He got this one right.

LeBron James got this one right. His "decision" in 2010 was a narcissistic disaster and the fact that he didn't realize that until 2012 only made it worse. People jokingly referred to his free agency this season as "indecision" or "decision 2.0", but he was determined to keep this one on the down low and handle things right. He refused to open his mouth the entire time. He didn't even publicly meet any teams except the heat - he owed that much to Pat Riley and the gang out of courtesy, if not anything else. And he didn't even have a press conference to announce his signing. He wrote a letter penned by Lee Jenkins on SI and flew away to Brazil. The letter (http://www.si.com/nba/2014/07/11/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers) was beautifully penned and ends with a "I am coming home" message which was music to many ears, including mine. The letter struck all the right notes and touched on everything relevant.

LeBron in that letter came off as a humble, loyal, home-sick, forgiving,  apologetic, superstar and he also made sure he drove the fan expectations down - a far cry from the "not 6, not 7" days. He gained a lot of fans back and a championship or two in Ohio is going to make him incredibly popular and we might finally have a legitimate threat to Michael Jordan for GOAT - Greatest Of All Time. He definitely knows what he is doing here and is trying to go in a different direction to build a unique legacy. He is way past just the ring counts - he is not winning that argument anyways since he has already lost 3 finals. MJ is 6-0 and LeBron is 2-3. But winning for his small-market home town and a resume along the lines of 4 championships and 8 finals appearance or something like that in addition to all the ridiculous stats he is already putting up is going to be hard to ignore.

He gave us all a feel-good, cool story and you don't have to be a Cleveland cavs fan to appreciate this.  Some of the LeBron apologists in the media were calling us all "haters" when LeBron was in Miami. They missed a basic point. Fans don't owe their fandom to anybody! I am not beholden to like LeBron or anybody just because he jumps the highest for his dunks or drops the sweetest dimes. Fans have every right to like or hate anybody for any reason as long as they keep it civil and don't make it personal. No fan asked to put LeBron in jail for leaving Cleveland in 2010, but he or she had every right to like LeBron in 2009 and change their mind and not like him in 2011. We see this everyday when athletes change teams and fans go from cheering to booing or vice versa just based on the laundry. We accept this, but somehow some people in the media didn't get why people disliked LeBron after the "decision." The "decision" took a feel good, small market, home town story away and some fans lost all incentive to pull for LeBron once he moved to Miami.

Fans don't owe the athletes anything. After all, fans pay LeBron, it's not the other way around. Customer is God in any business and it's LeBron's job to impress the customer.  The "decision" did the exact opposite - both the modus operandi and the end result were wrong in the minds of many fans. May be because the media is so involved with the sport and LeBron was clearly the best basketball player in the world, some people in the media couldn't see why people did not like or root for LeBron. Well, I hate the term "casual fans", but casual fans like or dislike an athlete for many reasons and the summer of 2010 gave them a truckload of reasons to hate LeBron. It's on him, not the fans. The league was not happy either for a completely different reason. The league made many changes in 2011 during the lockout just to prevent the kind of superstar conglomeration that the Miami heat created in the previous off-season.

One of the less appreciated aspect of the big 3 was how rare and unusual it was for 3 of the top 5 draft picks from the same draft to come together in their prime. This absolutely threatened the competitive balance and the whole logic of the draft in the NBA. Imagine a league where the top guys from every draft ganged up after their initial contracts and ended up in cities of their choice. Though, to be fair, these 3 did re-sign with their respective teams once after their rookie contracts before joining forces in 2010. But still, if LeBron, Wade, and Bosh could gang up in their prime, it would have probably been easier for guys from the other drafts to do it - given that the big 3 were superstars from a historically top-notch draft and it will cost a lot less and involve lesser egos with top picks from your typical, average draft. This scared the league as it threatened the system and the whole notion of parity and put too much power in the hands of the players. The NBA fixed it in a hurry, to the point that the same big 3 in 2014 faced much bigger problem re-signing with the heat though they were heat's own free agents this time around and had all kinds of "Bird rights".

LeBron has changed the culture of NBA free agency with his move in 2010 and superstars now are constantly trying to team up with each other. But the system has made it extremely difficult to do it. So after a lot of talk this off-season, stars were forced to go their separate ways. LeBron seems to always pioneer new ways to build a legendary career. He left town and teamed up with two other superstars who he was competing against in 2010. Now, he is going back to his small market, home team to try to win a championship for a downtrodden franchise. Few stars get a chance to do this. Neither MJ, nor Bird, nor Magic can claim to have done that. So he is charting his own course here. More power to him. It was interesting to see him hold the entire league hostage for a week without uttering a word. Everybody, including other stars were forced to wait for his move before free agency resumed again. He is wielding unprecedented power right now and wielding it well I might add. As a suns fan, I am getting ready to root for a suns-cavs finals every year. Some of us root for good things and the davids of this world against narcissistic things and the goliaths. I have no problem supporting LeBron now proving that us fans can change our mind and keep things fair if only the athlete does the "right thing". In the words of the king, "who am I to hold a grudge?"

WWLD Summer

Time flies. I can't believe it's been four years already since the last WWLD summer. Once again, the biggest question of the summer is, "What Will LeBron James Do?" This will not be quite the emotional ride it was the last time around - unless you are a passionate Miami heat fan, which in and of itself might be an oxymoron given how flaky the heat fans usually are. Most of the NBA fans are watching this with a detached curiosity, almost daring LeBron to make this free agency the vulgar drama that it was the last time around. Unlike the last time when he was with the Cavaliers, he is the big, bad goliath now and the average fan doesn't have a dog in this fight. They are just waiting on the sidelines ready to pounce on him if he takes a mis-step. He better not make this a mess and subject us to another stupid "decision". If I was LeBron, I will keep this quick, clean, and quiet. As quiet as it possibly can be in today's twitter-fueled culture. It's already big news, but he cannot afford to mismanage it like he did last time.

As for what LeBron is actually going to do, obviously he has the world at his feet. It should be awesome to be the world's best at anything. LeBron is unquestionably the best basketball player in the world. The attention he demands and commands and the love he is going to get from teams coast-to-coast is going to be very flattering. The options are seemingly endless. There are rumors about how the clippers would be a great fit and how the rockets have all the talent in the world to surround him with. But seriously, does he really have that many options? Fans will have a field day if he goes to yet another team chasing a ring. You can call them haters all you want, but LeBron will be giving everybody even more reasons to hate if he goes to a third team in five years. It won't be illegal or even unethical by any stretch of the imagination, but it sure will be weird. It will be an unusual career path for a legendary athlete and will cheapen his legacy. Who exactly are we talking about here - the world's best basketball player or Jarrett Jack?

How many superstars, let alone legends, have played for three teams before they turn 30? I can't think of any. The closest I can think of in recent history is Shaquille O'Neal, who ended up playing for 6 teams and won his last championship in Miami in his early thirties. But even he was past 30 and had to move to Miami primarily because of the unusual drama with Kobe in LA. There have been cases of legends moving to other teams as they age and pursue that elusive ring or teams deciding to move away from aging superstars. Cases in point - Karl Malone and Charles Barkley in their old age or more recently, Peyton Manning. But Peyton had to relocate to Denver only because the colts decided to move on . Rarely does a legend move on his own from team to team in the prime of his career. LeBron will be pioneering a new trend if he does move, but it won't be the most endearing or legendary trend. If he goes to another team with a bunch of superstars, he will become the laughing stock again and rightfully so. NBA pros should be chasing LeBron for a ring, not the other way around. Given all that, I see only one of two destinations in reality for him. He either re-signs with the heat or shocks everybody and goes back to the Cleveland cavaliers.

He can sell the move to the cavs as a "home coming" and the fans will welcome him back with open arms, even the ones who burnt his jersey four years back. Cavs are considered a long-shot because they are a few years away from contending, but LeBron can take any four guys from the local YMCA to the second round of the Eastern conference playoffs. And the cavs talent ain't that bad - definitely young, but not bad. I would rather play with Kyrie Irving than Dwyane Wade at this stage of Wade's career. Granted, the cavs don't have Chris Bosh or a winning culture, but they do have the first pick in this year's draft and a bunch of young, under-achieving assets. LeBron can fix the culture just by showing up. I am not saying he would or he should go back to Cleveland but he could. Any other destination outside of Miami and Cleveland, he will lose a lot of face. The chances are, he will stay in Miami, but if Wade and Bosh pick up their expensive options, it's going to be very interesting and difficult for LeBron to stay. Miami would have no flexibility to improve in that case. Thats what makes this free agency fascinating. I still can't see him going to a new city, but then again, I have been wrong about his choices before and won't be surprised if I am wrong again.

