The Cleveland Cavaliers are heading back to the NBA Finals for the third time in a row. The team, who won it all last year thanks to the performances of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and company, is looking to repeat in 2017.
However, the Cavs may have just gotten a bit of bad luck thanks to famed sports analyst Stephen A. Smith's NBA finals prediction. Smith, who appears on the ESPN show, "First Take," has officially given his pick for the NBA Finals winner, and he's chosen the Cleveland Cavaliers. While many fans would say that's a compliment, there could be a bit of a jinx surrounding his choice.
Stephen A. Smith picks the Cavs
According to USA Today, Stephen A. Smith has predicted the outcome of every single NBA Finals wrong since 2011. Back in 2011, he chose the Miami Heat, along with LeBron James to beat the Dallas Mavericks. However, LBJ, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade couldn't get the job done against the Mavs. In 2012, Smith chose Kevin Durant's Oklahoma City Thunder to take down the Heat, but LeBron and his teammates did walk away with the championship that year, which was LeBron's first. In 2013, Stephen A. Smith chose the San Antonio Spurs to defeat the Heat, which did not happen, and in 2014 he chose the Heat to beat the Spurs since that was the outcome of the previous NBA Finals match, but Miami lost that series.
Cleveland vs. Golden State yet again
In 2015, LeBron James was back with the Cleveland Cavaliers and he took them to the NBA Finals. Stephen A. Smith predicted that the Cavs would still win the series despite Kevin Love's injury, but the Golden State Warriors took home the trophy that year.
Finally, last year, Smith said that the Warriors would beat Cleveland again since they had such a great season.
However, LeBron James' Cavs broke the Cleveland curse by winning their first NBA championship. The Cavaliers made a huge comeback in the series as the Warriors had a 3-1 over them.
Other NBA insiders also predicted a Cavaliers win
Did Stephen A. Smith's prediction doom the team, or will ESPN's Smith finally break his own curse and predict the correct winner for the first time in seven years?
Cavs fans are certainly hoping that LeBron James and his team can get the job done again and be back-to-back NBA champions.
Meanwhile, Smith isn't the only NBA insider who picked the Cavaliers to win the series, as both Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley predicted a Cleveland victory.
