This series, knowing what it takes to win, how important every possession is. And we welcome in espns mark spears, the undefeated. Got his own special mic. Sorry. Hey, sometimes im an espn guy, too. You nailed it before i did. On loan. Obviously the big difference between last year and this year is the guy who is right behind u right now. Number 35 kevin durant. He certainly brings a whole different dimension to this series. This is the Warriors Team was up 1 and 3 without him. With him they have an added heavy weight to go against the heavy weight in basketball now. Kevin durant is 7 feet. Hes super skilled. He can do everything and hes thirsty. He thinks people forgot when he won mvp a few years ago. Hes going to be the real mvp in order for the warriors to win again. The cavs have a match up problem. Lebron would be the guy most lkely to guard him. But last year lebron guarded or didnt have to guard Harrison Barnes. They dont have anybody that matches up with k. D. Outside of lebron they could be in trouble if he guards durant. He played safety. He did whatever he wanted, stayed in passing lanes. He has to be honest now, you know. He has to guard a guy thats taller than him. And even on the other side, keep an eye on this one. When lebron goes to the hold, kevin stretches out on him. These runners lebron does, these short jumpers are going to be a lot tougher. Now he has to work on both ends, where i thought he got a rest on the defensive end the last two finals. He guarded Klay Thompson at times in the regular season. Lets talk about redemption. As much as we want this series, shu, i think Draymond Green wants it more than anybody else. Well show it one more time, what happened in the finals, flailing against lebron, gets suspended in game five. If draymond had been playing, the warriors would have won the finals last year in five and wed be talking about golden state is back to back nba champs. As much as we want to see it, draymond wants the cavs badly. Well, i think he feels responsible for that loss last year. And hes been, you know, harboring that the last year. He kotb wait to g couldnt wait. Hes a lot more emotionally stable on the court this year. I dont think were going to see lebr lebron baiting him this year. No technical, hes not in danger before the game. Hes bitter about what happened last year. He said he probably would have done the same thing if a player walked over to him. Now its water under the bridge. He has the rematch he wanted. Draymond, if the warriors would have won that gave 7, probably would have been finals mvp the way he played. But they depth. He has his match up back. I would be surprised if there is testiness between those two guys. For sure. Draymond has to keep his cool. His former coach at michigan state, college coach. Also in the seeking redemption category is steph curry. We know hes great. Twotime mvp but was not himself last year because of the knee injury and the ankle. If you look at the Fourth Quarter of game 7, my goodness, it was a stretch starting with the behind the back pass, which still haunts him to this day. Gets what i call a little globe trotter on us. Key moments like this you cant do that because every possession is so key in the finals. A lot of people are saying he needs to have an mvp type performance here to move up in the next echelon with michael and lebron. I think hes got a real focus. You can see it in pregame today, mark. Hes healthy now, too. Last year there were some big center, lumbering center and he couldnt get around him. Kevin. Thats when i knew something was wrong. I dont know if hell ever admit how messed up he was. Thats why losing that game 5 was so critical because it pusheds him even longer. Hes been the best player in the playoffs scoring wise. Hes hungry. Hes healthy. I think hell be ready. Talked with ron adams. They play with so much joy. He said they need grit to go along with that joy, especially playing this team. From the east, very physical, theyre going to knock him around. They havent been used to this in the western conference. I think theyre tougher now than a year ago. They got punched in the mouth last year and didnt get up. But you know, now theyve got some egos and some stuff with that david west. The west ate them. Matt barnes will be yelling at them from the sidelines after draymond. This team is tougher, and i think steph is tougher in a lot of ways. Well, you better have some grit and physicality if youre going to deal with lebron james. He jogged by in warm ups. Hes enormous. He just glides. You know, theres all this talk about the comparisons with michael jordan. Lets hold on a second before we go there with m. J. We can discuss that later. Im not ready to put him there. Im surprised this season especially losing the final. 60, i believe. Just for the record. Including some game winners. But the threepoint shooting by lebron, i already said it. Threepoint shooting by lebron, hes at 42 in the postseason on threes. That is steph currys territory. Whats happening with lebron james from deep . Well, theyve added a lot of threepoint shooters, too, which i think is helping him get open, as well as him hitting threes. Hes doing a lot of iso pound, pound, pound the ball. What is he doing . Youll see it tonight and hes just waiting for somebody to get over him. Whether its korver, whether tyree, james smith who didnt play the first game. Hes waiting for three point shooters to get open, making lasers. Hes making them. Thats whats surprising. Thats what his former coach, mike brown, said. Lebron didnt have rim protecters. Better defense. Exactly. Hes going to have to kick a lot. Those guys we talked about are going to have to make the threes to keep up with the warriors. Warriors defense is better than anything the cavs saw in the east. So many story lines, so much more to come on this edition of dubson7. A pregame show brought to you by jeep. When we continue, were going to talk about super teams and whether its kevin durant joining the warriors or its lebron taking his talent to south beach. And then back to cleveland. Were going to discuss whether super teams are good or bad for the nba. And then dont forget after the game, weve