Sweet Redemption

“We’ll do it this time," said Tim Duncan after winning the Western conference finals and earning the right to play the Miami heat in the finals. That quote made a lot of news because that pretty much qualifies as vulgar trash talking coming from the choir boys of San Antonio, especially Timmy. That was the ultimate indicator of how much the spurs were hurting from last year's disastrous defeat. We knew that last year's loss was a depressing and devastating punch to their gut, but the spurs are not the kind that wears their emotions on their sleeves or verbalizes them. But when Timmy spoke after the western conference finals, you could tell they were very driven to take back the gift they had given to the heat last year. Not only did they want to make it back to the finals and win it all this time, they wanted the heat and only the heat. And they got them. The spurs were not careful what they wished for and they didn't care.

Spurs knew they were better than the heat last year and were confident they have improved a bit this year. More than getting better, the loss last year was motivating and driving them everyday. The heat, on the other hand, had gotten slightly worse and couldn't even land the best record in the putrid eastern conference. LeBron had gotten better as always, but Wade had taken another couple of steps back in his accelerated journey "over the hill".  Is he the oldest 32 year-old ever? He is just four months older than Tony Parker, but plays like he is four years older than Tim Duncan. He is still good, but the drop-off from his peak is surprising and just too rapid for somebody who has not really been through devastating injuries. Wade was once considered MJ to LeBron's Scottie. Now, LeBron is carrying him every trip down the floor along with the other Miami scrubs.  

The first two games of the series were close and Miami even won one. The series went back to Miami and suddenly, the offensive floodgates were open for the spurs. They carved up the vaunted Miami defense almost every trip down the floor. The adjustment from last year was to move the ball swiftly and precisely to thwart Miami's swarming defense. Miami had no counter adjustment to offer. They did have some success stealing some of the passes in the first two games, but the spurs fixed that soon. Miami was done once Kawhi Leonard woke up from his two game slumber at the start of the series. The big three of the spurs didn't have to do much more than the next three -  Kawhi Leonard, Boris Diaw, and Danny Green as everybody was pitching in on offense. Diaw brought me back memories of his time with the Phoenix suns. 

The suns should have been winning championships eight years back with Diaw's skills surrounded by a team of passing, cutting, and shooting wizards. Diaw was working the same concepts in this series but with the wrong team. He got it done and so did the spurs as a team. Huge win for coach Greg Popovich, who deservedly won the coach of the year this season. The offensive flow was spectacular and Pop's defense never disappoints. His flexibility in transforming a Duncan centric post-up offense to a cutting, moving, 3-point shooting masterpiece deserves a lot of credit. So does his leadership in guiding the team past a devastating loss last year. It was a collective failure last year with Ginobli missing free throws, Pop pulling Duncan out at the wrong moments of game 6, and Duncan missing easy shots in game 7. They responded with a collective, team success this year. Congrats to everybody in the Spurs organization. They have sent LeBron into another summer of confusion and should keep us fans entertained. 

All Tied Up!

LeBron James is the best basketball player in the world - cramps or no cramps. Unfortunately for the Spurs, he showed it in game two to "steal" home court advantage. I have "steal" in quotes because home court is not going to be a big factor in the first six games of this series. Both teams are veteran teams with a lot of championship experience. Home court will probably matter in game seven, but the Spurs have to get there first. They would have loved to go up 2-0 - who wouldn't, but it's not the end of the world that they lost a game at home. The bigger question for the Spurs is, if LeBron had not cramped up in game 1, would they be down 0-2 and will the series be over for all practical purposes? That game was incredibly close when LeBron tightened up and couldn't move. If he had stayed in, it would have been another nail baiter like game two and it's anybody's guess which Spurs player would have missed how many free throws to blow it. Missed free throws continue to haunt the Spurs. After blowing game six last year with many missed free throws, they missed four straight in game two during a key fourth quarter stretch to make their life harder and LeBron's easier.

The Spurs probably are the better team in this series, but the best player plays for the Heat. And LeBron James is the best player on the court by a lot! If we shave ten years off of Duncan, he might come close, but not today. Given that, the Spurs have to play well as a unit and find out a way to slow down LeBron. This is where Kawhi Leonard comes in. He bothered LeBron a lot last year, but not so much thus far in this series. He has to make a bigger impact defensively. And the problem for the Spurs is, they are a little more dependent on Kawhi overall including his offense this year than they were last year as he is improving as a player every year. So if defending LeBron is affecting the rest of his game and is not slowing down LeBron either, the Spurs are in trouble. They need Sugar K Leonard to at least come through at one end. Let's see if the change of scenery revitalizes him in Miami. The Heat are not as good as they used to be because of Wade's decline. But they are no chopped liver either. Between Bosh, Ray, Wade, and others, they are still a load to handle. This series will be tight, long, and fun. I still like the Spurs in seven.

LeBron got a lot of heat for cramping up in game one. I didn't get that at all. It's not like he can control cramps or he was looking for excuses to sit out and lose that game to go down 0-1. What is he being criticized for? With that said, I was happy in someways to note that LeBron haters are still alive and well and are just waiting to come out of the woodwork. I have still not reconciled with him moving to Miami and continue to root against him. If I flashback four years to when he signed with the Heat, LeBron was clearly on track to becoming the best player in the world, if not one already. But Wade was a better scorer and  there were some question marks about LeBron's game. He had to endure some "Scottie Pippen" chants. Things are now completely different. He has erased most of those question marks and evolved into the undisputed leader of this Miami team. Wade has aged not so gracefully, but even a healthier, younger Wade has no shot at being anything more than a distant second fiddle to this version of the king. LeBron is a transcendent talent, but the reality is, his legacy is still hanging in a balance. A defeat in this series would send him to 2-3 record in the finals with a "cramps" cherry on top. Thats not good for his resume. All of this means only one thing - LeBron's towering presence will decide this series.

Predictable Four

Miami  versus Indiana in the East and San Antonio versus Oklahoma City in the West. Couldn't we all have guessed this at the beginning of the season? If there is one issue with the NBA, it's the predictability. Even with the ridiculously surprising first round of the playoffs this year, NBA is still the most predictable of all the leagues. NBA season is long and the playoffs are seven game series. This makes sure the best teams always bubble up. NFL seasons are shorter and the playoff games are obviously one game elimination contests. But thats not even the real reason for the parity, which has always been one of NFL's big charm. Very few Super Bowl champions even get back to the big game next year and the Super Bowl losers are typically lucky to even make it back to the playoffs. NFL's rigid salary cap and the large sizes of rosters are what makes it difficult for good teams to stay good and bad teams to stay bad. In the NBA, rosters are small and if you have a LeBron James, you are assured of playoffs every year. You add Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to that mix, life becomes real good and will continue to be good for years.

Major League Baseball does have a long season like the NBA that promotes consistency and predictability and does not have single-elimination playoff games - except for the new wild-card round. But it's still al lot less predictable than the NBA because it's just a different game. The starting pitcher means so much in that sport and one great pitcher on a roll can swing the series one way or the other all by himself. This happens a lot, especially in the wild card and five-game divisional series rounds. So NBA is clearly the most predictable. Thats not all bad. It's also the most "stable" playoffs, There is something to be said about the best teams always making it to the top. I have always thought MLB playoffs are the worst in this regard. After a grueling, 162-game season, a singular pitching performance can negate everything and foist a new champion on us.  Luck and random occurrences rarely impact NBA playoffs like it does other sports, though we do spend a lot of time talking about referees and calls.

We all knew these four teams will be where they are now. This doesn't mean the playoffs have not been fun so far or there is no reason to watch the regular season. After all, the sport does boast of the World's best athletes and the games - even the regular season games, can provide high quality entertainment. But the point is, we could be watching a Miami-San Antonio finals for the second year in a row. Miami most probably is going to make it to its fourth straight finals. At least thats what the league is hoping for as an Indiana finals will be a ratings disaster since the western conference finalists are already small market teams. The only surprise in terms of what we expected at the beginning of the season is that Indiana wanted and earned home court and Miami has to start the series on the road. Similarly in the west, OKC and San Antonio are the last two season's finalists and one of them is going to be there again. We could argue that OKC had the better prospects at the beginning of the season and it's a bit of a surprise they didn't end up with the best record in the west

Indiana took the circuitous route to get here with all kinds of inconsistency and drama since the all-star break, but they are here now with home court in their hands. They should have enough motivation and drive to get up and perform at a high level against Miami, the one team they hate and have been obsessed with for all the right reasons. Anything less than perfect basketball against LeBron and the Heat will send Indiana fishing with Kenny sooner than later. They better bring their A-game, which has been MIA for months now. Thats why I have to grudgingly pick Miami to win this series. I pick San Antonio to win the west. Serge Ibaka's injury is a bummer for OKC and us fans who wanted to watch a great series between these two great teams. It almost feels like the NBA could actually avoid injuries and put a better finals on the table if they stop playing all those regular season games and directly start the playoffs or the finals. Lets hope for a healthy and fun Miami - San Antonio finals this season. Of course, I won't complain if Indiana proves me wrong and eliminates Miami.  But Adam Silver and the TV channels will.

