The Incredible Injury Fate in the NBA Finals

As my beloved Golden State Warriors perch on the brink of an NBA Title, I cannot help but be truly mystified and awestruck by the incredible fate injuries have played in this series.

Allow my to bullet point all the different medical fates that conspired together to put the Warriors and Cavilers into the Finals, (hopefully) propel the W's to the top spot, yet also set up the Cavs for future success.

First the Warriors:

• Andrew Bogut was an extremely talented but oft-injured center for the Milwaukee Bucks.  Had he not been oft-injured, he never would have been made available in the trade to Golden State for fan favorite shooting guard, Monta Ellis.
• Steph Curry is the reigning MVP, but he is not even the fourth highest paid player on his team - giving the W's incredible salary cap flexibility this year to sign Shawn Livingston, Leandro Barbosa and extending Klay Thompson's contract.  Why?  Because Curry suffered a full season and a half of worrisome ankle injuries that allowed team management to low-ball the superstar into a cap friendly deal.
• Two-time NBA All-Star and front office favorite David Lee began this season with an injured hamstring. This injury forced rookie head coach Steve Kerr to insert Draymond Green into the starting lineup.  Green never looked back and has become one of the most improved and versatile forwards in the NBA and a key member of the Finals run.

All of these injuries and their subsequent actions have led directly to the Warriors success.

Now, take a look at the Cavilers. 

• The starting lineup for the Cavs at the beginning of the year was: Kyrie Irving, Dione Waiters, Lebron James, Kevin Love and Anderson Varejao.  The starting lineup in these finals is Mathew Delavedova, Iman Shumpert, Lebron, Tristan Thompson and Timofe Mozgov.

And while it looks terrible that the team lost two All-Stars (Irving and Love) a better than average 2-guard, and a better than average big man, look at what these injuries have actually done for the Cav next year:

• Varejao goes down early in the year, but sets up the trade for Mozgov which gets the Cavs a great 1-2 punch at center that will be the best in the East if not the entire NBA in the 2015-16 season.
• Irving injures his kneecap and is out for the entire Finals. A huge lost that may have cost the Cavs the Finals this year...but it allowed the to play an undrafted free agent out of tiny St. Mary's College (Delavdova) whose transformed from D-League player to semi-legend and great all around defensive pest.  So next year, they not only get Irving back, but also have developed a great defensive stopper at the point guard position off the bench.
• Four-time All-Star Love severely injures his shoulder and misses the Finals.  Again, his loss is big for the Cavs, but it also propelled Thompson into the starting lineup and he's become one of the most efficient offensive rebounders and defensive players in the game.  Further, it showed that the Cavs don't need to sign Kevin Love to a max contract next year, thereby saving millions in salary cap money they can put toward other veteran players who would love to play with Lebron and win a Title. 

Bottom line: the Cavs will be prohibitive favorites to win at least a Title next year, if not several championships in a row.

Funny how injury fate has had a huge hand in both teams current and future success.