Athletic Trainer and CEO of Attack Athletics, Tim Grover, released "Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable" in April of 2013. A book that broke down the three levels of superstardom and the mindsets that went along with them. As Grover describes them, the three levels of superstardom are Coolers, Closers, and Cleaners, all of which I analyzed in my most recent article.
In that article, I categorized Kevin Love as a Cooler; Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompon were all categorized at Closers; and both Kyrie Irving and LeBron James were categorized as Cleaners.
These labels were based on each player's history in the clutch moments. Whether they showed a history of consistently making their impact in the most important moments in a game or a history of simply shrinking under the pressure determined whether they were a Cooler, Closer, or Cleaner as they headed into the NBA Finals. Now that the first three games are over (and probably the series as well), I've already seen enough in these games to convince me to change the labels of some of these players.
Kevin Durant: Cleaner (formerly a Closer)
In my previous article, I labeled Kevin Durant as a Closer only because he'd consistently shown hesitation toward Lebron James in the past. I mentioned that if he can assert himself, then he'll elevate to Cleaner status.
So far in the first three games, that's exactly what he's done. These labels aren't earned in the box score, they're earned in the most important moments. There were two defining moments in this series when KD showed the world just how determined he was to go at LeBron James.
The first moment came in Game 2 when he blocked Kevin Love's shot at the rim, attacked Lebron James on the following fast break, and finished a tough shot over both James and Love at the rim.
The second moment came in the Game 3 go-ahead three-pointer Kevin Durant hit with 45 seconds left in the game to take the lead. The shot came in transition and the only contesting hand belonged to a retreating Lebron. Kevin Durant is averaging 34 points shooting 56 percent from the field and 52 percent from behind the arc.
He's simply a man on a mission with a look in his eyes that Draymond Green described as a look that shows "this [matchup] is personal for him."
Stephen Curry: Cleaner (formerly a Closer)
Although Draymond Green was right is his statement of how personal this series against LeBron James was for Kevin Durant, it is almost just as personal for Stephen Curry. Last year, LeBron blocked his shots, screamed in his face, and talked trash to him. Now Steph has come back this year showing a lot more confidence in his shot and his matchups. There was even a moment in Game 2 where Stephen Curry took LeBron James one-on-one and drove to the rim instead of settling for a contested three-pointer. Similar to KD, Steph isn't just driven by the idea of winning a championship, he's driven by the idea of winning it against the superstar who took a 3-1 lead from him just a year ago.
Most of the stars in this series have lived up to their Cooler, Closer, or Cleaner statuses. However, games of this magnitude and match-ups with this kind of historical value have a way of changing a player's entire mentality when it's time to make winning plays. Kevin Durant's decision to go to Golden State seemed to have improved the mentality of not just him, but the mentality of the entire organization. The first chance for the Golden State Warriors to feel a feeling they haven't felt in two years, a championship feeling, comes tonight at 9 pm at the Quicken Loans Arena if they can close the series out.
