Getty LeBron James and the Cavs are double-digit underdogs in Game 1.
The Cleveland Cavaliers surprised many when they overcame a 3-1 deficit over the Golden State Warriors and won the 2016 NBA Finals.
One of the key moments of that NBA Finals win was when Kyrie Irving hit a big shot over the outstretched arms of Warriors point guard, Stephen Curry in Game 7.
“I don’t think anyone realizes how many things have to go right for you to be on that stage and be successful,” Kyrie Irving told Jerry Green via Instagram Live back in April.
“It’s a competition, so there’s going to be evenflows of the game and we had a very special team that year.”
“It didn’t shock me,” former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Phil Handy told me on the Scoop B Radio Podcast.
“But was I jumping up and down on the bench like a little kid? Yes. One-hundred percent. I was not shocked because that was something that we –that area of the court, me and Ky spent a lot of doing a lot of different things; we also honed in on sweet spots on the floor, and that was one of his sweet spots. So I was not shocked because that was a shot that we practiced many times.”
Currently a Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach, Phil Handy is a rising star in the NBA coaching ranks and someone that you should be paying attention to.
Handy is a two time NBA Champion as an assistant coach with the Cavs and the Toronto Raptors.
While on the Scoop B Radio Podcast, we discussed The Last Dance documentary that features the 90s Chicago Bulls.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 08: Phil Handy gives instructions during a training session with Melbourne United at Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre on August 8, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)
We also discussed what it would be like if the LeBron James, Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, Richard Jefferson and J.R. Smith Cavs had a Last Dance-like documentary during the 2016 NBA Championship run. “I think people would recognize how calm our group was,” Phil Handy told Scoop B Radio.
“Especially being down 1-3 that whole series. People would be shocked to see how calm we were. After losing that game and what the mindset was. I also think people would be shocked to see how much of a command coach Tyronn Lue is. There was a lot media that said ‘Bron’s the coach, he’s this, he’s a coach killer, he runs the team and blah blah blah…they would be so wrong in their assessments and they would have so much more respect for T-Lue and they would have so much more respect for LeBron in the sense that he’s probably one of the most coachable dudes that I have been around in the sense of how he approaches the game and WANTING leadership. He wants direction from his coaches and he’s one of those players. Yes, every great player is smart, so you would be remiss as a coach not to involve them and draw from them but, I think the camaraderie of that team, the calmness and just the leadership of the team. I think people would be just totally blown away by those three things and be shocked by what they see.”