got our version of a super team. Spears didnt make the squad. I dont know what happened, you didnt make the photo here. Im going to be on scott van pelt. Oh, yes, baby. Want to go there. He drooped the mic right there. That will be after the game. [ laughter ] yeah. Nicely done, nicely done. Much more this team that were playing, theyre the champions. Were not. I saw the quote from kelly. He said hes surprised. Are you surprised . Im surprised, too. What is everybody talking about . Theyre the great team, theyre the champs. Were trying to take from them what they took from us last year. Steve kerr a little bit surprised that the warriors are favorites. Jerry west, the logo, the legend, along with isaiah thomas. Jerry will be our pregame guest on sunday. Right now weve got one of the men who is going to be calling tonights game here on abc and thats jeff van gundy. A lot of people dont know you grew up in martinez. Probably watching the rick barry warriors way back when. Could you imagine that curry at the time, 30 something years following that where its pretty shaky, that the warriors will be in the finals for three straight years now . Yeah, budding dynasty. Rick barry, youre right. Rick barry, jeff mullen, nate derman, thats who i grew up with, listening to bill king. Yoyo dribble. It was the great time in warrior basketball. They had some obviously down times, mixed in with, you know, the nellie run dmc time. This is a special time for warriors fans. Whats your take on the super teams . I saw a quote, the warriors, never mind three in a row, could be five in a row, eight in a row. You think its good for the nba to have teams that are so clearly superior to the rest like the yankees in baseball for years, or does it make the rest of the season kind of irrelevant . Weve been waiting for this for a year. Well, i think that greatness is always good for the nba, and you have two great teams here tonight. But i think greatness that ends up getting pushed, larry, is even better for the nba. So, last year, the warriors got pushed by oklahoma city, and then got pushed by cleveland, upset by cleave lappveland. The year before memphis pushed them, got them down 21. This year neither team has been pushed. I dont think thats great for the nba. But i think great players are great for the nba and so are great teams. Lets talk about this game specifically because i look at this as the danger game for the warriors. Theyve been off for nine days. You called this the spurs game, game one of the previous series. They looked asleep for the first half. They kind of lucked out because Kawhi Leonard got hurt. But if cleveland is going to steal one of these two games, to me it feels like this is the dangerous one. Well, both teams have played so few games since the end of the regular season, and then have had this long layup, i think were looking at the possibility that one or both teams take awhile to get going. Sure. Y you mentioned that san antonio game, couldnt make shots, turned over, slow defensively. Kawhi leonard carved them up in that first 28 minutes of the game. So, you know, i think its a concern, but now its a concern for both teams. I hope both teams play well right off the bat, but i think the nba body accustomed to playing every other day, its hard to stay in rhythm. The warriors have only played 13 games in 46 days. So, well see how long it takes to shake off the cobb webs. Keep, well see you back here many more years in the finals i hope. Looks that way. Like i said, theyre building the dynasty. Thanks very much. Hell be on the call tonight. When we continue the dubson7 pregame show, you saw shots of steph curry earlier on. Were going to talk to the man who coached steph when he was back in college when he was a skinny kid that hardly anybody wanted. Steph curry getting set for game one and well talk with his coach right there, bob m Award Winning interface. Award winning design. Award winning engine. The volvo xc90. The most awarded luxury suv of the century. Visit your volvo dealer to take advantage of our midsommar sales event offer. Visit your volvo dealer to take advantage wow means you save 50 or more. There are three stages of wow. Denial. Is this price right . Acceptance. And boooyah wait for it boooyah has three os. Grocery outlet bargain market its buy one, get one free on snickers and twix miniatures. Steph curry is famous worldwide, and this proves it. A sherpa who lives in nepal is atop mount he have rest there. His 15 year old son is a huge curry fan and asked him to take that jersey to the top. And now with social media we have evidence from the top of mount everest. Dubson7 brought to you by jeep. Im joined by the man who was steph currys coach in college, bob mckillop. He was a skinny kid still skinny kid, skinny adult. Not a lot of teams wanted him. You saw something in him. What did you see that others missed maybe early on . You know, i thought we saw a full package. We saw his greatness as a shooter. But his vision, his present mindedness. He stays in the present and does a remarkable job of not letting adversity, a miss, a turnover affect the way he plays. He played that way for us three years, tremendous joy to davidson college. Today hes the greatest ambassador davidson has ever had. Looking at the old video, you want to talk about the baby face. It was really right there in those old clips. I just remarked to him when i saw him on the court about his hair and facial hair. I said, you still look 18 years old. Hes trying to disguise that. Have you talked to him at all about that billy goat beard . I dont know about that. Yeah, he says its part of theyre playing well so hes going to keep it going. Maybe im a little superstitious there. You mentioned and we had a chance to see when he hugged you like youre best friends. I mean, estopphe stopped his pr warm up as soon as he saw. You guys are really close still to this day. He brought the championship trophy back to davidson a couple years ago. When he brought the championship trophy back, i asked him in advance. I said, look, we can have a steph curry day, we can have a parade, we can have the key to the city presented to you. He said no, i want to do