I miss the first round

After the amazing first round of the NBA playoffs, I knew the second round would be a bit of a letdown and it has been just that so far. These playoffs will have several great moments between now and the finals, but it may never be as good as the ridiculously fun first round, which featured five game 7s including a record breaking three game 7s in one day. There were fifty games total in the first round - which was the highest ever, and eight overtime games with Memphis and OKC playing four straight OT games. There were a couple of buzzer beaters, one of which brought Vince Carter back from the dead and the other pushed Damian Lillard on to the mainstream. Now the playoffs have settled into more of a regular rhythm with the big boys and the upstarts fighting it out as usual. The unpredictability of the first round is gone, but there should still be enough drama for us fans to enjoy. The Heat and the Spurs seem to be having it too easy right now at home. I am sure their lives will get a little tougher and the series will become a lot tighter on the road - especially for the Spurs. But those two teams look like they might be replaying their finals series from last year.

The Pacers and the Thunder are locked in a 1-1 tie and even if they win their respective series - which I expect them to, I am not sure if they can seriously challenge the Heat or the Spurs. The Pacers have home court, which they worked real hard for throughout the season. Of course their story is now well chronicled as they started floundering after the all-star game and their troubles are continuing through the first and second round of the playoffs. I think they will step up and play their best against the Heat because that team has been the red-rag to the Indiana bull for almost three years now. Thats why they wanted home court and if they can't get up for a Eastern conference finals against the Heat, God save them. But they do need to get there first and I won't be surprised if they get dumped by the Wizards. The upstart Wizards are surprisingly a great team with a lot of talent, athleticism, and size and they are gelling at the right time. Game 3 will tell us a lot about both the tied series.

I have always had this theory that the winner of game 3 takes the series if the series is tied 1-1. I believe the theory has been confirmed by some stats as well lately. But in the crazy first round, my theory was right only with two of the five series that were tied 1-1 after two games. I was wrong with two other series, with the weird Indiana team being one of the outliers. The Spurs were the fifth team which almost won game 3 on the road before Vince Carter rolled back the clock by a dozen years and hit that buzzer beater. Basically that game 3 doesn't count in my book. In general, if the road team wins one of the first two games on the road against the higher seed, the higher seed either wrests the momentum with that game 3 win or the lower seed establishes control and equality with a home win. There is always this talk about "stealing home court" with one of those wins in the first two games, but it really doesn't mean a whole lot if the team gives it right back in game 3. This has especially been true this year where the games have been so tight in round 1 with a lot of road wins and upsets.

I am especially interested in seeing what the Clippers do in their game 3 against the Thunder. The Clippers probably have the most complete roster in these playoffs, but I think they are still a year away from challenging the real top dawgs. DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin's development this year has catapulted them into the elite category. DeAndre can be an absolute beast on certain days against some teams. They are a little young and still make way too many mistakes to challenge the Spurs. Whoever comes out of the West this year should be able to legitimately challenge and win against the Heat.

The Clippers-Warriors series was the most fun in the first round though it ended up costing Mark Johnson his job. Mark Jackson was definitely good at motivating and leading his players, but he was not a great coach when it came to X's and O's and by all reports, was not too good with other details of coaching either including dealing with his management. He got a lot of credit for turning around a down-trodden franchise, but honestly, neither Jackson, nor his players, nor the owners had anything to do with how bad the Warriors were in 1999 or 2003. So how does the history matter here except for some feel good sentiment among the fans over the last 2 years? It's not like Jackson took Latrell Spreewell and Tood Fuller to the playoffs. This is a different team altogether. He should be evaluated purely on the basis of what he did with this team. They won 51 games, and he deserves a pay raise if he took a 45-win team and manufactured 51 wins out of them. But the coach will get fired these days if he took a team with 55-win talent and won 51 games with it. It's hard to tell what's the reality with this good, but not great Warriors roster. But his bosses clearly think they could and should have done better. That doomed M-Jax at the end. No need to shed any tears or cry foul at this. We have seen way too many 50-win coaches get fired lately. M-Jax will land on his feet anyways and good luck to him rest of the way.

Two Time Champion

LeBron James is now a two time Champion. For all the criticism and rough times he has been through, he might actually be on track to achieve all his goals given that he is only 28. He has already been in the league 10 years and has clearly established himself as the best player in the league. He has accumulated a bunch of MVP awards and he just clinched his second, finals MVP. He had a phenomenal game 7 tonight with 37 points and 12 boards. He shot the heat to a championship as spurs  continued to clog the lane and gave him open jumpers. That strategy worked for most of the series, but not tonight. I knew the spurs were in trouble once LeBron hit a couple of early 3's in the first half. When a player of that caliber gets in rhythm, its hard to derail him sometimes. Plus he had amazing support from Dwayne Wade, Shane Battier, and Mario Chalmers tonight. They kept nailing critical jumpers - many 3's in the case of Battier. Spurs tried their best to keep up and gave us a great game - thanks to Kawhi Leonard, but with Ginobli and Green hurting their cause more than helping and with LeBron guarding Tony Parker, it was trouble late in the game. It was a sad site to see Tim Duncan miss that 2-feet hook shot and tip on Shane Battier that could have tied the game. Not sure how the game would have gone even if he had hit that, but that miss could keep him up at night for a while. 

The spurs really lost the series in game 6. I am even surprised they were able to stay in the game today in game 7. The series got interesting in game 6 after a bunch of blowouts. The last 2 games were superb entertainment. It elevated this finals to the level of an instant classic. Of course, it took a huge collapse by the spurs in the last 30 seconds of game 6 to make this series what it has become now. Up 4 with just around 30 seconds to go and heading to the free throw line, Ginobli missed a free throw to go up by 5. LeBron missed a 3, only to get the ball again after an offensive rebound to hit another 3. Up 2, Kawhi Leonard then missed one more free throw and Ray Allen hit a game-tying, legacy saving 3 with just 5 seconds to go. This is exactly why they brought Ray Allen to town. A shot like that justifies millions in salary given what was at stake. That 3 was also after another LeBron James missed 3 and an offensive rebound - Tim Duncan was on the bench for both those rebounds. And Pop by the way also put Tony Parker on the bench later for the last possession of overtime and a late possession in tonight's game 7, the one where Ginobli turned the ball over like he has been doing all series. Questionable coaching by one of the best coaches in the league. The spurs lost game 6 more than the heat winning it. It doesn't matter. Five years from now, all of this will just be remembered as LeBron's second championship. Nobody can take that away from him and the heat. 

Game 6 was truly a game of historic proportions because of what a loss there could have meant to LeBron's legacy. He had a mediocre shooting series up to that point and the first 3 quarters of that game was brutal. He then had an amazing run in the 4-Th, but slowed down again at the end and spurs looked like they got that game locked up. He had a few bad plays in the clutch again and the twitter universe was ready to pounce on LeBron like it was 2011. Nobody's entire legacy is evaluated and critiqued with every play quite like LeBron's. Even Bill Walton jumped the gun a little early when the spurs were up 5 with less than 30 seconds to go and said something like never compare LeBron to MJ or Kobe. I guess how he feels tonight after game 7. That Ray Allen 3 saved LeBron a lot of pain. I am really curious to see how much more shine this second ring adds to LeBron. The first ring was obviously a huge relief and LeBron has recovered a lot of his reputation, but the haters are still out there - me included. I don't hate LeBron personally or want anything bad to happen to him, but I definitely don't like the way this Miami heat team has been assembled. The national media had to ease up on him after the first ring and they may start deifying him after 2. He is an once in a generation player and I have no doubt he is better than Jordan as a overall basketball talent - LeBron can do it all and do it well, but none of that earns him my loyalty at this point

Rings and only rings will determine where LeBron's legacy ends up in relation to Jordan's. Thats exactly why he has hooked up with Wade and Bosh and his plans seems to be coming to fruition now - 3 years, 3 finals, 2 championships. The spurs in that game 6 could have dealt a huge blow to his legacy. It would have been 2 losses in 3 straight finals and 3 losses in 4 total trips including his Cleveland days. Jordan and Montana never lost the championship games and thats part of their greatness. LeBron has already lost 2 out of 4, but 3 out of 4 would have been horrible for him. He doesn't have to worry about it now, especially if he can win 5 out of 7 or 6 out of 8 championships when it's all said and done. Of course, thats all still a long way off. He will try to three-peat next year. Miami's luxury tax situation is rough and it's anybody's guess how this team will look next year, let alone in 2 years. I expect the big-3 to be back next season, but I am not sure if they can afford good supporting talent. I also expect the Pacers and the Bulls to push them harder next year. The heat will still have the world's best basketball player whose confidence is sky high now with these championships in the bag. They are the early favorites for 2014. Let the off-season begin. Wonder where the spurs go from here. What about my Phoenix suns? May be the suns can add a piece or 2 and win 10 more games. #ModestGoals.

