Sports supplement 21th issue

DT
VOL 1, Issue 21 | Saturday, June 17, 2017
Sports Tribune
Time for
next step
3
Shakib: We have to
learn to take advantage
Special number 10 for
4 King of Clay Nadal
7
Five things we learned
from the NBA finals

2
Saturday, June 17, 2017
DT
Week in Review
Picture of the week
This week
Football at
the MCG
Brazil’s Willian in action as a
seagull flies past him during their
international friendly against
Australia in Melbourne on Tuesday
REUTERS
The curtains will close on the
Champions Trophy when India and
Pakistan lock horns against each
other in the grand finale on Sunday.
The match begins at 3:30pm (BST).
Meanwhile, the dress rehearsal
for the 2018 Fifa World begins in
Russia on Saturday when the host
nation take on New Zealand in the
Confederations Cup opener at 9pm.
A day later, Portugal face Mexico
at 9pm while Cameroon face off
against Chile three hours later.
On Monday, Asian champion
Australia will be up against World
Cup holder Germany with the
match starting at 9pm.
Little less than 48 hours later,
Russia and Portugal will pit their
wits against each other at 9pm
while on the same day, Mexico and
New Zealand will do battle in Sochi
at midnight.
On Thursday, Cameroon will
take on Australia in Saint Petersburg
at 9pm while three hours later in
Kazan, Germany will lock horns with
Chile.
June 15
India to play Pakistan in Champions Trophy final
June 11
Nadal reclaims
throne
• Reuters
Rafael Nadal regained his Roland
Garros throne after two years
in exile with a brutal 6-2 6-3 6-1
mauling of Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka
to complete “La Decima” on
Sunday. Rewinding the clock to the
days when he was untouchable
on the crushed brick dust, the
31-year-old turned 2015 champion
Wawrinka into a human punch bag,
winning in just over two hours.
This title, a record 10th at a single
grand slam in the professional
era, was arguably the most impressive
of his 15 majors, though, as it
arrived three injury-plagued years
after the last one when he beat
Novak Djokovic here in 2014.
He also did it without dropping
a set and conceding only 35 games
in seven matches. Only Bjorn Borg,
who conceded 32 on his way to the
1978 title, has been a more ruthless
champion.
• AFP
Title-holder India will play arch-rival
Pakistan in the final of the Champions
Trophy after they thrashed Bangladesh
by nine wickets in a semi-final at
Edgbaston on Thursday.
Set 265 for victory, India finished
on 265 for one with nearly 10 overs to
spare. Rohit Sharma was 123 not out,
while India captain Virat Kohli was 96
not out their unbroken partnership
worth 178. Earlier, Bangladesh were
held to a total of 264 for seven after
Kohli won the toss.
June 10
Ostapenko claims French title
• Reuters
Maiden grand slam finals are meant to
be suffocating experiences but Jelena
Ostapenko laid waste to that theory as
she blasted a barrage of winners past
Simona Halep to win the French Open
in audacious fashion on Saturday.
In only her 18th match in one
of the four majors, the 20-year-old
Latvian fought back from a set and
3-0 down to blaze past the experienced
Romanian 4-6 6-4 6-3 and
become her country’s first grand slam
champion.
“Pakistan’s turnaround has been
magnificent. Obviously if you reach
the finals you have to play some good
cricket, and credit to them (Pakistan),
they’ve turned things around for themselves
really well,” said Kohli.
“They’ve beaten sides that looked
really strong against them, but the
belief they showed on the field, the
way they played together as a team...
You know, regardless of who you play
in the finals, it’s always going to be
challenging because once you start
thinking that it’s a big game, then your
mindset changes,” he added.
Not only that but she is the first
unseeded woman to win the Suzanne
Lenglen trophy since 1933 and she
emulated the great Brazilian Gustavo
Kuerten by claiming her first title of
any kind on the Parisian claycourts.
June 13
Durant powers Warriors
• AFP
Kevin Durant became a champion and
lifted Golden State to near-perfection
as the Warriors celebrated their fifth
National Basketball Association title
Monday, defeating Cleveland Cavaliers
129-120 to win their second NBA
Finals in three seasons.
