Your NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs

First, congratulations to the San Antonio Spurs for winning the NBA Championship. Regardless of the facts that they played one of the weakest Final teams in recent history and got a freebie against the Suns, the 2007 Spurs are one of the strongest team’s I’ve ever watched. In addition to that, Tim Duncan had one of the best playoff runs ever. In the final series, however, Tony Parker overshadowed him. Parker really stepped up in the final series, leading the Spurs in points and controlling the floor from the point. He deserved the MVP.

I don’t really want to think about this season or the playoffs any more than I already have. Instead of rehashing the best moments of a boring season, I’d rather look forward towards what lies ahead next season.

1) Greg Oden and Kevin Durant
I don’t want to buy into the hype too much, rookies rarely have a huge impact on a team. In spite of that, I’m really looking forward to what Kevin Durant can do at the highest level and how old Greg Oden looks next to Alonzo Mourning. They could probably pass for brothers. Greg being the older one, of course. Greg Oden is huge and could definitely do some damage as a rookie. Remember, his right hand will be all better by the time the season starts.

2) LeBron
It’s only going to get harder for LeBron as the comparisons to MJ pile up and he continues to fall short. Until LeBron can get out of Jordan’s shadow, which he easily never could do, LeBron will face the harshest criticism. It will be interesting to see how he handles the pressure. I really do hope he breaks out, the sooner the better. I just don’t see it happening any time soon. LeBron needs a shakeup like Steve Nash when he shaved his head after winning his first MVP and getting nothing to show for it.

3) Kobe
I am very interested to see what happens with Kobe. Wherever he ends up becomes and instant contender and a must-watch team. If the Lakers trade him and get a solid package in return, they could even stay watchable. Kobe is the best scorer in the league by a long shot, and any movement he makes significantly impacts the entire league.

4) The Western Conference
The West is so incredibly dominant compared to the East. The Mavs, Suns, Warriors, Rockets, Spurs, Blazers, Nuggets, and the Lakers/whatever team with Kobe are all incredible teams to watch. Each team has a legit star and a strong to solid supporting cast. There are even a few good teams that just miss the cut: the Hornets, T-Wolves, Sonics, and Jazz. They are all watchable teams and if any of them play eachother I’ll be tuning in. The east only has three good teams: the Bulls, Cavs, and Wizards/whatever team with Gilbert Arenas. If David Stern can figure out some way to make squeeze two West teams into the NBA Championship, he will truly be a genius in my book. Iverson and Melo together for a whole year should be exciting and T-Mac finally getting a point guard (Mike James) will finally be able to play to the best of his ability. Also, I want to see what happens with Leandro Barbosa. He has the speed to tear a team up for a full 40 mins.

As excited I am for Portland being a possible playoff team, I’m pretty disappointed that Oden and Durant are both going to the West. The East needed some young talent, and the league needs a little more parity. Not just that all teams need to be even, but the bad teams need to get better. A team of the Cavaliers’ caliber should be above average, not winning a conference.

I want to end this post by reminding everyone that the NBA can be fun. It was not that long ago. Here are a few youtubes to remind everyone just how amazing the NBA is.

Those are all great ones, moments like that do happen in the NBA and even if only half of the league has good teams, there are plenty of stars to count on for performances like that. Hopefully LeBron rises to his expectations and becomes one of those stars. I didn't enjoy the NBA Finals because the Spurs played down to the Cavalier's level and did enough to win by 10 points or so every night. In spite of the obvious lack of parity, I look forward to the next NBA season, looking forward to even better moments than the past has given me.

Two basketball commercials I wanted to post, I think they both sum up some of my most central basketball-related thoughts and feelings.:





Sorry I went kinda nuts with the videos, but it was all for good purpose.