NBA Finals preview: Stars should shine bright

Followers of professional basketball are familiar with Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.

Curry was the league’s Most Valuable Player this season and at age 27, has bloomed into one of the game’s biggest stars. And he could elevate his status in the game with a strong showing against the game’s biggest current star, LeBron James, and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals starting Thursday in Oakland, Calif. (Game one is for 8 p.m. on Ch. 9).

But in the eyes of casual fans and those who rarely, if ever, follow the NBA, Curry has some work to do to match the current star status of his 2-year-old daughter Riley.

She has been a hit in social media and the Internet ever since Curry had Riley with him at a couple of news conferences during the Western Conference finals against Houston. Riley wasn’t afraid to steal the spotlight from her dad by singing and jumping around as the cameras caught her every move.

“She has a charisma about her,” Curry said. “She is not shy.”

While Riley Curry may continue to get attention off the court, Curry and James certainly will be the center of attention on it during the NBA Finals.

Perhaps it’s fitting that this series will have games in Cleveland. James and Curry have a connection in that they both were born in nearby Akron, Ohio.

James grew up and lived there until he went to the Heat in 2010, and Curry was born there while his father Dell played for the Cavaliers during the 1987-88 season. Since the Currys didn’t stay in Ohio long, James didn’t notice Stephen Curry until Curry was a standout in college at Davidson.

“I just thought he was special, a special kid,” James told reporters. “I’m very good at noticing talent and I thought he was special then and he still is.”

Curry, who is in his sixth NBA season, helped the Warriors make the NBA Finals by averaging 23.8 points per game during the regular season and 29.2 in the postseason.

James, a 30-year-old who has been in the NBA for 12 years, is in the Finals for the fifth consecutive year and sixth overall.

James helped Cleveland get to the Finals in 2007, when it lost to San Antonio, them made it the last four years with the Miami Heat, winning twice. He returned to the Cavaliers last summer and is still going strong, averaging 25.3 points per game during the regular season and 27.6 in the postseason.

Both teams have said that they will rotate several defenders on each other’s star in an effort to slow them down.

But when James was asked by reporters in Cleveland how to slow Curry, he said: “The same way you slow me down. You can’t.”

TNT analyst Reggie Miller said: “I say this for both players: It’s easier said than done. If that was the case, one wouldn’t be a four-time MVP and the other one just wouldn’t have gotten the MVP award.”

Miller described Curry as a “magician” with the basketball. Miller said Curry is a good shooter because he has a quick release and can shoot off the dribble and with a hand in his face from anywhere on the court.

“The thing with Steph is that you can never relax and you have to always be aware,” said Cleveland associate head coach Tyronn Lue, who is from Raytown High School. “You can’t never turn your head. You’ve got to be locked into Steph Curry, because one mistake and he’s going to make you pay.”

As for James, the Warriors may try and make him take shots from the outside. He has taken 280 two-point attempts in the playoffs, the most of any player, and made 48.9 percent. But he is just 12 for 68 from three-point range, a playoff career-low 17.6 percent.

“You’ve got a better chance of beating them with him getting 40 points than him getting 28 (points), 13 (rebounds) and 12 (assists),” said Warriors associate head coach Alvin Gentry, a former assistant at Kansas who will be the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans next season. “But he is a player who is going to do the right thing and he’s going to make the right play.”

While Curry’s daughter has been in the spotlight recently, Curry doesn’t talk about himself a lot. Instead, he is focused on helping the Warriors when their first NBA title since 1975, the last time they were in the Finals.

“This is what every player dreams about when you’re coming into the league,” Curry said.

“It’s going to be a special joy these next two or three weeks to finish off this journey. The Bay Area has been waiting 40 years. It’s time we got it done.”

This story was originally published June 3, 2015 at 4:06 PM with the headline "NBA Finals preview: Stars should shine bright."