WILL CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE PLAY A ROLE IN THE ‪‎NBAFINALS‬?

This year's NBA Finals will feature a couple of firsts and two teams with a fair share of ties. And when things get started between the Cavaliers and Warriors on June 4 at Golden State, it will truly be a battle of non-traditional powers.

Let's start with the Cavaliers.

They were founded in 1970, have never won a championship and made just one Finals appearance. That was in 2007, during LeBron James' first go-round with the franchise. However, the out-manned Cavs were swept by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and the veteran San Antonio Spurs.

Now on to the Warriors.

They've been around since the beginning of time -- or at least since the beginning of the NBA in 1946-47. But back then, they were on the opposite coast, playing home games in Philadelphia until 1962. After that, it was off to San Francisco, and it wasn't until a decade later (1972) that the franchise adopted the "Golden State" moniker.

Their last trip to the Finals was 1975, or 40 years ago to the season. The Finals were actually known as the "NBA Championship Series" in 1975 -- and the Warriors swept the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) behind the brilliance of Hall of Famers Rick Barry and Jamaal Wilkes.

As for historical connections, the most obvious is 6-foot-11 center Nate Thurmond, a native of Akron, Ohio. His No. 42 has been retired by two teams -- the Cavs, and the Warriors.

Interestingly, Thurmond isn't the only Akron native with a link to these Finals. Both Cavs star LeBron James and Warriors standout and league MVP Stephen Curry were born there, too. But while James takes great pride in his hometown, and resides there today, Curry considers himself more of a North Carolina guy.

Curry's father, Dell Curry, was a sharpshooting guard for the Cavs during the 1987-88 season. He resided in Akron at the time, and Dell and his wife celebrated the birth of Stephen on March 14, 1988.

That leads us to yet another Curry connection -- as Steph's younger brother, Seth, played one game (nine minutes) for the Cavs on March 22, 2014. Seth made his lone 3-pointer and finished 1-of-3 shooting overall for three points.

Then there's the story of the head coaches.

The Cavs' David Blatt and Warriors' Steve Kerr are both in their first NBA seasons as coaches in any capacity. Blatt was actually set to become an assistant under Kerr, but was offered and accepted the Cavs job instead.

Either way, this marks the first time since 1947 that two first-time NBA coaches have squared off in the Finals. And 1947, of course, was the league's first year.

Oh, and one final coaching note/connection: Kerr played for the Cavs from 1989-92, when he averaged 6.0 points as the backup to All-Star point guard Mark Price