HoopsHabit rivalry rankings correctly ranks Cavs-Warriors #4 all-time
HoopsHabit recently published a list ranking the top 30 all-time team rivalries in the NBA, and they were right-on in putting the Cleveland Cavaliers-Golden State Warriors at fourth-best ever.
To no surprise in a list of the top 30 all-time team rivalries in NBA history by HoopsHabit’s Daniel Lubofsky, the Boston Celtics-Los Angeles Lakers claimed the top spot on the list. Second on the list is Chicago Bulls-Detroit Pistons, a rivalry highlighted largely by the “Bad Boy” era Pistons against a young Michael Jordan‘s Bulls.
Third on the list is the Philadelphia 76ers-Celtics, a rivalry that has seen a resurgence in the past few years.
Checking in at number four is the Cleveland Cavaliers-Golden State Warriors.
Four seems a little bit high for a relatively short-lived rivalry and perhaps there is a certain sense of recency bias involved, but the Cavs-Warriors rivalry is indeed a top five rivalry in NBA history.
For starters, the Cavs and Warriors met four straight years to decide the NBA championship; the steaks simply cannot get higher. Unfortunately for the Cavs, three out of four times the series went in favor of Golden State.
The rivalry was also the set of the greatest comeback in NBA history when LeBron James and Kyrie Irving led the Cavs back from a 3-1 deficit in the 2016 NBA Finals against a 73-9 regular-season record-setting team.
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Great rivalries are often about more than just what happens on the court. The drama of the Cavs-Warriors matchups was a huge aspect of each series.
In Cavs-Warriors I, there was the storyline revolving around LeBron James’ return to Cleveland as well as the injury-riddled supporting cast which had been whittled down to primarily Matthew Dellavedova, J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov.
Cavs-Warriors II featured the Warriors with the first-ever unanimous MVP, Stephen Curry, fresh off a 3-1 comeback of their own against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2016 Western Conference Finals.
The Warriors had won a record 73 games in the regular season and looked to put the finishing touches on the best single-season in basketball history.
During the series, Klay Thompson talked major trash about LeBron James, Draymond Green got suspended a game and Kevin Love got injured. This all added up to maybe the most satisfying Game 7 ever (maybe a little bit of personal bias there).
The game culminated with the iconic “Block” by James and “Shot” by Irving.
The rivalry would be renewed when the Warriors signed Kevin Durant in the 2016 offseason.
Cavs-Warriors III was a less-than-stellar showing for Cleveland. After going down 0-2, they had a prime shot to get a win at home but unfortunately could not get the job done, thanks in large part to Durant’s absolute dagger in the 2017 Game 3.
The Cleveland Cavaliers did not fold and won Game 4 but their series was essentially over by that point.
The LeBron James departure rumors loomed around Cavs-Warriors IV, which saw the Cavs sans Irving. James’ epic Game 1 51-point performance (per Basketball Reference) was wasted, in part to Smith’s epic mistake dribbling out the clock in a tie game at the end of regulation, and this was a huge moment not only in Game 1, but really would loom large the rest of the series.
The Warriors went on to easily sweep the series and send James packing yet again, and he would sign with the Lakers in the summer of 2018 via unrestricted free agency.
As fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers, though, it’s easy to view the Warriors rivalry as just another stroke of bad sports luck.
When our prodigal son, LeBron, returned, we just so happened to run into one of the best teams of all-time, which prevented a potential dynasty in Cleveland.
That being said, the “just one before I die” ideology was fulfilled in an extremely satisfying 2016 NBA Finals.
The Cavs-Warriors, while only lasting a few years, had no shortage of drama.
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A series pitting the best team versus the best player did not disappoint. All of the storylines, from injuries to suspensions, and more, set this rivalry apart as one of the best ever.