Sparked by 39 points from Durant,
who left Oklahoma City last July in
quest of his first crown, the Warriors
took the best-of-seven series 4-1,
reclaiming the throne they lost to the
Cavaliers a year ago.
Golden State completed a 16-1
playoff run, the best post-season win
percentage in NBA history, and added
to titles won in 2015 and 1975 plus
those from 1947 and 1956 when the
team was based in Philadelphia.

Champions Trophy
3
Saturday, June 17, 2017
DT
Shakib: We have to learn to take advantage
• Mazhar Uddin from
Edgbaston
Bangladesh concluded their 2017
Champions Trophy campaign on
Thursday at Edgbaston with a comprehensive
nine-wicket defeat to
India in the second semi-final.
This was the first time in history
the Tigers qualified for the last four
June 1, Kennington Oval
ENGLAND 308/2 in 47.2 overs (Root
133*, Sabbir 1/13, Mashrafe 1/56) beat
BANGLADESH 305/6 (Tamim 128,
Mushfiq 79, Plunkett 4/59) by eight
wickets
June 5, Kennington Oval
AUSTRALIA 83/1 in 16 overs
(Warner 40*, Smith 22*, Rubel 1/21)
v BANGLADESH 182 in 44.3 overs
(Tamim 95, Shakib 29, Starc 4/29)
No result
June 9, Sophia Gardens
BANGLADESH 268/5 in 47.2 overs
(Shakib 114, Mahmudullah 102*, Southee
3/45) beat NEW ZEALAND 265/8
(Taylor 63, Mosaddek 3/13, Taskin 2/43)
by five wickets
June 15, Edgbaston
INDIA 265/1 in 40.1 overs (Rohit
123*, Kohli 96*, Mashrafe 1/29) beat
BANGLADESH 264/7 (Tamim 70,
Mushfiq 61, Jadhav 2/22) by nine
wickets
Most wickets
Most runs
in an ICC event.
There were some highlights
along the way, including Tamim
Iqbal’s fine run in the tournament,
and Shakib al Hasan and Mahmudullah’s
scintillating partnership
against New Zealand at Sophia Gardens
last week.
But Shakib believes, if they are
to take that final step in their development
process, they have to learn
to drive home the advantage when
they are in the driving seat.
“If the big teams post 270, they
have the ability to restrict the opposition.
As for us, we need help
from the wicket. At the same time,
you can’t say we have the ability
right now to outbat the opponent
team. Against India, it was a flat
wicket where scores like 320-330
are the norm. I think we fell 70-80
runs short,” Shakib told the media
after the India game.
“We had a partnership going, if
those two had continued batting
for 10 more overs and reached their
hundreds, we could have had a
much bigger total. The big teams
don’t commit mistakes like this.
Player Inns Overs Runs Wkts BBI Econ SR 5
Mosaddek Hossain 3 12.2 73 3 3/13 5.91 24.6 0
Taskin Ahmed 2 15.0 92 2 2/43 6.13 45.0 0
Mashrafe bin Mortaza 4 34.0 160 2 1/29 4.70 102.0 0
Rubel Hossain 4 30.0 191 2 1/21 6.36 90.0 0
Sabbir Rahman 2 2.1 24 1 1/13 11.07 13.0 0
Mustafizur Rahman 4 29.0 183 1 1/52 6.31 174.0 0
Mehedi Hasan Miraz 1 1.0 4 0 - 4.00 - 0
Mahmudullah 1 1.0 10 0 - 10.00 - 0
Soumya Sarkar 1 2.0 13 0 - 6.50 - 0
Shakib al Hasan 3 27.0 168 0 - 6.22 - 0
Player Inns Runs HS Ave SR 100/50 4s 6s
Tamim Iqbal 4 293 128 73.25 86.17 1/2 25 7
Shakib al Hasan 4 168 114 42.00 86.59 1/0 16 1
Mushfiqur Rahim 4 163 79 40.75 77.25 0/2 14 0
Mahmudullah 4 137 102* 68.50 91.94 1/0 10 3
Sabbir Rahman 4 59 24 14.75 100.00 0/0 9 0
Soumya Sarkar 4 34 28 8.50 56.66 0/0 4 1
Mashrafe bin Mortaza 2 30 30* 30.00 111.11 0/0 5 0
Imrul Kayes 2 25 19 12.50 69.44 0/0 3 0
Mosaddek Hossain 3 24 15 24.00 72.72 0/0 4 0
Mehedi Hasan Miraz 1 14 14 14.00 53.84 0/0 1 0
Taskin Ahmed 1 10 10* - 71.42 0/0 1 0
Mustafizur Rahman 1 1 1* - 25.00 0/0 0 0
Rubel Hossain 1 0 0 0.00 0.00 0/0 0 0
MD Manik
If one of their players become set,
they always convert their innings
into a big one. But if you look at us,
when we play well, all of us contribute.
