How do my pre-playoff picks play out in the Conference Finals? Lets take a look:
Western Conference Finals: Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Lakers (My pick: Lakers in six)
Eastern Conference Finals:
Would I change my mind if I could revise anything? Well, obviously had I known that Rajon Rondo was going to end up being the best player on the court in a Celtics/Cavs series that included: Lebron James, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Antwoin Jamison, and Shaquille O'Neal... had I known that James would play the "injury card" and basically roll over in the series and look more relieved than in rage over losing... had I known that Cavs coach Mike Brown would have severe mental lapses and play name status instead of smart match-ups...then yeah, I would have taken Boston (but I would have also had to take them over the Heat in the first round, which I didn't do. Whoops). But it's tough to know those things, despite kind of knowing that James doesn't have that killer instinct in him (we'll jump to that later) and that Rondo is one of the five best point guards in the league.
As for the Conference Finals, I keep with my predicitons. Boston looks rejuvenated, but they won't hang with Orlando. Dwight Howard is a beast. Vince Carter is actually trying, and Jameer Nelson is healthy. And in the West, as much as I'd love to see Phoenix take it to LA, the Lakers are just too strong. Although I want to warn Laker fans, this isn't going to be a cakewalk like you guys think. Just because Utah was a walk in the park doesn't mean Phoenix will, and they won't. I'm actually stoked for this series. Phoenix, thanks to the Clippers futility have always been my NBA playoff team to root for. How can I root for the Suns when 1.) They play in the Pacific Division, same as my beloved Clippers and 2.) They are the team that knocked the Clips out of the playoffs in '06, you say? Well, my virtual friends, that's easy. Steve Nash.
We'll see how I fare in the Conference Finals.
The rest of this blog will be dedicated to King James, himself.
You see, I think this series with Boston really made people think about Lebron James and his career arc, so to speak. And it's not that Lebron was terrible in this series, because he wasn't. Sure he had a clunker in Game 5 (3-14 shooting, 15 points) but overall he played a good series. The problem was that Lebron played with no urgency, and completely lacked that shut-down killer instinct. There's a certain element inside the truely special players game that kick's in must win situations like Game 5 and 6 of the Boston/Cleveland series. Kobe Bryant has that element, that's why he is known as "Black Mamba" which I learned thanks to "South Park" is the most deadly snake on the planet. Michael Jordan had that element. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and even Isiah Thomas all had that element. I don't see it in Lebron James. I've said it time and time again that in a close game under two minutes, James isn't Carmelo Anthony or Bryant. I'm not saying he disappears, but he doesn't exactly rise to the occasion either.
But that's not what bothers me about James.
The way Game 6 ended bothered me. The way Lebron looked almost relieved to lose bothered me. Remember two years ago when Bryant and the Lakers were absolutely destroyed by Boston in Game 5? Did Bryant look relieved? Did Bryant high five and hug the Celtics? No! Bryant looked pissed. He walked off the court with anger. With James, it did not seem that way. So what do we make of this?
Well, we can go one of two ways. The first would be that Lebron does not have that special element in his game like the Jordan's and the Kobe's of the NBA. If that is the case, then doesn't Lebron's career arc change dramatically? I read in a post from ESPN.com's Bill Simmons that Lebron's career arc now has to resemble the likes of Karl Malone and Charles Barkley and not MJ and Larry Legend. I'm not sure if I'm ready to believe that yet (as Simmons wasn't either), but it's now definately a thought in my head.
The second way to go with it would be to think that Lebron wanted out of Cleveland all together and just quit at the end. Now, as much as I hope that Lebron didn't quit on his team, part of me kind of actually does hope that was it. I want Lebron to be one of the greatest to ever play in the same way I want Tiger Woods and Sidney Crosby and Tom Brady and Albert Pujols to be. I want to witness greatness. I want to be able to tell my grandkids that I got to watch these dudes play.
It's probably the former more-so then the latter, but we don't know.