Close, tied, and boring

This NBA finals had a lot of potential coming in and is living up to it in some ways with 2-2 tie after four games. Despite being all tied up, it has not been the most entertaining finals so far. The reason is, there was one close game and an amazing game winning basket by Tony Parker in game 1, but we have been exposed to a whole lot of one-sided games and blowouts since then. This series has not had any flow or pattern so far. Teams have alternated wins and a different guy has been the story every game. At this points, it's impossible to say who is the better team or who is the favorite to win it all. I was convinced San Antonio was going to win this thing after their game 1 and 3 victories, but after Miami's game 4 win, I am not so sure anymore. Miami now gets to host 2 out of the remaining 3 games and that should make them the favorite. This makes game 5 very critical for San Antonio. They can't afford to lose game 5 at home and hope to win 2 straight on the road against LeBron James. 

Momentum goes with the winner of last game and in addition, the other thing that makes the Miami Heat the slight favorite now is the sight of Wade finally dominating game 4. Wade has been mostly absent for a majority these playoffs, It's a completely different ball game when this guy is on. It's a nightmare for any team trying to defend both LeBron and Wade. Unfortunately, Pop has to figure this out now given the sudden revival of Wade. He was terrific in game 4. Tony Parker's injury is another concern for the Spurs. He started off hot in game 4, but his second half was nothing special. Ginobli is struggling as well with just 7.5 points per game in these finals. If the Spurs win this series, we might have an improbable MVP in Danny Green. For Miami, it will probably be LeBron who has done a little bit of everything, though he had a rough time scoring in the first 3 games. His block on Thiago Splitter in game 2 might be remembered as the most memorable play of these finals if Miami win. That was an awesome play much like Parker's shot in game 1. 

Let's hope for a few more memorable moments and tighter contests over the remaining games. My theory about game 3 winners after a 1-1- tie always taking the series is also under duress here with the Heat wresting home court back. Spurs have to win at least one more on the road to win the series, but Miami don't have to. Both teams are veteran squads and winning on the road has not been a problem for either. Some experts also feel momentum is a lesser factor in the NBA finals than in other rounds. All of this makes it hard to get a feel for or predict this series even after 4 games.  May be game 5 will provide us with all the answers. Off the court, the most significant news to me has been the retirement of Grant Hill and Jason Kidd. They came into the league together in 1994 and are going out together after long careers. It's truly an end of an era in the NBA - an era that will always be close to my heart as I grew up as an NBA fan during that time. I am also proud that both their paths passed through the Phoenix Suns. I can't believe Kidd has already scored a head coaching job with the Nets, but I wish him good luck.

Game Zero

I dozed off pretty much through the entire fourth quarter of the Pacers-Heat game seven tonight. That tells you all you need to know about this game seven. It was a big letdown. The pacers didn't really show up. They made this an interesting, intriguing, and competitive series until the start of game seven. Once the game started, the pacers we have been accustomed to seeing the last couple of weeks left the building. There is always the danger of this happening in game sevens with the road team. The pacers are a young, inexperienced team and these lights were too big for them. The pacers gave game one away and that's where they lost the series just like the warriors did against the Spurs. And, just like the warriors, the pacers did help prove my theory that if the series is tied after 2 games, the winner of game three takes the series. They pounded the heat with their size and toughness, but whenever the heat dialed up their intensity, pacers seemed to lack the firepower to keep up. The much-hyped game seven ended up being a lame precursor to the finals - a game zero of the finals if you will.

The Pacers need one more piece to take the next step. I like George Hill - first round picks of the San Antonio Spurs are usually no chopped liver, but they need a better point guard to manage this talented, big team. May be they can trade Danny Granger in a package and score a point guard in return. Granger is not bad either, but he is too similar to Paul George and Paul is way better. Part of me would like to see Granger back with this team with a more mature George and Hibbert, but I think they can use a point guard instead. I have full trust in Donnie Walsh, their president of basketball operations, to make the right call here. It will be an interesting off-season for the pacers. They are a legitimate contender now and am glad pro basketball is back in the hoosier state after a rough decade or so. Between the pacers and the bulls - if and when Derrick Rose returns, the Heat might have some serious threat next season. 

But first things first. Can anybody stop the heat this season? The pacers almost did it and that should give a big psychological boost to the spurs. The heat don't look anywhere near invincible and the big three has shrunk to big one all of a sudden. The "one" is definitely not a bad "one" to have, but I am really curious to see how coach Pop deals with the unstoppable LeBron James. I pick the spurs to figure this out and take this series in six. Heat don't do well against size - the pacers had size, and they don't well against speedy point guards - the spurs have Tony Parker. Duncan is not the same these days, but he is still the "big fundamental" and his size will bother the heat too. The spurs are going to be a handful for the heat and I both like and want the spurs to pull off the upset. For all the tumult the heat have been through the last three years and all the criticism LeBron and others had to endure, they have made it to three straight finals. Things are very much going according to plan for the big-3 though there is this collective public yearning for them to fail. But if they lose their second finals in three tries, it will be considered a failure.

NBA's final four

NBA's final four is an interesting mix of small market teams and LeBron James. I am not sure how much Commissioner Stern is going to like a Memphis-Indiana finals and what kind of TV ratings that would get, but it's a slight possibility. At least last year, he had the big market Boston and a super star in Kevin Durant still balling at this point of the season. This year, America has to get to know Paul George and Mike Conley if they want to enjoy these conference finals. Paul George helped his own cause quite a bit today. The lanky and talented George put up 27 points and hit a game tying 3 to send the game to overtime, where he shot 3 clutch free throws to put the Pacers ahead with just 2.2 seconds to go. He defended LeBron well for long stretches as well. But his youth shows up here and there and he does make mistakes befitting a 3-Rd year player that he is. In regulation, he threw the ball away in one of the key possessions towards the end. And in OT, he over-committed on defense and got stuck at the perimeter trying to chase LeBron and let him drive right by him to the hoop. It was too easy for LeBron.

There seems to be a lot of games going to overtime this playoffs and thats a good thing. Most of the chatter after this OT game though was about Indiana's coach Frank Vogel putting Roy Hibbert on the bench during 2 late possessions in OT, both of which ended in LeBron James layups. I would like to have Hibbert in there as well, but the match-ups usually dictate these things. Miami is a small team and having Hibbert in there can be a liability sometimes. There is no guarantee he is going to be close enough to contest the shot anyways. The Heat have the shooters and athletes to pull him out. It's not like Hibbert contests and blocks every single layup when he is in there. I am sure Vogel won't pull him out in similar situations in future games and he admitted as much, but I won't blame him for what he did today. He had to make a decision based on match-ups. He is still a young coach himself and hopefully, he learned something today. The whole Indiana gang needs to grow up fast if it wants to win this series. They have a shot and this series might go 7 either way.

In the West, I was hoping for another great series with Memphis and San Antonio, but Memphis has not really joined the series quite yet. They did come back from way behind to force OT yesterday, but they need to get in the game from the beginning to have a shot against a great team like the Spurs. They go back home now and have to win both their home games to make a series out of this. They have the talent to beat the Spurs and more importantly, I want Memphis to win because they have the talent to beat Miami. But they need to get to the finals first. They will be the tougher match-up for Miami if they ever figure out a way to stop Tony Parker in this round. Zach Randolph is yet to really show up in this series. Coach Pop is so good he is going to take something or things away from Memphis. So Conley, Gasol, and Z-Bo have to collectively bring their A-Game to get it done. I still don't know what Pop really did to Golden State, but he sure took both Curry and Klay away after they both had amazing starts to that series. I don't mind Pop and his old guys from Texas getting to the Finals one more time, except for the fact that I feel the Grizzlies will give the Heat the most trouble. May be Indiana will make that point moot. But then again, they probably blew that chance today. Too many possibilities and angles, but we can only watch and enjoy.