On occasions though, if a
player starts well, he has to turn his
knock into a significant one. I feel
we are lacking in this aspect. The
big teams always drive home the
advantage.
“No use talking about seniors
and juniors. It is important what
we did as a team. Overall, I won’t
say we played extremely well. We
were outclassed by England, India
and even Australia. We played
well against New Zealand to beat
them. So we have to improve
more if we are to compete against
the big teams on a consistent
basis in the big tournaments,” he
said.
Shakib though painted a positive
picture when queried to assess
their performance in the Champions
Trophy.
“I feel we are on the right track.
Still, we have to improve on the little
things. We will be more strong
mentally if we win more games. In
the last couple of years, we took it
step by step. That’s why we qualified
for the semi-finals. We will
only get mentally strong if we
make winning more of a habit in
future,” he said.
Meanwhile, Taskin Ahmed said
their Champions Trophy experience
will serve them in good stead
ahead of the 2019 World Cup, also
scheduled to be held in England
and Wales.
“I don’t think we were nervous.
We were more nervous in the
2015 World Cup quarter-final but
we weren’t nervous here. Unfortunately,
we fell a few runs short. But
Inshallah, this experience will help
us a lot in the 2019 World Cup,” said
Taskin. •

4
Saturday, June 17, 2017
DT
French Open 2017
Special number 10
• Reuters, Paris
A year after probably the lowest point of his
career, Rafael Nadal sat in the same news
conference seat on Sunday and described
his 10th French Open title as one of his most
special.
A crushing 6-2 6-3 6-1 victory over Stan
Wawrinka on Court Philippe Chatrier made
the 31-year-old Spaniard the most successful
player at a single slam in the professional
era.
The fact that he had to wait three years
to claim a 15th major title made it all the
sweeter - as did the fact that uncle Toni -
his coach since he was six - handed him the
Coupe des Mousquetaires in an emotional
ceremony.
Nadal was forced to pull out of last year’s
French Open - the tournament he cherishes
most - after potential career-threatening
damage to his left wrist tendons.
At that time, and with his ranking sliding,
his grand slam-winning days seemed to
be numbered.
But in an astonishing resurgence the
Mallorcan reached this year’s Australian
10-time individual champions
Bill Russell
The legendary Boston Celtics centre won
a record 11 NBA championships as the
franchise dominated the league in the late
1950s and throughout the 1960s. Russell,
now 83, notably operated as player-coach
during his final two title-winning seasons
in 1968 and 1969. He was voted the NBA’s
Most Valuable Player five times and later
inducted into the Hall of Fame. Teammate
Sam Jones, drafted after Boston’s
1957 triumph, teamed up with Russell to
win 10 of those 11 titles.
Phil Taylor
those in 1990 before sweeping to eight in a
row between 1995 and 2002. The 56-yearold
has been instrumental in transforming
darts into the force it is today, with 2017
set to be his final year on the professional
circuit.
Ryan Giggs
The Manchester United great’s career coincided
with the club’s most successful period
in its history as the Welshman won a
remarkable 13 Premier League titles. Giggs
broke through as a teenager at Old Trafford,
helping United end a 26-year wait as
they claimed the 1992-93 league crown.
He eventually retired in 2014, a year after
United lifted the league trophy once more
in Alex Ferguson’s final season as manager.
Yogi Berra
Open final, losing a classic to old sparring
partner Roger Federer, and has steamrollered
through the European claycourt season,
winning a 10th title in Monte Carlo and
Barcelona and a fifth in Madrid.
