Let's first look back to the conference finals. I got the Eastern right and the Western wrong. The Pistons against the Celtics and the Spurs against the Lakers suffered from the same problems: aging rosters and key players who were not at 100% due to lingering injuries (Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton for the Pistons, Manu Ginobili for the Spurs). Stern can rest easy that he avoided his nightmare scenario (ratings-wise) of another Spurs-Pistons match-up.
ABOVE: Will Kobe finally win a championship without Shaq's assistance?
Instead? We've got storylines galore. We’ve got the star power of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol vs. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Can Kobe cap his MVP season with his first post-Shaq championship? (Does anyone remember Kobe complaining loudly last summer about wanting to be traded because he did not feel that the Lakers had the mentality to win?) This is the first finals appearance for Gasol, Garnett, Pierce and Ray Allen, and all are respected stars who have paid their dues. Many people feel that Garnett especially deserves a championship for his Hall of Fame-worthy career and years of plugging away in vain in Minnesota. If the Lakers win, this will be the 10th championship for coach Phil Jackson, giving him the most rings as a coach in NBA history. Who would he pass up? Boston’s Red Auerbach, of course. Which two NBA teams have won the most championships? Boston (16) and L.A. (14). We’ve got the league’s #1 offense and its MVP (Kobe) going against the league’s #1 defense and its Defensive Player of the Year (Garnett).
BELOW: Will the respected trio of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce each get their first championship?
I don’t need to hype this series up any more. The NBA is taking care of that for me. My prediction? Lakers in 6.
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