LeBron James may not think that the Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors matchup is a rivalry, but his head coach certainly believes so.
Tyronn Lue recently spoke to ESPN's "Mike & Mike" on why Cavs vs Warriors should be considered a rivalry.
“I think any time a team plays back-to-back years in the NBA Finals, and a lot of fans around the country are looking to that third match-up, especially with those guys acquiring Kevin Durant, I think it’s a rivalry,” Lue said. “I think these two teams, they want to get there, they want to play each other, and it’s some dislike there. They want to compete and play well against this team, and it’s okay. That’s what sports should be all about. If you get a chance to have a rivalry and an opponent that you look forward to matching up with, that you want to play. If you go to three straight Finals, that to me is a rivalry.”
If these two meet for a third straight year in the Finals, I would definitely say it's a rivalry. It would be like how the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers were a rivalry back in the 1980s. Heck, even LeBron against the Spurs was considered a rivalry.
Do you agree with Lue?