three things. I want to meet with the team, i want to meet with the student body and i want to have lunch in the commons on the campus. How simple steph curry that is, hes a giving person. Hes theres tremendous humility along with his confidence, and very few people have that wonderul balance that he has. You also had a jersey ceremony involving steph. Tell me about that. Is there anything we dont know about steph . Because Everything Else has been written about him. Maybe i shouldnt reveal this, but he was at the dukane game and it was a sellout crowd. It was the biggest buzz throughout the campus in the season. They had a celebration in the practice gym. He was there, he had to play the hornets the next night. He decided to go to the brick house with myself and couple others which is a Gathering Place and he stayed until 1 00, 1 30. We dropped in on the hornets. Hes got that capacity to be everything to everyone and not let it affect him. Interesting, thats a good story. I hope he drops 30 tonight. Did you have dinner with him last night by any chance in no, we did speak. I did see him make that shot. Thats always a good sign. That was pivotal. Youve been coaching at davidson for what, almost 30 years now . Yeah. Break this series down as a coach. What do you like from the warriors and what do you think obviously lebron james and irving are great. I like the collective nature of the warriors versus the individual nature of the cavaliers. And golden state has to make it a collective game. They cant be sucked into a one on one game. They cant go halfcourt. I think they have to go full speed, halfcourt, full court, out of bounds, every aspect of the game because theyre so darn good at all positions there. Let me followup on that because when youre talking about Ball Movement in the playoff, there is so much clutching and grabbing and it really hurts the way the warriors play. A little more iso ball with k. D. May not be that bad a thing. I think k. D. s presence gives them more space. And the game is a war for space. Unlike Harrison Barnes last year, and hes a terrific player, but they sagged in the paint. As a result didnt have the same kind of spacing. And i think theyre going to see a lot more open area to make their cuts, make their passes with k. D. Present. All right. Well see how it plays out. Coach, great meeting you and we hope you come back. Maybe not for seven games, but maybe game five . Lets hope we end it in four. Hes talking sweet. Steph currys coach talking sweet. Appreciate it. Bob mckillop. More to come on the dubson7 brought to you by jeep when we come back, fearless prediction time. Who is going to be kissing that trophy at the end of four, five, six or seven . I have a feeling we might see cavs, warriors in the trilogy one more time. That would be one heck of a story, one heck of a story. I hope with a little different out come next time. Me and you both hope. I hope for an outcome. You hope for a different one. That was tyree irving and myself in july talking about the possibility of the trilogy as d. J. D. Sharp rocks the house. We get set for game one and mark spears from espn rejoins us. Lets get to some predictions here, okay. What do you think, big man . After lots of deliberation oh, goodness, here we go. I have the warriors in 7. Okay. Another long series, but bay area better this time and the party starts. You have a complicated prediction, im told. You know the contrarian i am. I say the warriors in 6, but if they dont win at 6 however, theres a however . But the cavs win it in 7. How can you no, im giving you the warriors a chance to win in 6. But if not, the cavs will win in 7. Sounds like a guy hedging his bets. I hear you can only make money betting on the cavaliers. Only one team is going to win. Im with you. Im going warriors in 7 and i just hope my heart can take it because last year was agonizing, especially tyree reliving that jump shot. They got me as warriors in 6 on this. Im like you. Im 7, but ill go 6 and 7 since now we have a couple picks. Real quick, its critical for the warriors to get off to a fast start. To me, and i was talking with the coach. This is the danger game tonight. Do you agree . Oh, no doubt. Theyre at home. The cavs get either one of these, they go back to cleveland feeling good about themselves. I think the warriors really need to make a statement. Everybody is talking about how great they are. Show the team how great you truly are. I can see from the layoff standpoint. Its so long. Games one and three cleveland has been off, too. Its six days. Thats a nice amount of time. Lebrons victory i think it will be tonight. That will be interesting. Thats my x factor. Tristan thompson is the guy for me. You talked about bringing physicality and grit. They have to match that intensity. Keep him off the offensive board, Klay Thompson. Klay thompson, he gets going. I know everybody says not the same rhythm with k. D. Here. If he gets going it could be trouble. Last two series hes shooting only 34 on threes. Reminds me of the beginning of the season he could barely make a shot. Hes ready to bust out, though. He needs to now. More chocolate milk, right . The lucky socks he wore last year, something. All right. So, thats going to do it. You can see the fans are coming on into oracle arena, going to be packed. 19,000 plus. Two shorts coming. What did two shorts say . He said the warriors no matter what. He says he has a song hes going to come out with if they win. The song is ready to go. Reminder, abc 7 the only place. Shoes traveling, so is mark for games three and four back in you dont have to go to clveland . I dont have to. I lobbied to go. I tried desperately, i tried. They wont let me. All right. Thats it. Well see you afternoon the game. Mark spears, nothing like this has ever happened before. This has ever never. I got i got loyalty got royalty inside my dna its been 348 Days Since Last summ summers shocker. The greatest comeback, and collapse, in nba finals history. Its over its over cleveland is the cities of champions once again. And tonight, for the first time ever, two teams meet in a third consecutive championship. The ultimate tie breaker. Oh, he throws it down