Cleveland and Golden State were stressed and stretched to their limits in the conference finals this time around http://www.giantsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-nate-solder-jersey , leaving little time to recoup and prepare for their latest showdown in the NBA Finals.

”Splintered” is how Stephen Curry described what he feared could happen in the second quarter of Game 7 at Houston, with the Warriors pushed to the brink by the Rockets.

So, Golden State held a serious team chat and got it together at last. LeBron James willed his Cavaliers back to the big stage with another spectacular performance against Boston.

”It was a special moment for us. And I think one that we’ll look back, if we get the job done over these next two weeks, where, again, as an appreciation of all that goes into winning a championship,” Curry said Wednesday, ”and doing it by committee and making sure every guy, whether you’re playing well or not, or things are going your way or not, that we all bring something to the fold that have gotten us to four straight Finals.

”And we’ve done it by appreciating everybody that’s a part of that group. I think that two and a half minutes was a special moment for us http://www.broncosauthorizedshops.com/authentic-courtland-sutton-je... , and it should give us great momentum going into the series.”

Now, James and the Cavs and Curry and the defending champions find themselves in familiar territory, facing off in a fourth straight NBA Finals – just with far less prep time after each team played furious Game 7s on the road to get back here.

Cavs-W’s, Act IV is a little bit different, indeed. Game 1 is Thursday night at Oracle Arena.

King James stands in the way of a Warriors repeat, just as he did in spoiling that quest for Golden State and leading the Cavs to a championship two years ago with a Game 7 win on the Warriors’ home court, where they have currently won 17 of the last 18 postseason games.

James never counted out Golden State.

”Just going against the Warriors in the last three years in the Finals, I kind of figured or thought that they could get it done,” he said. ”Just because of the 18 of a possible 21 Finals games that I’ve played against them in the last three years, I figured out that they could make it happen.”

Here are some things to watch for heading into the best-of-seven series:

JAMES’ SHOT: James isn’t ready to make any bold predictions about how great he might be in his eighth straight Finals.

Yet the way he prepares, there’s no doubt in his mind he will be ready when the ball tips.

”The level that I can play at is to be seen, but the level that I put into the game and put into my craft is who I am http://www.eaglesauthorizedshops.com/authentic-josh-sweat-jersey ,” James said. ”So numbers and things like that kind of take care of itself. But for me, I understand and I know how much I put into the game. So everything else is OK.”

NO REST FOR THE WEARY: With only two days between games after the Warriors eliminated the Rockets 101-92 on Monday night, Draymond Green is happy to have an opponent in Cleveland he knows so well.

”In recent years we’ve been kind of having a week off, at most, to prepare for the Finals. It’s almost a day to prepare this time,” he said. ”So it definitely helps knowing the opponent, knowing, obviously, everything stops and starts with LeBron, and trying to do what we can to make things tough on him, but also take other guys out of the game.”

The Cavs finished their series Sunday at Boston, so James spent a relaxing Memorial Day Monday with family having a barbecue.

INJURY WOES: Both teams face significant injury concerns: Golden State defensive stopper and 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala was ruled out for Game 1 with a bone bruise in his left knee Cheap Baker Mayfield Jersey , while Cleveland’s Kevin Love remains in the NBA’s concussion protocol with his status uncertain.

GOLDEN STATE AMONG GREATEST: James considers Golden State among the greatest teams ever, and insists each side has earned this. James is ignoring the critics who say this annual matchup might be bad for basketball.

”Teams have had their opportunities to beat the Cavs over the last four years and teams have had opportunities to beat the Warriors over the last four years,” James said. ”If you want to see somebody else in the postseason then you’ve got to beat `em.”

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The NBA leads the way in men’s professional sports when it comes to racial and gender hiring practices, according to a diversity report released Tuesday.

The league earned an A for racial hiring practices and a B for gender hiring practices for an overall grade of an A. That keeps the NBA ”significantly above” other professional sports, according to Richard Lapchick, the report’s author and the director of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.

”The NBA remains the industry leader among men’s sports for racial and gender hiring practices even with the increased grading scales introduced last season,” Lapchick said.

The report states that the NBA league office has the best record for people of color in men’s professional sports at a 36.4 percent (357 of 980) employment rate.

The league, which was first to have three team owners who are people of color, had seven women who served as team presidents/CEOs during the 2017-2018 season – the highest among men’s professional sports.

The report states there are also more NBA general managers and head coaches of color than in the past.

The general managers who are people of color doubled last season from 10 percent (3 of 30) to 20 percent (6 of 30), which puts the NBA well ahead of other men’s sports leagues.

That’s a big positive, Lapchick said.

Nine of 30 NBA head coaches were people of color last season. But following changes at the end of this past season, one-third (10 of 30) of all NBA head coaches are now people of color.

The same trend has trickled down to the assistant coach level http://www.steelersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-chukwuma-okorafor-... , where the percentage of people of color increased from 45.4 percent (74 of 163) in 2016-2017 to 45.7 percent (79 of 173) this past season.

Likewise, there was an increase in the percentage of people of color as vice presidents at the team level, increasing to 25.4 percent (148 of 583) this past season, up nearly six percent (86 of 442) from the previous season.

Lapchick also said that in two of the other categories that were reclassified – team management and team professional staff – the percentage of people of color increased significantly from 23.4 percent (174 of 744) to 31.2 percent (771 of 2,469) and from 32.6 percent (976 of 2,997) to 39.5 percent (1,135 of 2,871), respectively.

Lapchick had some concerns when it comes to gender hiring at the team level, a category which dropped for the third straight year.

The percentage of women decreased for team vice presidents and team professional staff. Women who held team vice president positions made up 23.5 percent (137 of 583), a slight decrease from last year’s study. The percentage of women in team professional staff positions decreased by 2.9 percentage points from 40.1 percent (1,202 of 2 http://www.packersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-marquez-valdes-scan... ,997) in to 37.2 percent (1,068 of 2,871).

”It’s something we are keeping an eye on,” Lapchick said. ”In men’s sports in general gender hiring is a major concern.”

However, Lapchick said the NBA still outpaces other leagues in gender hiring.

Despite those slight drop-offs in gender hiring, Lapchick called Commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA the ”industry leaders” among all men’s professional sports leagues in overall racial and gender hiring practices.

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