NBA's heat-map

The long NBA regular season is now over and the playoffs are starting tomorrow. I just realized I had blogged just five times about the NBA this entire season. Thats what happens when you are busy and your favorite team is 25-57. So I will blame my lack of focus on the NBA on the Phoenix Suns and their horrible season. But the playoffs are always fun and deserve our collective attention. As much as I hate the Lakers and Kobe, we will miss him in the playoffs. You don't want to see anybody get hurt, let alone a superstar like Kobe just before the playoffs. The Lakers are not even the same team to hate without him. They finally made it in as the 7-Th seed surprising everybody. They get the Spurs instead of the Thunder, which is supposed to be a friendlier matchup. I don't think it matters anyways. They will be bounced early. But do we really even care with no Kobe to love or hate? Thats the power of a NBA superstar. Kobe is Kobe, plus he had a phenomenal season. It was hard to see him go out so close to the playoffs.

The other problem with an injury so close to the playoffs is that it also means you are relatively close to the beginning of next NBA season, as crazy as that may sound. Derrick Rose is still not back from the injury late last season, but thats a topic for another day. So Kobe may not be back until mid-way into next season. He has vowed to come back and I believe him 100%, but it might be 2014/2015 before he is completely back and he might be too old by then. Thats why there are legitimate concerns about his career being over. I think it might be over for all practical purposes, but not officially yet. He will be back. The Lakers are still a story, but Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol don't move the needle and Steve Nash has not been effective this year either. I remember talking to a scalper back when Charles Barkley was a superstar in Phoenix. He said the toughest part of his job was when Barkley was out injured. He just could not move any tickets. Lakers tickets lost a whole bunch of value with Kobe's injury.

On the schedule this weekend are a couple of interesting match-ups. Boston-NY is always interesting regardless of the sport. Golden State at Denver is another fun series. Stephen Curry is the next big star on the horizon and the Warriors look like a genius for locking him up at the beginning of the season at what will now be considered a bargain basement price for Curry. James Harden leading the upstart Rockets into Oklahoma city is intriguing too, but they don't have a realistic shot at doing anything significant. At the end of the day, the entire playoffs looks like a distraction while the Heat map out their way through the playoff maze to lock up their second championship. LeBron had such a phenomenal season that even thinking about alternate names for the NBA MVP honors sounds ridiculous. The biggest lock of this season might be the two awards - LeBron for MVP and Damian Lillard for rookie of the year. And of course Heat for the championship, though I am still holding hope that the Pacers or Spurs or Thunder will bother them just a little bit.

NBA's stretch run

I have not blogged a whole lot about the NBA this season. When your favorite team - Phoenix Suns in this case, is playing a robust .344 ball, it's only natural to lose a little bit of interest in the league. But the interest in the NBA peaks only around this time anyways. Actually, it really peaks about a month from now when March madness is over and the playoffs are just around the corner, but people do start following it a lot more after the Super Bowl. The storyline for the rest of the season is whether or not the Lakers make the playoffs. Thats both good and bad. The good news is, the Lakers are struggling to make the 8-Th spot. The bad news is, once again the sports-world is almost exclusively obsessed about a big market team and it's prospects. Of course there are enough stars in LA to hold everybody's interest. Kobe is a "big market" all by himself! The worse news is, the Lakers probably will sneak into the playoffs. But I don't think they are going anywhere even if they do get in.

The Lakers are 4 games behind the Golden State Warriors for the 6-Th spot, but they are only 1.5 games behind the 8-Th spot. How cool is it that the Lakers are the 3-Rd best team in the state of California? I am pretty sure it will stay that way. The Warriors have had some issues lately with losses piling up due to a tough schedule and road games, but the schedule is easing up now and they should stay above the Lakers, who are playing better these days. Both Houston at 7 and Utah at 8 are good teams but the schedule is going to determine if and when the Lakers overtake them. The lower half of the West is fascinating with some new blood in there. It will be fun to watch the Warriors and the Rockets compete in the playoffs. As it stands today, Warriors play the Clippers, who they have owned in the regular season and Rockets will play the Thunder pitting James Harden - the pride of Arizona State, against his old team. I sure can live without Nowitzki and Kobe in these playoffs, but not sure if commissioner David Stern wants to.

In the East, the Heat and LeBron look unstoppable. They have won 16 straight and LeBron hit the game winner to clinch the game yesterday. That would have been big news last year when LeBron was relentlessly criticized for being genetically incapable of being clutch. It's amazing how 12 months and a championship can completely change perception and reorient the conversation. Now, those discussions sound absurd. Credit LeBron for putting in the work and perfecting his game. LeBron is single-handedly removing any and all drama from the Eastern conference playoffs, though I still have some hopes for the Pacers who have beaten them twice in the regular season. But the playoffs are different and the Heat's only challenge might  have to come from the West. Unfortunately, it won't come from my Phoenix Suns. The only thing I am looking forward to with the Suns is, I want them to disprove ESPN's Bill Simmons' assertion that the Suns will have the worst record in the league. Thanks to the Charlotte Bobcats, Simmons is going to be wrong, but not by much. Simmons by the way was ranked as the most powerful sports media personality by Sports Illustrated. I was pleasantly surprised. It's a good list with a lot of great names - Barkley at 2, Bob Costas at 3, Jon Gruden at 5, and Adrian Wojnarowski at 6. Congrats Bill Simmons.

The Heat is on!

For all of us Heat-haters, the heat is really on. The Bron-Wade show is in full swing now as the Indiana Pacers seem to have unintentionally hit the activate button on them. Things looked bleak for Miami as the Heat lost Chris Bosh to injury. They then lost 2 playoff games at home and on the road to go down 1-2 to the Pacers. Wade couldn't throw a stone into the ocean standing on south beach, but he could scream at his coach in public causing a minor scandal. All the talk was about him and how he was injured and possibly close to being "done". One hack even wrote about how he is a 30 year-old going on a 33 year-old body because of all the reckless forays in to the paint throughout his career. He has always played like a bigger Allen Iverson, but it looked like all the injuries were beginning to catch up to him. Slowly, the talk about breaking up the big-3 started creeping in and it might have even become a reality if the upstart Pacers eliminated them in the conference semis.

But game 4 against the Pacers might have turned the entire history of the Miami Heat around. Suddenly, Wade started playing like a 30 year-old in a 25 year-old body after starting the game horribly. And for the first time ever, LeBron and Wade were completely in sync and playing off of each other. They have traditionally been taking turns on offense and just watching the other guy do his thing if it was not his turn. Not anymore. They are blending very well and setting each other up like never before. The Heat have not lost ever since. 3 straight wins against the Pacers and another one against the Celtics in the conference finals. Suddenly, Wade could do no wrong - except for the pink pants in the presser, and LeBron of course has not done much wrong all season. The Pacers were not mature or talented enough to challenge the Heat. And now it looks like the Celtics are not young or talented enough for that task. LeBron is literally laughing at their faces like they are some JV team. Of course, this is the playoffs and the momentum can swing with every game. And I sure hope it swings Boston's way after game 2.

As a LeBron fan turned LeBron hater since the day he took his talents to south beach, these are some scary times. When Chris Bosh got injured and the Pacers gave them a lot of trouble, it seemed like this was going to be another lost season for the Heat. You never want teams to lose because of injuries, but it was only Bosh who was injured and the world wants LeBron to lose. Now, it looks like Bosh's injury has brought the Wade and Bron closer and made them scary good. The only hope now is for the Spurs or Thunder to beat them in the finals just like the Mavs did last year. Spurs are the better team, but I feel like the young Thunder team might give the Heat more trouble. Even as a Suns fan, I have a lot of respect for Tim Duncan, coach Pop and the Spurs. I wouldn't mind them winning another ring as the Duncan era comes to an end. But now, I want the Thunder to advance just because I think they will match-up well with the Heat. Whoever makes it, I will be rooting for them against the Heat. The hatred for the Heat is way down from last year, but the dislike for LeBron still continues.

LeBron won the MVP this season, but he is actually having one of the least appreciated, best statistical seasons ever. Nobody really cares to sing his praises all that much because this is LBJ post "The Decision". This guy on the court is just amazing. There is nothing he can't do. I am totally surprised at how easily and thoroughly he has made the Heat his team. Dwyane Wade is a top-5 talent in this league and LeBron makes him look like a much-inferior side-kick. I was wrong about LeBron when he moved to the Heat. I predicted that he would take a back-seat to Wade in scoring while dominating every other category. But LeBron is so good that he is dominating everything on both ends of the floor including scoring without really trying to be selfish. Even he was saying that the big-3 wouldn't win too many MVPs because they had to share everything. Well, LeBron just won his 3-Rd and neither the other 2 nor the rest of the league could do anything to prevent it. All that he is missing right now is a ring and the question is, can the Heat pull it off this year? I think it gets much tougher if they don't seal the deal this post-season. I still don't want them to win. I have not forgotten or forgiven "The Decision" and neither has America for the most part. Lets see if the basketball gods have forgiven him.