What is fairly certain is Lebron will be calling a new city home come October 2010. Why won't he re-sign with Cleveland? Simple. If he wanted to, he would have done so already. Lebron is gone. There are five possible destinations for Lebron. Chicago, Los Angeles (Clippers), Miami, New Jersey, and New York. Before I speak from my heart, lets look at this logically.
If Lebron wants to win right now, his best bets in order are: Miami (assuming they keep Dwayne Wade), Chicago, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York.
If Lebron wants to get paid and bask in the spotlight, his best bets in order are: New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami.
If Lebron wants to transcend basketball in a city and become an icon, his best bets in order are: New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Miami in Chicago.
Chicago would be Lebron's best bet if he wanted to win. They were a playoff team this year, and have a good group of young talent in Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, not to mention Kirk Hinrich and Leol Deng. Adding Lebron to the mix would be deadly for the Eastern Conference. Only Chicago will find it easier to sign hometown boy Wade then James. Lebron will not play in the shadow of Michael Jordan. He's changing his number from 23 to 6 in "honor" of His Airness, and personally I think it's because he'll never live up to Jordan and he knows that so he's trying to move out of his shadow. Playing in Chicago would only further unlofty expectations that James could never live up to. Chicago is out of the picture.
Miami is gone too. There is no way in hell Lebron will play with and share top billing with Dwayne Wade. Sorry. Ain't happening.
So that leaves New York, New Jersey and LA.
New York is the overwhelming favorites to land James. Madison Square Garden is the biggest stage under the brighest lights Lebron is going to find. And hell, New York basically threw the last two years away to set up to grab James this Summer. New York also has the luxury of pairing James with another top free agent, whether it be Amare Stodoumire, Chris Bosh or Joe Johnson. But after that, New York will field a supporting cast no better (and actually, probably worse) then what Cleveland has given James the past couple seasons.
New Jersey has cash, Lebron's friend Jay-Z as a part owner, a possible first pick in the upcoming NBA draft, and a Russian bajillionare as an owner. They also are coming off a seventy loss season. It would be real hard to justify coming to Jersey for a chance to win.
And as for my Los Angeles Clippers. Well, they certainly have the talent to lure James. Think of a starting five of: Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, James, Blake Griffin and Chris Kamen. That has to be good for 55+ wins, right? And he'd also be in LA, where the stars hang out. Ask Baron Davis how he's loving the Hollywood scene. The problem, however, is that he'd be playing for a second banana in Kobe country. Throw in Donald Sterling and a history of futility, and that might be too much to lure in Lebron.
Where do I think he's going to go? New York. I think he wants to play at MSG. I think it's a foregone conclusion. There's the logical side. Here comes the talk from my heart.
If Lebron James wants to win, both right now and in the future, The Los Angeles Clippers is his destination. The Clippers have a ton of young talent in last year's top draft choice Blake Griffin up-and-coming future All-Star Eric Gordon. Speaking of All-Stars, Chris Kaman, the Clippers center was selected to the Western Conference All-Star squad last year. Throw in Baron Davis at point guard, and the Clippers could have maybe the best starting five in the league with James.
But truthfully, The Clippers NEED to realistically chase Lebron. The fans need the reassurance that Donald Sterling actually gives a shit about the franchise. Sterling needs to show the league that he is actually taking his ownership seriously. Personally, I think he is. A couple years back, he chased Kobe. Two years ago, he threw money at both Davis and Elton Brand. It just hasn't worked out well for Sterling. And maybe, as Phil Jackson suggested, there is something to karma and Sterling is getting his. But Clipper fans don't deserve to feel the brunt of Sterling's karmic backlash. We've suffered enough. We've sat and watched Moses Malone come and go in a blink of an eye. We watched Bill Walton's career deteriorate after acquiring him. We watched Danny Manning, Shaun Livingston and tons of other young talent fall victim to injury far too early. Hell, we watched Elton Brand, the one person proud to be a Clipper spurn us for Philly. We need this. We need Lebron. We need an icon. We need a legend.
That's all for now, late.
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