On Sunday night, television viewers were treated to an epic battle between two warring factions, as a prodigal son returned home to claim his birthright after a knock-out, drag-out fight that was years in the making.
And “Game of Thrones” was pretty good, too.
For all of the intrigue, drama and ink that HBO’s flagship television program has provided this year, on Sunday, June 19, it took a backseat to the equally engaging Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It’s pretty rare that come Sunday night at 9 p.m., I’m doing anything other than tuning into “Game of Thrones,” but even as a fan with no rooting interest in this year’s NBA Finals, I felt like I had to change the channel. Sure, Jon Snow and his army of wildlings and rebels were preparing to storm the Stark’s ancestral home of Winterfell to wrest control of the North from noted sadist Ramsay Bolton in the highly anticipated “Battle of the Bastards,” but I felt like the most compelling story of the weekend was still LeBron James making a bid for—and capturing—his third NBA title, which just so happened to be the city of Cleveland’s first major sports title since 1964.
Sure, the Starks have been beheaded, robbed, and otherwise mistreated for the last six years, but for the sports fans living along the banks of the Cuyahoga River? That’s what I call a Brotherhood Without Banners.
Despite going seven games, this year’s finals had been a bit lackluster. Sure, there was drama off the court, with the NBA’s decision to suspend Warriors’ forward Draymond Green, Cavs’ guard JR Smith announcing his plans to pursue free agency in the middle of the series, and countless words spilled about the respective legacies of James and Dubs’ star Stephen Curry. But the on-court product had been lacking.
Until Game 7, that is.
Although none of the previous six games had been particularly close, the deciding game was an absolute thriller. The Cavs, of course, won a 9389 defensive struggle. LeBron played like a man possessed on both ends of the floor, racking up a triple-double, and Curry—whose ability from beyond the arc made him the first-ever unanimous MVP this year— seemingly wilted under pressure, going a pedestrian 6-19 from the field.
Just like Jon Snow thrilled “Thrones” fans by besting the odds and victoriously reclaiming his family’s home, King James faced similarly fearsome odds to return to Cleveland as the conquering hero.
I may not be as invested in the Cavs or the Warriors as I am in any particular noble houses’ claim to the Seven Kingdoms, and I may not care about LeBron’s place among the rest of the NBA’s all-time stars as much as I do about Jon Snow’s parentage, but for at least a few hours this weekend, the quest for the Iron Throne took a backseat to the one for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Winter may be coming, but it’s gonna be a heck of a summer in Cleveland.
