No matter the winner, NBA Finals worthy of appreciation

These Finals haven't always been pretty, they haven't always been close, but they have been special nonetheless. Even in the one-sided games, it wasn't so

Phil Taylor | Jun 20, 2013

No matter the winner, NBA Finals worthy of appreciation /

The intensity of Game 6 brought out the best in LeBron James, even without his standard headband. — The intensity of Game 6 brought out the best in LeBron James, even without his standard headband :: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

These Finals haven't always been pretty, they haven't always been close, but they have been special nonetheless. Even in the one-sided games, it wasn't so much that the loser played poorly as it was that the winner played so well it seemed they had almost perfected the sport. Consider what we saw in Game 6 alone: James, the desperation on his face, trying to do everything in the fourth quarter, including score, rebound and defend the impossibly quick Tony Parker; Duncan, energized by the scent of a fifth championship, somehow finding it within himself to play like he was 27, not 37; Chris Bosh, not only grabbing the crucial offensive rebound that led to Ray Allen's season-saving three-pointer, but making two remarkable blocks, on Parker and Danny Green, that sealed the game.

Published Jun 20, 2013

PHIL TAYLOR

Senior writer, Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated senior writer Phil Taylor has covered a variety of sports in his more than two decades with the magazine, including pro and college basketball as well as college football. He has written The Hot Button column for SI.com and frequently writes the magazine's Point After column, for which he won a National Headliner Award in 2012. During his years as the magazine's lead NBA writer, Taylor profiled many of the league's stars. Among his most memorable stories were a piece on Michael Jordan's return from baseball to the NBA and an in-depth profile of reclusive Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton. Some of the historic sports events he has covered include the earthquake-struck 1989 World Series at Candlestick Park, Chris Webber's infamous timeout in the 1993 NCAA tournament title game and Jordan's epic "flu-game" in the 1997 NBA Finals. Prior to joining SI, Taylor began his career at the Miami Herald, where he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for feature writing. He has also written for the San Jose Mercury News and the now-defunct sports daily, The National. Born in Flushing, N.Y. and raised on Long Island, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College in 1982 and a Masters in communications from Stanford University in 1983. Taylor and his wife, who have three children, live in northern California.