundamentals" for a reason and that's because when Duncan is on the court you can expect him to do all the small things. Tim Duncan is now in his 5th NBA Finals, going 4-1 all time, and is looking for nothing more than to redeem themselves from last years fallout after the unforgettable Ray Allen three in Game 6.
If Duncan is able to help lead his team to another championship he would be only the second player in NBA history to win a championship in three separate decades. The other player to pull off such a rare feat was John Salley who won a championship with Detroit in the 80's, Chicago in the 90's, and the Lakers in the 00's. The glaring difference between when John Salley pulled it off and Tim Duncan is Duncan is still playing a leading role on his team while Salley was only a role player, at best, for the latter two of his three.
The NBA Finals already have plenty of storyline's to bring in an average NBA fan and a superfluous amount of storyline's for the hardest core of NBA fans.
Expect this to be one of the most memorable finals in a long time, with the most on the table for each franchise since the 2008 and 2010 finals when the NBA's marquee franchises, Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, met in some of the greatest finals games in history.
So go grab your drinks and Hors d'oeuvres and sit back and relax while we watch some great basketball over the next week or so. I predict the San Antonio Spurs win in six, but since I have no team in the race I will be satisfied with however this series plays out.
History will be made this year and the battle for Duncan and LeBron's legacies will change the future of the NBA.
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