I’m not quite sure why I am suddenly so fired up about the NBA Playoffs. I have heard all the negative about “NBA players only play defense in the Playoffs” or “the games don’t really mean anything until the Playoffs.” If that was the case why pay any attention to your favorite major league baseball team?
Maybe my new found enthusiasm is because there is another big labor dispute on the horizon as soon as a new NBA Champ is crowned. Let’s see, if the NBA joins the NFL in the courtroom that will take a pretty sizable chunk out of my sports universe.
I think part of my interest is because of the power shift in the NBA. The Lakers and Celtics are nowhere to be found. There’s Miami of course with their trio of big stars, but many would just as soon see them end up on the sidelines watching the NBA Finals.
Chicago has a pretty good past resume but hasn’t done much lately. I am intrigued by this whole Derrick Rose thing. I want to like this guy, I really do but he has so much baggage. It’s well documented that he cheated in high school (Chicago Simeon) and cheated to get into college. He is the poster boy for the “one and done” scenario in college. You remember, he went to Memphis to play for John Calipari. They went to the 2008 NCAA Championship game only to lose. Rose headed to the pros and Calipari headed to Kentucky. Anybody heard about Memphis’ basketball program lately? Yeah, they were hit by NCAA sanctions and are still watched. Meanwhile, Rose is a multi-millionaire and Calipari is untouchable at Kentucky. Sends a great message doesn’t it.
That pretty much hammers the Eastern Conference Finals. Now in the West, you have Dallas and their big-mouth owner Mark Cuban who I am suddenly starting to warm up to. Crazy, huh? However, the team I am really starting to take to is the Oklahoma City Thunder. Here is an area that proved they could be a major league team hotbed. The Thunder is the old Seattle Sonics. There was some controversy about the team relocating, but then again there always is when a team established in one region for so long picks up and moves a great distance. I still have fond memories of the Big Red in St. Louis with Jim Hart, Jackie Smith, Mel Gray and Larry Wilson. I was crushed when they left, almost embarrassed, left empty as if a part of my youth had been erased.
The Oklahoma Thunder is a real success story. They love their team and fill their arena night after night. They have two young superstars in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Westbrook just became only the fifth player in NBA history to register a triple double in a Game Seven. The team seems to get better every year and now face the Dallas Mavericks for the West Title. They now have to get by Dirk Nowitzki and his Dallas team who have struggled mightily in the past in the post season.
I’m going to sit back and enjoy the rest of the NBA season. It might be the last we see of these athletes for a while.
Let’s Meet Here Next Time
Mike Murphy