Defeat by Austria’s Dominic Thiem in
Rome was a minor blip as Nadal went on to
enjoy total domination at Roland Garros,
emulating his 2008 and 2010 titles when he
did not drop a set.
He leaked only 35 games - prompting
former world number one Andy Roddick
to quip on Twitter: “He lost 35 games in the
entire tournament...Pretty sure I’ve lost my
car keys 35 times this year.”
Nadal had played down La Decima. But
there was no doubt what reclaiming the title
on his beloved Parisian clay meant.
“There have been magical things that
happened in this tournament for me. So
happy for everything,” he told a throng of
media in a room alongside Court Philippe
Chatrier.
“This was a very important day for me.
(There) have been some tough moments
with injuries, so it’s great to have (a) big success
like this again. I’ve been working a lot
to be where I am.
“For me, every Roland Garros has been
very important. You have some that are
(more) special than others. Every one is
unique. But it’s true that this one is going to
be one of the more special ones for the 10,
for what happened in the ceremony after
the final, for so many things. And because
I am 31 already and not a kid anymore. And
for the level of tennis.”
Asked what the most difficult moments
were during the past fortnight or so, Real
Madrid fan Nadal was stumped. There really
were not any.
“Obviously the semi-finals and finals,
the nerves are there, you know, more than
before,” he said.
One of baseball’s greatest catchers, Berra
won 10 World Series titles - more than
any other player - as part of the star-studded
New York Yankees teams in the 1940s
and 1950s. Berra was an 18-time All Star
and lined up alongside legends such as
Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. He then
earned another ring as a coach with the
crosstown rival Mets, winning the 1969
World Series, before earning two more titles
after returning to the Yankees.
Margaret Court
Court’s legacy as the most successful
player in Grand Slam history has been
overshadowed by her controversial and
sustained outbursts over homosexuality.
But she remains the only player in history
to win 10 or more titles at a single Slam -
lifting the Australian Open a staggering 11
times between 1960 and 1973. Her 24 major
titles is one more than Serena Williams’
Open era record.
Phil “The Power” Taylor is the undisputed
greatest darts player in history with a
record 16 world titles. He won the first of

5
Saturday, June 17, 2017
King of Clay
DT
Name
: Rafael Nadal (ESP)
World ranking
: 4 (will rise to 2 on Monday)
Date of birth : June 3, 1986
Place of birth
: Manacor, Mallorca
Place of residence : Manacor, Mallorca
Height
: 1.85m (6ft 1in)
Turned pro : 2001
Career singles titles : 73
Grand Slam titles : 15
Career prize money : $85,873,172
Twitter
: @RafaelNadal
La Decima - Rafael Nadal’s French Open finals
2005
bt Mariano Puerta (ARG) 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 7-5
At just 19, Nadal became the youngest winner of a Grand
Slam title since Michael Chang won at Roland Garros in
1989 at 17. He was the first man since Mats Wilander in
1982 to win the French Open on his debut. Puerta was
to later fail a drugs test and handed an eight-year ban,
eventually reduced to two years.
2006
bt Roger Federer (SUI) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6
Nadal became the first man to beat Federer in a Slam
final, ending the Swiss star’s hopes of holding all four
majors at the same time. It was Nadal’s 60th win in a
row on clay.
2007
bt Roger Federer (SUI) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
The 21-year-old Nadal became the first man since Bjorn
Borg in 1980 to win three successive titles at Roland
Garros. He again also shattered Federer’s hopes of becoming
only the third man in history to hold all four
majors.
2008
bt Roger Federer (SUI) 6–1, 6–3, 6–0
Nadal condemned his great rival to his worst ever loss
in a Grand Slam event. The Spaniard also won the title
without losing a set, becoming the third man to do so in
the Open era after Ilie Nastase and Borg.
2010
bt Robin Soderling (SWE) 6–4, 6–2, 6–4
Nadal avenged his defeat to the Swede at Roland Garros
12 months earlier. Again, Nadal finished the tournament
without having dropped a set. He also regained
the world number one ranking for the first time since
July 2009.
