Allow me to revisit my NBA finals prediction from June 4th: “All my rooting will be for naught as the Lakers smoke Orlando’s ass in 5 – you heard it here first.”
Now let’s take a peak at the so-called ESPN “expert” picks:
Adande: Lakers in 7, Hollinger: Lakers in 6, Legler: Lakers in 6, Rose: Lakers in 6, and Sheridan: Lakers in 7
Whenever ESPN needs a real basketball predicition, one with some balls, they should call yours truly. After last night’s “Magic” choke job (pun intended), and the series headed back to L.A., you can cue up Kobe crying and the Lakers raising their 15th NBA Championship trophy.
And I’ll be throwing up in disgust at Kobe…but at least I called it, bitches!
I assume I’m in the majority on this when I say Kobe is a pompous ass. I also assume I’m in the majority when I say Kobe is one of the two best players in the league, if not the best (and in my opinion, he is better than LBJ-23 at this current point in time because he’s a better closer). So if the “best” player in the league is on the doorstep of winning his fourth NBA Championship ring, why do I find myself caring less about these finals? Granted, I’m a Boston C’s fan, but my hopes were realistically put in check with no KG and up until tonight’s finals matchup, I would have said these playoffs series were some of the best I can remember.
But with the Lakers now set to square-off with Orlando, I find myself rooting for the Magic, and that is only be default. There is zero likability in either one of these teams! Prior to the playoffs, I loved Dwight Howard, but after seeing him in a seven-game series against the C’s, I’ve come to realize that he can jump very high, AND THAT’S IT! The kid has no offensive game whatsoever, except of course for cleaning up junk rebounds with oh-so-scary power dunks. He’s absolutely terrible from 4 feet out and his free-throw shooting is disgusting…and this is a guy calling for the ball!?! I get that because of his size and muscle most teams decide to double-team him and then he can dish it out to his squad of three-point specialists, but that certainly doesn’t make Dwight an offensive powerhouse. Perhaps my biggest contention with him is that he is a giant crybaby who gets T’ed up constantly for bitching to the refs (maybe the only case he had was against Lebron on some cheap fouls – but he can expect more of that tonight with Kobe).
Either way, if you don’t like Kobe (90% of the nation) and you don’t like Dwight Howard (soon to be 90% of the nation), then why watch? Nobody else on either team has a personality, unless you like the homelessness factor of Pau Gasol or the straight up thuggery of Rashard Lewis. Andrew Bynum is cool is you like mouthy, immature teenagers comlpaining about not getting the ball enough. Better yet, Rafer Allston is good for entertaining…on the And 1 circuit.
I don’t know, maybe I’m just bitter, but I can’t find a reason to like either one of these teams and lord knows I’ve tried because I’m a fan of the game and want to see some good basketball. I’ll be rooting for Orlando, but that’s only because they have an overweight former Celtic in Tony “Batman” Battie and a recently-converted heterosexual in JJ Reddick. All my rooting will be for naught though as LA smokes Orlando’s ass in 5 – you heard it here first.
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