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4.) Basketball is in a great place right now. Anybody who watched the finals saw that the level of play was ridiculously high. Kyrie Irving has the best handles in the game and can finish over tall centers like no other. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson can get hot from behind the three-point line at any moment, and the matchup of LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant was truly a sight to see. This year there was an impressive showcase of skill in which the most elite players in basketball put their best efforts into each game.

Yet there were many sports commentators who ridiculed Durant’s choice to join the Warriors to form the ultimate powerhouse team. People called Durant “weak” or “afraid of competition” and accused him of ruining basketball. After LeBron went to the Heat to team up with Dwyane Wade in 2011, Durant tweeted, “Let’s go back to being competitive,” while a few years later he tipped the scales of competition heavily in his favor. People have since called him a hypocrite — and fans of all NBA teams have called him a “snake,” alluding to the backstabbing of his old team, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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And although he may have made the NBA one-sided, he did not, by any means, ruin basketball. For the third straight year, the NBA broke the record for attendance at basketball games, and the finals this year had the best TV ratings since the ’90s. Basketball is continuing to rise in popularity, and with NFL ratings and MLB attendance declining, there may be a new sport soon to be crowned “America’s game.”

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