2011
bt Roger Federer (SUI) 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1
Nadal claimed his sixth French Open to equal the record
of Borg, also taking his Slam total into double figures at
10. Federer had ended Novak Djokovic’s 43-match undefeated
run in the semi-finals.
2012
bt Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6–4, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5
Nadal goes past Borg’s record of six titles and ends Djokovic’s
bid to be the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to
hold all four majors. Rain meant that the final was completed
on Monday which was tough on Djokovic who
was a break up in the fourth set when the match was
halted for the night.
2013
bt David Ferrer (ESP) 6–3, 6–2, 6–3
The Spaniard comfortably beat his compatriot for an
eighth French Open but the hard yards were achieved
in the semi-finals when he defeated Djokovic 6–4, 3–6,
6–1, 6–7, 9–7 in a 4-hour 37-minute epic.
2014
bt Novak Djokovic (SRB) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4
Title number nine in his ninth final for Nadal and his
14th and most recent Grand Slam success on an afternoon
where temperatures nudged 30 degrees. It was his
45th career clay court title.
2017
bt Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 6-2, 6-3, 6-1
Nadal coasts to a record 10th French Open title,
demolishing Wawrinka in a brutally one-sided final
which also earns the Spaniard a 15th Grand Slam crown.
Nadal, 31, becomes the first man in history to win the
same major 10 times. It is his most one-sided final win
since allowing Roger Federer just four games in the
2008 final.

6
Saturday, June 17, 2017
DT
Feature
Born: Riga, Latvia, on June 8,
1997
Grand slam career-best results:
Australian Open: third
round (2017); French Open:
winner (2017); Wimbledon:
second round (2015); U.S.
Open: second round (2015)
t The 20-year-old became the
first unseeded woman to lift
the Suzanne Lenglen Cup since
1933.
t She emulated the darling
of Roland Garros, Gustavo
Kuerten, by making the French
Open her first career title - the
feat the Brazilian achieved in
1997 on the day Ostapenko was
born.
t The youngster launched an
impressive tally of 299 winners
from her fluorescent green
racquet.
t Despite winning her first
grand slam title on Paris clay,
Ostapenko’s favourite tournament
is Wimbledon.
Ostapenko glory
shines light on
emerging new era
• AFP, Paris
Serena Williams has served as the
face of women’s tennis for the best
part of two decades, but Jelena Ostapenko’s
improbable French Open
success belatedly signals the arrival
of the next generation of stars.
The 20-year-old Latvian, the
lowest-ranked Roland Garros
champion in tournament history,
bludgeoned her way to the title in
a manner much befitting her idol.
“Serena was always, like, kind
of my idol, because I really enjoyed
watching her,” said Ostapenko after
becoming the first unseeded
winner in Paris since 1933.
“She’s a great champion. I think
she’s playing probably similar to
my style, so she was my idol.”
Ostapenko is the youngest
Grand Slam champion since Maria
Sharapova at the 2006 US Open,
but remarkably middle aged in
terms of first-time major winners.
Twelve women captured their
maiden Slam title while still in
their teens, Martina Hingis’ 1997
Australian Open triumph at just 16
years and four months a record that
looks more secure than ever. But
Ostapenko’s dazzling shot-making
paired with her fiery temperament
provided a refreshing changeup
from the too-often defensive
mundanity of the women’s tour.
“We need personalities, and
she’s a personality,” seven-time
French Open winner Chris Evert
told Eurosport.
“She’s feisty, she’s outgoing and
she’s right in your face, but isn’t
that the new generation anyway?”
“Some players come of age during
tournaments. Jelena Ostapenko
did it right here this week,” Martina
Navratilova, a winner of Grand
Slam singles title, told the Tennis
Channel.
“(Ostapenko) played like a champion
that she now is, her first major
title but surely not the last one,”
Navratilova added on Twitter.
The Latvian, the first woman
to win her debut tour-level title at
a Slam since Barbara Jordan at the
1979 Australian Open, is just the
third major champion born in the
1990s. Ostapenko joins Petra Kvitova,
who won Wimbledon in 2011
and 2014, and last year’s French
Open champion Garbine Muguruza
in a select group.