NBA Preview

NBA is almost here. It's time to get excited and ready. I thought I will try and rank all the teams in the league and predict how the season is going to play out. I am going to stick my neck out with my analysis and see how it looks at the end of the season. So I started looking through all the rosters closely and boy, there is some serious garbage in this league. It straight away became obvious why there is so much heartburn and unease over the new NBA - post LBJ syndrome. For those of you that don't know the term, LBJ syndrome is the culture of stars trying to team up with other stars in hand-picked teams. This is something LeBron started with Wade and Bosh last year and everybody else is trying to emulate. It's very clear that NBA is in real danger if this trend continues. While the lockout was more about money than competitive balance, the two are related and competitive balance currently needs some attention and almost justifies the lockout. You can see why the owners freaked out at the Chris Paul to Lakers trade just coming out of the lockout. NBA needs another super-team like the NFL needs a Brett Favre comeback. These rosters also remind me a lot of MLB and that's not a good thing. A talent skew like the MLB will just NOT work in the NBA, not that ti works for baseball.

Almost half the rosters look like garbage and the scary part is, some of these teams will be in the playoffs because NBA lets way too many teams in to the playoffs - at least the MLB is better with that, though they are hell-bent of expanding their playoff counts next season. This also reminds me why NFL is the king. Not only do they have superior parity and competitive balance, they allow only 12 teams in to the big dance and rarely does garbage get in to the playoffs. It happens once in a while, but not always. When a bad team plays another bad team, somebody has to win. So some of these garbage NBA rosters will also sport decent records at the end of this season. But trust me, I see way more Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals type rosters in this year's NBA than in the past. The hope is, these teams can develop, grow and turnaround. But for that to happen, the LBJ syndrome cannot continue and the system should enable these teams to retain the young stars that are already on their rosters or might end up there via future drafts. Let's hope for that to happen.

The objective of this NBA season is not different from last's for most of the fans - basically keeping the dream team in Miami away from a ring. But it is going to be harder this year than last. For all the talk about how last season was a failure for the heat, the reality is, it was a roaring success for the big 3. To win the Eastern conference in year 1 after all the negative attention, chemistry issues and adversity caused by unexpected losing streaks is just amazing. What else did we all expect? If they won it all in year 1, then LeBron would have been absolutely justified in predicting 8 rings when he stupidly said "not 1, not 2 .... not 7." Even now, I am scared he is going to get close to the number because they almost got there in year 1 and are going to be much better in year 2. On the court, their chemistry is going to be much better. Plus, their experience with all the adversity last year and the booing and hatred will probably make this year 2 look like a stroll on the South Beach for those guys. Given all this, I pick the Miami Heat to win the championship this year. I don't want them to, but I am afraid they probably will. I don't see a solid threat for them, though they are not invincible by any stretch of the imagination.

The heat lost to Dallas last year. The mavericks have the look and feel of a one-hit wonder. This is because of their age and also the fact that they lost Tyson Chandler. Speaking of age, the Spurs will be good as always, but they only got older and are not a serious contender. The Celtics are also older and not sure if they can do better than last year. The age bug is also beginning to bite the Lakers. They imploded against the Mavericks last playoffs and took a step back this year when they lost Lamar Odom. Unless they pull a Dwight Howard blockbuster, they may have problems even dominating their own town given that the Clippers are now looking great with a talented, young, athletic front court chauffeured by a stud point guard. While the rest of the league would love to have one good big guy at either the center or the power forward position, the Clippers have a stud PF in Blake Griffin and seems to have lucked into an amazing athlete with a huge upside at center in DeAndre Jordan. Even the Clip-joint may not be able to screw this one up. The Clippers are good, but they need at least a season under the belt with these pieces before becoming a serious contender.

I wouldn't discount the Lakers and the Mavericks completely yet, but the teams that can really challenge the Heat this season are the OKC Thunder in the West and the Chicago Bulls in the East. The baby Bulls will be better with that deep playoff experience last season, but they still need one more offensive weapon. Too bad they didn't add significant pieces this year, though Rip Hamilton will help. The OKC on the other hand have had 2 deep playoff runs and seem to have a complete roster. This is the year for them to breakthrough. I would love it for Kevin Durant to take down LeBron in the Finals. That would be poetic justice like no poet has ever seen before. And it's not a pipe dream. Speaking of pipe dreams, it's sad to me as a Suns fan that I am nowhere near mentioning them as a contender. In fact, it's out of pure respect for Nash that they are even ranked as high as they are in most power rankings on the web. That roster has been decimated by owner Robert Sarver and I just hope they are even in the running for the playoffs. Shame on you Sarver!

Now on to my rankings in each conference.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
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1. Miami - They are my pick to win it all this year. The rich usually get richer in this league. So they got Shane Battier. But I am surprised they didn't get significantly more. They still have issues with the bigs - anybody who signs Eddy Curry have some issues, and at the point guard spot. But their experience from last year will help immensely. Somebody please stop them.

2. Chicago - They have the MVP and a good core, but they need one more reliable scorer. I didn't like the way Miami handled them last year and I don't see any improvement to put them over the heat. Rip Hamilton helps, but they need a healthy, dominant Boozer and a little bit more.

3. Boston - Jeff Green's heart illness is a big blow. This team is old and I would have loved to see them challenge the heat of today with their big 3 when they were 3 years younger. I like the Brandon Bass pickup, but the golden oldies have to handle a compressed schedule and challenge Miami at the end. Not going to be easy.

4. Knicks - Depth is a concern, but the front court talent is just undeniable. Melo, Amare and Chandler is a phenomenal lineup. They are overpaying for all 3, but they can afford to. I think this team is going to surprise a lot of people. I hate to say this, but Steve Nash will look sweet in this team.

5. Atlanta - They have always been an enigmatic team for me. I don't think they have elite talent and they have also topped off talent-wise with all the money invested in their existing pieces. But they are talented enough to be a top 4 team in the L-East. On the positive side, they can party like 1999. They have both Tracy McGrady and Jerry Stackhouse.

6. Orlando - They have taken a step back, but they still have their stud - for now. They can make some noise, but will fall short. Hedo is not giving them what he gave during his first go-around. Rashard Lewis is not worth a lot, but he and a younger Hedo made things work for them. They have to find something new now before losing Dwight Howard.

7. Philly - Jrue is true. The development of Jrue Holiday makes the sixers pretty interesting. A good PG compensates for a lot of things and this sixers team is ready to take the next step this year especially if Evan Turner turns the corner.

8. Indiana - They made the playoffs with just 37 wins last year. They may be in a position to clinch the 8-Th seed this year too. But they are slightly better this year with the pickup of David West. A healthy West and an improved Paul George can get them 37 wins this season - which is a good improvement because this is a 66 game season and not a 82 game season.

9.Milwaukee - Shaun Livingston and Mike Dunleavy make this roster interesting for completely different reasons. Shaun's injury should still be one of the worst ever and is good to see him play again. It seems like Bogut and Jennings have leveled off a little bit. If one of them steps up, they could be a playoff team.

10. Washington - I would love to be a billionaire owner of a NBA team, but I will still cry if I have to pay 20 mill a year for Rashard Lewis. Then again, I might be happy I am not doing the same to Gilbert Arenas for whom the Magic traded Lewis. 20 mill for Lewis is bad any way you look at it, but this roster gives you another reason why it's bad. A young, barren roster like this can use a leader and they have a 20 million dollar guy who is not even close to providing that on the court. Both Lewis and the Wizards will go only as far as John Wall takes them.

11. Toronto - Nothing to really get excited about. This is why the system should help teams like these retain players like Chris Bosh. This is a typical MLB type team with no light at the end of the tunnel yet.

12. Nets - The recent injury to Brook Lopez is a killer. It impacts their performance on the court and their ability to chase Dwight Howard off of it. Deron Williams is a stud. But he is going to be tired carrying these guys around. That means he might want out soon too. Also, he should be super excited to see Mehmet Okur again on his team, or not!

13. Detroit - There is nothing going on with this team right now. If you are a fan, you can pay 100 dollars for bad seats, watch mediocre NBA basketball and wonder why Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva make a combined 18 million dollars. Let me know if you have the answer after watching 33 home games because neither myself nor their GM Joe Dumars have an answer.

14. Cleveland - Last year, they showed us how important one guy can be to an entire franchise. This year, they will show us how not all number 1 picks are LeBron James. Kyrie Irving is nice, but I am not sure if a Dukie can rescue a franchise. Tough spot for the Cavaliers. At least their owner sometimes makes things interesting.

