From left, Cleveland Cavaliers' Kyrie Irving, LeBron James and J.R. Smith work on drills during an NBA basketball practice, Wednesday, May 31, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. The Cavaliers face the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday in Oakland. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)NBA Finals
We're here. Where almost everyone expected us to be. (No, we're not holding the Spurs pick against anyone since Kawhi's injury gave San Antonio no chance.) Warriors-Cavs. Cavs-Warriors.
The third chapter in what has become the most top-heavy time in league history since the days of Bird and Magic. So who wins? Who has the edge? Let's break it down:
The Warriors are the more efficient team on each side of the floor. We know about the Warriors ability to score in bunches, but they are the most efficient defensive team in the league. Yes, a lot of that is determined by their pace, but numbers do not lie.
Neither team is especially deep.
The Cavs are more physical, but if the game is decided 25 feet from the basket, that does not matter as much. The Warriors are slightly better or significantly better in most categories and matches in this series.
But Cleveland has LeBron.
How they handle him - especially as Stewwie pointed out around these parts Wednesday, with Andre Iguodala slowed by injuries - will determine the series.
If LeBron matches the efficiency he has displayed through most of the postseason, this will be a wonderful series. If he is simply good to very good, the Warriors will win in five.
We expect James to be great more often than not, but it's hard to know if that's going to be enough considering Golden State has four of the top 15 or 18 players in the league.
Still, LeBron is LeBron, and this LeBron will be enough.
Cavs in six, and let the discussions - where does James rank, how bad is this for Kevin Durant, you name it - begin.
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning talks with umpire Butch Hannah before the start of a preseason NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)Importance
We have discussed it before, and we all know the value of good quarterback play in the NFL.
In fact, other than the Denver Broncos winning in Peyton Manning's final (and worst) season of his Hall of Fame career, very good quarterback play has been the baseline of championships.
And even though Peyton's numbers two years were not Manning-like, his name fits on the list of Super Bowl winners and guys who either are surefire first-ballot invitees to Canton or guys that are on that path.
Here are the quarterbacks of the last 13 NFL champs: Brady, P. Manning, Brady, Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco, Eli Manning, Rodgers, Brees, Roethlisberger, E. Manning, P. Manning, Roethlisberger, Brady, Brady.
Flacco is the outlier there, but remember, the Ravens were lucky to escape Denver that year and that was with a star-studded defense.
This is not new ground. But this is.
NFL quarterback is only the second most influential position in team sports.
Meet the NFL goaltender. The guy that can turn a dominant, puck-controlling performance from a visiting team from the South into a 4-1 Pittsburgh win.
Meet Matt Murray, Pittsburgh goalie who has 60 saves in two games as the Pens have a 2-0 lead over the Nashville Predators despite being outplayed for most of each of the first two games.
Conversely, Preds star goaltender Pekka Rinne has struggled. Mightily.
Murray has faced 64 shots and allowed four goals; Rinne has seen 36 shots and allowed eight goals. That's a recipe for disaster, even for a team that has been superior in almost every other facet of the game in the first two chapters of these Finals.
Most famous athletes in the world
Who better to rank the most famous athletes in the world than ESPN?
They have the reach, and the self-crowned nickname of the world-wide leader.
Here's the second annual listing of the world's most famous athletes from earlier this week.
To no one's surprise, soccer dominates the top 10 with Cristiano Ronaldo at 1,Lionel Messi at 3, and Neymar at 6. Two basketball players - LeBron (2) and Kevin Durant (8) - two tennis stars, two golfers and Usain Bolt (7) round out the top 10.
Is it surprising that no NFL player cracked the top 20? Brady is 21st on the list and Cam Newton is 47th. Also of note, there was not a baseball player on the list.
This and that
* The field video of Tiger Woods' sobriety test are out. Also the photos of his car show that as bad as all of this may be right now, he's lucky he did not hurt himself or someone else.
* Also of note in the Woods arrest was he had an elite player card to a New York casino in his wallet. Does that mean anything? Not necessarily, but just passing it along.
* Speaking of New York, the Mets mascot - Mister Met and his giant baseball head - was in the news as Mister Met was Mister Rude and flipped a bird at a fan. We're think that's probably frowned upon within the organization.
* Braves played. Braves lost. On a side note, Jaime Garcia was dealing last night. Seven innings, one unearned run. Another side note: Dansby Swanson is in another tail spin. After a nice stretch in mid-May that featured base hits in 13 of a 14-game stretch got his average to .208 on May 22, he's struggled. That .208 mark - his highest since the first day of the season - is back to .185 because Swanson has two hits in his last 29 at-bats. Not surprisingly, the Braves are 3-6 in that span.
Teams who win Game 1 of the NBA Finals go on to win the series 49 times out of the last 70.
Today's question
Feel free to offer your NBA Finals picks.
Also, feel free to send along a mailbag question.
June 1 is Marilyn Monroe's birthday. Morgan Freeman is 80 today. On this day in 1980, CNN sent its first transmission. Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th U.S. State on this day in 1796. On this day in 1925, Wally Pipp took day off because he wasn't feeling well. He let some rookie play first base for the Yankees and the legend of Lou Gehrig was born.
If we're going to go Rushmore, let's go with Rushmore of Morgan Freeman.
Go, and enjoy the day.