But she believes that class will
soon grow, with the likes of Daria
Kasatkina, Ana Konjuh and
17-year-old Marketa Vondrousova
starting to make an impact.
“I mean, our year, 1997, is pretty
strong because we have a lot of
players in top 100 and top 50, as
well. So I think it’s maybe kind of
new generation,” said Ostapenko.
‘Ostapenko first talked of
winning French Open at 10’
PROFESSIONAL CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
2012 - Played first WTA qualifying at Moscow; won one singles
title and one doubles title on ITF Circuit.
2013 - Won two singles titles and four doubles titles on ITF Circuit.
2014 - She made her WTA tour main draw debut at the Tashkent
Open.
2015 - First Top 100 season after reaching the second round at
Wimbledon and U.S. Open.
2016 - Represented Latvia at the 2016 Rio Olympics where she lost
to Australia’s Samantha Stosur in the opening round.
2017 - Before entering Roland Garros, she came close to winning
three titles this year, losing in the semi-finals at Auckland and
Prague and the final at Charleston.
• Reuters, Paris
Few other people saw it coming but
Jelena Ostapenko’s mother was not
surprised that her daughter burst
into the limelight to claim the French
Open title in spectacular fashion on
Saturday.
The unseeded Ostapenko, 20,
downed Romanian third seed Simona
Halep 4-6 6-4 6-3 in the final, hitting a
staggering 54 winners and taking her
tournament tally to 299.
Those numbers are counter-balanced
by her unforced errors - 54 on
Saturday and 271 in total - but they
were not enough to stop the energy-charged
Ostapenko from bulldozing
her way to the title, firing faster
forehands on average than men’s
world number one Andy Murray.
Asked when she realised her daughter
had so much power, Jelena Jakovleva
said: “The day she was born.
“She had the same energy when
she was little, it was very difficult,”
Jakovleva, who coaches her daughter,
told a group of reporters at Roland
Garros.
“She danced, swam, played tennis,
she played football because she had
so much energy. She’s fearless, she
fights for every point.”
Ostapenko was 10 when she first
mentioned winning the French Open
one day, Jakovleva said.
“She was on an excursion with
her father at Roland Garros and she
said maybe one time I will become a
champion here.”
Two years later, in 2009, she
would win the Open 10-12 in the
12-year-old category, at the Tennis
Club de Boulogne Billancourt, a
stone’s throw from Roland Garros,
joining Amelie Mauresmo and Justine
Henin on the list of winners.
Jakovleva stayed home in Latvia
during the first week of this year’s
French Open but even after she arrived
in Paris she could not watch her
daughter’s matches from the stands.

Five things we learned from NBA Finals
• AFP, Oakland
Five things we learned from the
NBA Finals, which ended Monday
with Golden State Warriors beating
Cleveland Cavaliers 129-120 to win
the best-of-seven series 4-1:
Beers make Durant blabby...
Golden State forward Kevin Durant
enjoyed a hefty locker room celebration
before speaking to reporters
after scoring 39 points in his
team’s victory, which brought him
his first NBA crown.
“I can’t wait to celebrate for the
rest of the night, well, maybe the
rest of the summer,” Durant said.
After answering one final question
following an extended stay at
the podium, the NBA Finals Most
Valuable Player felt like he might
have said more than he should.
“I’m talking too much at this
point,” Durant said. “I had a couple
too many beers. I haven’t had
a beer since February. So to have
a beer right now and come talk to
you guys, it feels great.”
... but he earned every drop
Durant averaged 35.2 points and
8.4 rebounds a game in the finals to
claim the MVP award unanimously,
joining Rick Barry and Andre
Iguodala as the only Warriors to
win the award. His playoff scoring
career average of 28.8 points a
game ranks fourth all-time behind
Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson and
Jerry West. His five games in a row
with 30 points is the first in a finals
since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000.
Almost perfect playoff run
The Warriors won their first 15 playoff
games, sweeping out Portland,
Utah and San Antonio and seizing
a 3-0 lead on Cleveland before the
Cavaliers snapped the longest playoff
win streak in North American
sports history by winning game
four Friday in Cleveland. Although
not perfect, the 16-1 playoff record
for Golden State (.941) is the best
win percentage of any team in NBA
history, edging the 15-1 effort by
the 2000 Los Angeles Lakers. No
unbeaten champion’s playoff run
in Major League Baseball has gone
beyond seven wins and none in the
National Hockey League went past
eight wins.