15. Charlotte - Here's another reason why David Stern's rookie age limit makes sense. If a bunch of teams like the Bobcats this year have nothing to offer except their high-priced rookie, I would rather watch a 21 year old Kemba Walker than a 19 year old Kemba Walker. Their owner, the 48 year-old MJ could walk in to their starting lineup and will probably be an upgrade to what they got.

WESTERN CONFERENCE
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1. OKC - They are the team to beat in the west. Their young, talented roster has an amazing balance and variety to it. Westbrook, Durant and Harden are ready to take it to the next level this year.

2. Dallas - The mavs never got any love from anybody and they still don't after the championship. The concern now is that they are aging and old. They are still deep and talented and I love the way they replaced Caron Butler with Lamar Odom. But they will miss Tyson Chandler and J.J.Barea. Both of them meant a lot more to the mavs than what their talent would suggest.

3. San Antonio - It seems like we have been calling them old for the last 15 years, but they still had the best record in the west last year. They did lose to an eight seed in Memphis, but that was probably the worst match-up for them. I expect them to be up there in the west again. Are they a legitimate contender? I don't think so.

4. LA Lakers - They went from adding Chris Paul to losing Lamar Odom for nothing in 2 days. They are in trouble unless they steal superman from Orlando. Metta World peace will lead a bench that lacks depth. They got Troy Murphy, which means they are searching and reaching for answers to some serious questions.

5. LA Clippers - There is so much going on with this team that people are not even talking about the addition of Caron Butler. If this guy is healthy and productive, watch out. Blake Griffin and DJ will develop faster with a PG like Chris Paul and this team will be good this year.

6. Memphis - The west is not as great as it used to be and Memphis should be very relevant in the playoff race this year even if O.J. Mayo and Tony Allen start punching each other again. Zach Randolph makes a lot of dough, but was amazing for them last year. If he stays in his shoes, this year will be no different.

7. Portland - Brandon Roy is gone. Some of their good depth has disappeared. So they are not what they used to be, but are still playoff good. It is LaMarcus Aldridge's team now and they added Jamal Crawford to the mix. I am sure Jamal will shoot them in and out of games as always.

8. Denver - They lost 3 guys to China. Wilson Chandler will be missed, but I am not so sure about J.R.smith and Kenyon Martin. Their talent and depth has to come together under George Karl to make the playoffs. I think they do.

9. Golden State - The big catch of the off-season was Kwame Brown. Not the best way to upgrade a roster, but they have some young talent in the back-court to give the faithful some hope. Mark Jackson has his work cutout with this team.

10. Houston Rockets - They have some depth. Somehow Jonny Flynn always ends up in rosters with too many PGs. The vetoed trade would have given them Pau Gason, but they have some scorers even now. They could get in the mix for the 8-Th spot.

11. Phoenix Suns - It pains my heart to put the Suns here, but they have very little outside of Steve Nash. He deserves so much respect that many ranking have the Suns ranked way higher than their roster warrants just because of him. He is great and he makes others good. But Robert Sarver has made sure even Nash can't help this roster. It's hard to get excited over the Sebastin Telfair signing the year after you let Amare walk last year. Markieff Morris is the only hope this season. Of course Vince Carter is gone. I am hoping that's some addition by subtraction.

12. Utah - Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter give hope for the future, but their present also features young talent. Out of all the rebuilding rosters that are at crossroads, Utah's has the best balance between the future and the present. Of course, that doesn't mean they will have the best future, but it does mean they may continue to win a few games today.

13. Sacramento Kings - They have a lot of young talent that they have been accumulating the last few years, but for some reason it's not all coming together - at least not yet. This should be the year things get better, but it won't. I think they need a new coach and a veteran or two to help the talent gel and grow together faster.

14. Minnesotta - This team is all about the future. Derrick Williams, Ricky Rubio and Wes Johnson gives them hope and even some excitement. And Kevin Love gives them stability and strength in the middle. Don't expect too much out of them this year, but next year might be interesting.

15. New Orleans - It's good the Commish made sure they got Eric Gordon in the CP3 trade. Otherwise, they may be scoring just 50 points a night. This roster is cheap for a new owner to buy, but will also play cheap all season.

Best of 3

The NBA finals is now down to a best of 3 series. Thats good news for the Dallas fans since the Mavs won game 4 to tie things up. But the bad news is, they got to play 2 of the 3 in Miami. Not the toughest place to play, but these are still finals games on the road and are no joke. May be the Mavs look for some poetic justice here. In 2006, they chocked away the home court to Wade and the Heat. They came from ahead to lose after a 2-0 start to the series. May be now, they win it all in Miami on Wade's home court and erase some bad memories. They had a lot of complaints back then about some serious home-cooking served by the referees to D-Wade. Dallas thought they couldn't even breathe on Wade without being whistled for a foul that entire series. Some agreed that it was the best treatment a superstar got from the NBA officials since MJ retired. The scary part for Dallas is that Wade has really stepped up his game lately in these Finals. And going back to Miami, he will be a load to handle in those games 6 and 7. Mavs better be prepared.

As Wade asserts his influence on his team and this series, LeBron has faded into the background and almost the oblivion in game 4. 8 points in game 4 is not king-like for sure. He is getting a lot of attention in the media and also some trash-talking from DeShawn Stevenson. I don't know why DeShawn is yapping and adding fuel to LeBron's fire. He did the same back in his Washington days and is now compensating for his boss Mark Cuban, who has surprisingly gone quiet this playoffs. Now the media is talking about this game 5 as being the biggest game of LeBron's career. He is expected to come out firing on all cylinders. Honestly, I find all this criticism a little over the top. Granted, the standards for LeBron are high, but isn't this the whole point of becoming the "big 3", so that one of them can afford to have nights like this? Especially when the other 2 are going great like Wade and Bosh were in game 4 - Wade had 32 and Bosh had 24. This is not the same as LeBron scoring 8 for a Cleveland team where he was the only scorer.

Actually, I expected a lot of such nights for LeBron with the Heat. I thought LeBron would be their best player all-around, but Wade would be the premier scorer for them. It turns out that I under-estimated LeBron's effectiveness as a scorer. He surprised me by becoming option number 1 for the Heat throughout the season and leading them in scoring by more than a point over Wade - known as a more prolific scorer. I guess he raised the bar higher for himself by being such a consistent scorer throughout the season and this is not the time to be dropping just 8 points! It would be interesting to see how he responds. The media is putting all sorts of pressure on him, but Wade has got it going right now and the last thing LeBron should try and do is hog the ball to save his image. This game 5 might very well be decided on how Miami and LeBron react to these criticisms. As for Nowitzki, he will be there for Dallas in game 5 - sick or not, fever or not. And he will be very interested in finding out which LeBron shows up just like us. This finals just keeps getting better!

Mavericks sitting pretty

They always say you learn more from your losses than your victories and I was counting on that when Dallas lost game 1 at Miami. For some reason, I felt like it was a good thing for the Mavs. Dallas has this vibe of a veteran, mature team that learns and adjusts game to game. They also have the depth to switch things up and Rick Carlisle is a thinking man's coach. He is not headed to the hall of fame yet, but I consider him to be under-rated. Also, game 1 was on the road and the Heat are a young team prone to letting things get to their head and can act immature at times. I think both Wade and LeBron still have these youthful tendencies and that shows from time to time. They don't possess the killer instinct of a Kobe or a MJ and don't effectively step on the throat of the opponent when the opportunity presents itself. All this led to my belief that the Mavs are going to be fine after the game 1 loss and even be better for it. I thought they will learn from it, adjust, and come out with a more aggressive game plan for game 2.

Of course, all my theories looked shaky when the Mavs were trailing by 15 with around 6 minutes to go in game 2. This is a close series between 2 equally matched teams and the Mavs were doing very well in the first half. But then the Heat went on one of it's runs and the Mavs suddenly were staring at a 15 point deficit and some early celebrations from the Heat. Here is the amazing thing about this Dallas team and Nowitzki. They never give up. They have supreme confidence and never panic. They did to the Heat what they did to the Thunder earlier in the playoffs. They focussed a little more on the defensive end, unleashed Nowitzki on the offensive end and chipped away at the lead. Next thing you know, the lead was gone and the Heat didn't know what to do. When LeBron and Wade start hoisting long 3's, you know you have a shot at winning. They have become decent long-range shooters, but still thats not their game. As a defense, thats exactly what you want them to do. LeBron has been making more of these shots in the clutch than in the past, but still he is "settling" anytime he attempts those and we saw a few of those in that 4-Th quarter of game 2.

