- Era-tating
April is the busiest month of the sporting year with finals of the Final Four, the start of the baseball season, the Masters, the NFL draft and the commencement of both the Stanley Cup and NBA playoffs.
All are usually surrounded by mystery.
The Final Four is always the biggest crapshoot there is ? even when North Carolina strolls. Will my team do this year what the Phillies did last year? The Masters was, finally, a thriller on Sunday and all about if the World?s No?s 1 & 2, Tiger and Phil beating each other?s brains out letting some guy who looks like me win. The Stanley Cup playoffs on paper are looking the least predictable they?ve been in about decade. The NFL draft is especially out there this year as the Lions have the top pick and everyone wants to know, "How in hell will they screw it up this time?"
And that leaves the NBA ? where there are no mysteries really. The NBA Finals are not scheduled to start until late next month, yet it is already basically written in stone that last year?s MVP, Kobe Bryant, will square off against this year?s all-but certain MVP, LeBron James.
That doesn?t make it boring. History shows it is foregone conclusions that drives the NBA.
For years, finals featuring the Lakers and the Celtics were seemingly inevitable. Combined the teams have won half of the NBA's 62 championships and have met in the Finals 11 times, with the Celtics winning nine of those, including the most recent meeting last season. Classic matchups like the Bulls and the Lakers or the Celtics and the Sixers are played in a semi-constant loop on NBA TV. Everyone knew for years that Jordan?s Bulls would be in the finals against someone. The only question was ? how would he win it?
The fascination with the NBA peaked with the great individual rivalries - Chamberlain vs. Russell, Magic vs. Bird and even Jordan vs. Barkley.
This year it?s shaping up to more of the same. There are no teams in either division that can compete with the Lakers or the Cavaliers. Even though the series itself won?t be a surprise, it?s a star-driven match-up that will likely earn better ratings than last year?s classic Lakers-Celtics rematch.
It?s the start of a new era - The Kobe vs. LeBron era.
Enjoy it while you can
Despite LeBron?s feeble finals appearance two years ago against the Spurs, this time he?s got help in Mo Williams. Now the shockingly still-young James has a chance at being the dominant figure in the NBA landscape for years to come.
Kobe Bryant also has destiny on his mind as he is looking to discredit the notion that he was at his best as Shaq?s swingman. He wants to be known simply as one of if not the greatest player to ever play in the NBA.
The trouble is - this isn?t the 80?s or the 90?s. Players tend to move around a bit more than they used to. There are few sacred cows so this rivalry could be a short-lived one as both are facing impending free agency.
Bryant will be a free agent at the end of the season, and while he is still the most explosive guard in the league, he will be turning 31 in August. He?s as healthy as he?s ever been, and tough as he demonstrated last year getting his team to the finals while playing with a broken finger that required surgery. Buy 31 is old - historically the body begins to break down. Despite all he?s done for them, it?s well known what the Lakers think of Bryant, and Kobe knows this is his last shot at truly psychotic dollars.
LeBron is a different case.
Since overpowering the world in the Olympics he has become the complete player that everyone predicted he would be when he was drafted in 2003. In a 60 Minutes interview he says he will get better, so theoretically he?s just on the start of the road that Bryant is finishing. And then there is his hometown, Cleveland. They don?t just want him to stay; they need him to stay, just to erase the seemingly eons-old image of the city of losers. A ring this year might be enough to compel him to stay rather than scoot to New York after the 2009-2010 season as so many are predicting.
How will it turn out? On ABC on Sunday Jon Barry accurately said, "The second best team in the West is the Lakers bench."
LeBron will have to wait ? and hopefully for Cleveland, he?s willing to do so.
Cheers ? Gavin McDougald ? AKA Couch
April is the busiest month of the sporting year with finals of the Final Four, the start of the baseball season, the Masters, the NFL draft and the commencement of both the Stanley Cup and NBA playoffs.
All are usually surrounded by mystery.
The Final Four is always the biggest crapshoot there is ? even when North Carolina strolls. Will my team do this year what the Phillies did last year? The Masters was, finally, a thriller on Sunday and all about if the World?s No?s 1 & 2, Tiger and Phil beating each other?s brains out letting some guy who looks like me win. The Stanley Cup playoffs on paper are looking the least predictable they?ve been in about decade. The NFL draft is especially out there this year as the Lions have the top pick and everyone wants to know, "How in hell will they screw it up this time?"
And that leaves the NBA ? where there are no mysteries really. The NBA Finals are not scheduled to start until late next month, yet it is already basically written in stone that last year?s MVP, Kobe Bryant, will square off against this year?s all-but certain MVP, LeBron James.
That doesn?t make it boring. History shows it is foregone conclusions that drives the NBA.
For years, finals featuring the Lakers and the Celtics were seemingly inevitable. Combined the teams have won half of the NBA's 62 championships and have met in the Finals 11 times, with the Celtics winning nine of those, including the most recent meeting last season. Classic matchups like the Bulls and the Lakers or the Celtics and the Sixers are played in a semi-constant loop on NBA TV. Everyone knew for years that Jordan?s Bulls would be in the finals against someone. The only question was ? how would he win it?
The fascination with the NBA peaked with the great individual rivalries - Chamberlain vs. Russell, Magic vs. Bird and even Jordan vs. Barkley.
This year it?s shaping up to more of the same. There are no teams in either division that can compete with the Lakers or the Cavaliers. Even though the series itself won?t be a surprise, it?s a star-driven match-up that will likely earn better ratings than last year?s classic Lakers-Celtics rematch.
It?s the start of a new era - The Kobe vs. LeBron era.
Enjoy it while you can
Despite LeBron?s feeble finals appearance two years ago against the Spurs, this time he?s got help in Mo Williams. Now the shockingly still-young James has a chance at being the dominant figure in the NBA landscape for years to come.
Kobe Bryant also has destiny on his mind as he is looking to discredit the notion that he was at his best as Shaq?s swingman. He wants to be known simply as one of if not the greatest player to ever play in the NBA.
The trouble is - this isn?t the 80?s or the 90?s. Players tend to move around a bit more than they used to. There are few sacred cows so this rivalry could be a short-lived one as both are facing impending free agency.
Bryant will be a free agent at the end of the season, and while he is still the most explosive guard in the league, he will be turning 31 in August. He?s as healthy as he?s ever been, and tough as he demonstrated last year getting his team to the finals while playing with a broken finger that required surgery. Buy 31 is old - historically the body begins to break down. Despite all he?s done for them, it?s well known what the Lakers think of Bryant, and Kobe knows this is his last shot at truly psychotic dollars.
LeBron is a different case.
Since overpowering the world in the Olympics he has become the complete player that everyone predicted he would be when he was drafted in 2003. In a 60 Minutes interview he says he will get better, so theoretically he?s just on the start of the road that Bryant is finishing. And then there is his hometown, Cleveland. They don?t just want him to stay; they need him to stay, just to erase the seemingly eons-old image of the city of losers. A ring this year might be enough to compel him to stay rather than scoot to New York after the 2009-2010 season as so many are predicting.
How will it turn out? On ABC on Sunday Jon Barry accurately said, "The second best team in the West is the Lakers bench."
LeBron will have to wait ? and hopefully for Cleveland, he?s willing to do so.
Cheers ? Gavin McDougald ? AKA Couch