LeBron adds to his legend
Cleveland star LeBron James
played in his seventh consecutive
finals and eighth career finals,
falling to 3-5. But in this year’s
playoff run, he surpassed Michael
Jordan as the NBA’s all-time
Feature
Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) dunks against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game five of the 2017 NBA Finals at
Oracle Arena on Monday
Reuters
playoff scoring leader. Only five
players from the 1960s Boston
Celtics dynasty have played in
eight or more consecutive finals,
so James could share fourth on
the all-time finals in a row list by
making it next year. Bill Russell
has the record with 10 in a row.
James ranks third in all-time
finals scoring with 1,247 points,
trailing only Jerry West with 1,679
and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, just 70
points ahead of James. And with
33.6 points, 12.0 rebounds and 10.0
assists a game in the finals, James
became the first player to average
a triple double in the finals.
NBA Finals trilogy thrills
This marked the first time that
the same two teams met in the
NBA Finals for a third consecutive
year, with the Warriors owning
a 2-1 edge in the trilogy. It was
the first time in 61 years that any
major North American sports
league had such a trilogy play out,
the most recent being the NHL’s
Montreal Canadiens and Detroit
Red Wings in 1954-56. Others were
the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and
Detroit Lions from 1952-54 and
Major League Baseball’s New York
Yankees and New York Giants from
1921-23.
7
Saturday, June 17, 2017
MVP Kevin Durant
Golden State Warriors forward Durant
was named the Most Valuable
Player of the NBA Finals on Monday
after leading his team to a 4-1 series
win over the defending champion
Cleveland Cavaliers.
t A basketball prodigy as a youth
who was one of the best prospects
in the Washington, D.C.-area
basketball scene, Durant
attended the University of Texas
where he had an outstanding
freshman season before opting
to turn professional.
t Drafted second overall in 2007,
Durant went on to average 20.3
points per game in his rookie
campaign with the Seattle SuperSonics,
one of the few bright
spots during the team’s dismal
season, and was a runaway
winner of the NBA Rookie of the
Year award.
t Beginning with the NBA’s
2009–10 campaign, Durant led
the league in total points for five
straight seasons and in scoring
average four times. He was
named Most Valuable Player for
the 2013–14 season after setting
career highs of 32 points and 5.5
assists per game.
t Collected Most Valuable Player
honors in leading Team USA to
gold at the 2010 FIBA World
Championship and was the U.S.
team’s top scorer at the 2012
London Olympics by averaging a
U.S. Olympic record 19.5 points
a game during their undefeated
run to the gold medal.
t An eight-times NBA All-Star, Durant
has appeared in five Western
Conference finals and two NBA
Finals, the first in 2012 where his
former Oklahoma City team lost
in five games to the Miami Heat.
t Was named the unanimous 2017
NBA Finals Most Valauable Player
after averaging 35.2 points, 8.4
rebounds and 5.4 assists in the
best-of-seven series, which the
Warriors won in five games.
DT
Hero
KEVIN DURANT
Golden State Warriors forward Durant is
our hero of the week after he was named
the 2017 NBA Finals MVP following their
victory over Cleveland Cavaliers in game
five on Monday night. Durant averaged
35.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists
in the series and capped off his MVP
performance by scoring 39 points in the
129–120 clincher.
Quote of the Week
There have been magical things that happened
in this tournament for me. So happy for
everything. This was a very important day for
me. There have been some tough moments
with injuries, so it’s great to have a big success
like this again. I’ve been working a lot to be
where I am. For me, every Roland Garros has
been very important. You have some that are
more special than others. Every one is unique.
- Spaniard Rafael Nadal after winning a record-extending 10th
French Open title.
Tweets
Jared Dudley
Phoenix Suns basketball
player
June 12
Are these refs
serious!!! Warriors
shooting for the tech!!!!!
Patrick Beverley
Houston Rockets
June 13
Wow!!! Gotta love
this GAME!!! @NBA