Mavs finally outdid themselves when Nowitzki kept scoring and killed the Heat down the stretch. At least they needed overtime during their comeback against the Thunder, but Nowitzki finished things in regulation here. May be it was the Heat's premature celebration that fueled this run. Whatever it was, it wasn't pretty for the Miami Heat or it's big 3. Jason Terry did his best to give the Heat a shot at redemption when he left a 3-point shooter wide-open, but Nowitzki erased that mistake in a hurry at the other end. It was either that or he was going to erase Jason Terry off the face of the Earth after the game! Thats how angry he was after Terry's defensive brain-cramp. Reminded me of Nowitzki publicly yelling at Terry after Nash nailed a 3 to tie a playoff game for the Suns back in 2005. But Nowitzki is a lot more mature these days. He didn't show any emotion on the court, but apparently was hot in the huddle during the timeout. Terry seems like a good guy, but it's funny how he always finds himself in the middle of something interesting.

Now the series goes to Dallas for 3 straight games. It has traditionally been hard for teams to win all of those 3 middle games. The reason for that is very simple. It's just hard to beat a good team 3 times in a row and more often than not, good teams make it to the NBA finals. It can happen if there's a big talent differential between the 2 contending teams. But thats not the case here. So I expect Miami to steal one game out of the 3. Then the series becomes even more interesting and Miami would have won home court back at that point. Thats when home court is truly relevant because game 6 and 7 would be at home and it's almost impossible to win game 7 on the road. If anybody can, it's this Dallas team with the experience and depth. Still if I were Dallas, I wouldn't want to "take my talents to South Beach" for that game 7 on the road. So this is basically a 4 game series for Dallas now where they have to win 3. Doable for sure and thats why that game 2 win was big. But game 3 is also equally big. If Heat comes back and wins game 3, momentum is right back on their side and probably will never return to Dallas again. But if the Mavs win game 3, then the pressure builds on the Heat and Dallas can really work it.

When it's all said and done, I think Dallas takes it in 6.

Cuban or LeBron

The NBA finals that most people did not expect and I personally did not want is here. Either LeBron James or Mark Cuban - two of the most polarizing figures in all of sports, will win their first championship. Of course, Nowitzki, Kidd, Marion, Bosh and a bunch of others are also in line for their first ring. But those kids are not as polarizing as the two principals in this contest. In fact, I personally don't mind some of them winning a ring and would actually like them to. Case in point, Kidd and Marion. I would be happy for those 2 if they win. Nowitzki is not too "hatable" either. My only regret about him winning a ring would be that he would have it before his buddy Steve Nash, who the Mavs and the Cubans let go. This ring will never vindicate that stupid move, but some people in the media and Cuban would try to spin it that way. Being a Suns fan, it's really the Nash angle that makes me hate on the Dallas in this context. Otherwise, they are definitely the team to root for in the finals for all of us who didn't appreciate the big-3 coming together and LeBron dumping Cleveland through the "decision".

The Nash-Dallas discussion is very nuanced and I feel compelled to get into before these finals. First and foremost, shame on Robert Sarver and the Suns management that the Suns have still not even made it to the Finals with Nash. It's not Nash's fault that Cuban and Nowitzki have gotten to the finals twice without Nash while the Suns management has just refused to invest and improve the team. In fact, by letting a blue chip talent like Amare walk last off-season, they have made sure Nash will probably not win a championship, at least not with the Suns. When Nash first moved to the Suns, they were better than the Mavs and then the tide turned when the Suns ownership stopped feeding the beast - the core of that great 2004 Suns team. Cuban on the other hand has not showered money like he used to when he originally bought the Mavs, but he has definitely tried to improve the team and has spent the money when and where required. This has kept Nowitzki well-fed with solid talent all around. It's ridiculous how deep this Dallas roster is.

Secondly, when Cuban traded for Kidd, it was an implicit acceptance that the Nash decision was a mistake and that he had to go back to a legitimate assist machine in the form of Jason Kidd. Granted, you could argue that Kidd is a better defender than Nash, but that was not the driver in Cuban getting him. The Dallas system and Nowitzki needed a legitimate point guard and Cuban made a mistake by letting Nash go and he made it right by getting Kidd back. Last but not the least, one could even argue that the Mavs could have done better with Nash and the rest of that roster Cuban has built over the last 6 years. The catch this year was Chandler anyways! So who knows where Cuban and Nowitzki could have been with Nash around them. So given all these dimensions, it would be hard for me to digest a Dallas championship. There is a little sadist in every one of us that doesn't want to see certain teams and athletes win, especially their first championship. I hate the Lakers but I was counting on them to beat the Heat even if the Heat got past everybody else. It was so much more important to stop the first championship for the Heat than to stop the 6-Th for the hated Kobe and the Lakers.

Now that we are stuck with this finals match-up, who do I root for and who do I think will win? After all the drama of the last off-season and the totally unexpected gang-up of 3 of the most sought-after free agents of the 2010 class, I just cannot bring myself to root for the Miami Heat. They signify everything thats bad about the way free agency in the NBA should be managed. Granted, they came together to win, but this is just not the way to do it. And if they win this year in their first season together, it's just too easy! I can't even imagine how arrogant these guys will be next year if they win it this year after all the drama and losing streaks. I still maintain they are not championship material. LeBron is, but the Heat as a team are not. They are just catching the league on a down year when the Celtics and the Lakers have both mysteriously took a step back while the Bulls and the Thunder are on the way up, but not all the way up there yet. So I don't want them to win. Do they have a shot? Of course they do. With LeBron and that defense they play, I can totally see them winning it all. But the Dallas Mavericks are slightly better and Nowitzki is balling out of his mind. So the Mavs will hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy. I also want them to win, I think.

New Boyz

The NBA playoffs look and feel different right now. Except for Dallas, the other 3 surviving teams are new and young outfits. Seeing LeBron there seems very familiar, but he is now wearing a new jersey. Thunder and the Bulls are young and these 3 teams are all going to be around for a while. They might have replaced the likes of Spurs, Lakers and the Celtics. It would be great to see a Thunder-Bulls finals signaling a new beginning in the NBA. I am not sure about the TV ratings of such a series, but these 2 teams aint bad at all. I am definitely in the anti-Heat camp and am pulling for the Bulls all the way. I want them to win and I think they will win. They took care of game 1 rather easily, but their maturity will be tested in game 2. The Heat are still a collection of 2 superstars and one star whereas the Bulls are a real team. Whatever it is, I want the Heat to lose. I have always been a Laker-hater and this was the year I thought I would rather have them win instead of the Heat. But just when I needed them, the Lakers let me down and got eliminated a round or 2 earlier than expected.

Phil Jackson and the LA Lakers were swept in shocking fashion by the Dallas Mavericks of all teams. I don’t know how many people picked this upset, but if somebody claims they called this, the odds are, they are probably lying. The Mavericks are perennial softies who do a lot of great things during the NBA regular season, but are usually guaranteed to under-achieve when it matters the most. The Lakers on the other hand are the 2 time defending champions with a lot of skill, size and playoff moxie. They under-achieve during the fall months and are usually unstoppable in the playoffs. They turn on the proverbial switch when they want to and then they turn the lights off on their playoff opponents. This looked like a mismatch on paper, but little did we know it was mismatch going the other way!

These 2 teams have been perennial contenders and playoff regulars, but for some reason, they have never met in the playoffs after 25 long years. The Mavericks slept through the entire 90’s, but I find it hard to believe that they never ran into the Lakers during the Nowitzki era. That’s some strange luck of the draw. The Western conference has featured some heated and stable rivalries over the last 10+ years in this whole Kobe, Duncan, Nash, Nowitzki era – Suns-Spurs, Suns-Lakers, Spurs-Lakers, Spurs-Mavs, Suns-Mavs and even Utah-Lakers. For some reason, the Mavs had never met the Lakers in this era and now I wish they had met them every year. The Mavs ripped the Lakers’ hearts out and stomped on it. The Lakers have way too much talent for then to let this happen to them. You had to wonder sometimes where was Kobe?

Kobe is on the downward slope of the career and this is the year the slide officially starts. He is still awesome, but you can feel a slip. The first stage of the slip manifests itself as follows. The athlete will still dominate with all the talent in the World, but he or she can’t do it as consistently as they used to. Kobe is exactly there now. It’s hard to see him play and pinpoint exactly what he is lacking or what is it that he used to do that he can’t anymore. But he just can’t do all the things he used to (and still can) for 48 minutes on a day-to-day basis. He is Kobe for stretches of the game and Latrell Sprewell for the rest. I was shocked when Steve Kerr casually mentioned in an interview that Kobe is not a superstar anymore, but he is still a star. That’s what a sweep will do to you.

In any case, the playoffs are not about the Lakers anymore. I can only hope the Thunder and the Bulls prevent the Mavs and the Heat from winning