I have been writing quite a bit about the World Cup lately, for obvious reasons. However, that is not the only major sports story making headlines right now. Wimbledon began, but that was not it, either. The other major news was that LeBron James was, once again, taking his talents elsewhere, ditching his hometown in favor of a team that, he hopes, might get him some quick rings.
As soon as I heard that the Lakers were trying to acquire LeBron James months ago, I just kind of knew that he was going to go there.
As soon as I heard that the Lakers were trying to acquire LeBron James months ago, I just kind of knew that he was going to go there.
Don't get me wrong: I did not want to see this happen. Frankly, I cannot stand the Los Angeles Lakers and their sunny California image. And it would be hard not to lose respect for James if he, once again, left Cleveland for greener pastures by going on the purple and gold. I was hoping he would stay in Cleveland, and even pulling for him joining Houston, once it became clear that he did not want to stay in his hometown.
Nevertheless, it was absolutely no shock to me earlier today when the radio reported that he had signed with the Lakers.
Now, of course, all of the radio commentators cannot stop talking about it. They are debating about when the Lakers, with a young roster and now LeBron James taking his talents to LA, will be able to beat out the Golden State Warriors, always assuming that they will in fact do that.
Of course, this was before the Warriors made some significant news of their own by signing All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins for a reported one-year deal worth $5.3 million. Currently, Cousins is recovering from a torn left achilles, but assuming that he will be back at full strength, this adds still more depth and talent to an already loaded (even overloaded) lineup for Golden State. It can be argued that the Warriors now have the best center on top of the best shooters in the NBA.
So, even though many of the so-called experts were already predicting that the Warriors would still beat out the Lakers in the west this coming season, the addition of Cousins would appear to make the Golden State Warriors once again heavy favorites to win yet more championship hardware for the NBA season next year.
Still, this news was understandably overshadowed by the LeBron James move to the Lakers, which indeed might have long lasting ramifications.
Personally, I am sick of the Lakers, and how they always, always seem to get just the right player at just the right time.
Asked in 2004 what his dream NBA Finals match-up would be, then Commissioner David Stern quipped, “Lakers vs. the Lakers.”
That might not seem like a big deal, but it sure seemed funny to me that the commissioner would so blatantly disregard every other team in the league, in favor of one franchise that he apparently liked so much, that he wished that team could face itself in the championship. And when that team seems to constantly get breaks like this, it really makes you scratch your head.
Admittedly, I have sounded off about this advantage that the Lakers (and only the Lakers, at least in the NBA) seem to get those kinds of breaks, time and time again. The only other franchise in North American sports that regularly gets those kinds of advantages, and literally seems to be able to buy championships as a result, would be baseball's New York Yankees. Literally, there is not one other example in any of the other four major sports that I can think that seems to get these breaks over and over again, and it grows tiresome. That is why I am an "anybody but the Lakers" kind of guy in basketball, just like I am an "anybody but the Yankees" kind of guy to the extent that I am a baseball fan (even though I care little about baseball, admittedly).
Also, like Yankees fans, Lakers fans have a sense of championship entitlement that grows incredibly cumbersome. They somehow even manage to put the arrogance of Dallas Cowboys fans to shame by way of comparison, and that's hard to do!
So, for at least one season, I will be pulling strongly for the Golden State Warriors, despite their own string of success in recent seasons. That is because up until a little over three years ago, the Warriors had gone forty years without a championship. So, if they win a fourth one next year, as I both suspect and hope they will, and establish a dynasty, it will not upset me, but make me feel glad. After all, they did not win five NBA championships in both the 1980's and the 2000's, like the Lakers did. They did not luck out in multiple decades by strangely and acquiring some incredible talent, from Shaq to Kobe to Gasol and now to LeBron. Frankly, I hope that this little experiment with the Lakers fails, because even though they have not won a title in eight seasons, it seems too soon still for them to simply begin winning on that level again.
Maybe seeing the Lakers win and win and win again is the highest form of entertainment that David Stern can think of, but I can think of nothing more boring than seeing the same team get break after break, and win over and over and over again.
And so, at the risk of sounding like a bandwagon fan of sorts (if only for the next season or two), as I suspect that only Golden State can now realistically keep the Lakers in check, I have one thing left to say:
NBA's dream Finals? You get one guess by Jay Posner, April 18, 2008
Still, this news was understandably overshadowed by the LeBron James move to the Lakers, which indeed might have long lasting ramifications.
Personally, I am sick of the Lakers, and how they always, always seem to get just the right player at just the right time.
Asked in 2004 what his dream NBA Finals match-up would be, then Commissioner David Stern quipped, “Lakers vs. the Lakers.”
That might not seem like a big deal, but it sure seemed funny to me that the commissioner would so blatantly disregard every other team in the league, in favor of one franchise that he apparently liked so much, that he wished that team could face itself in the championship. And when that team seems to constantly get breaks like this, it really makes you scratch your head.
Admittedly, I have sounded off about this advantage that the Lakers (and only the Lakers, at least in the NBA) seem to get those kinds of breaks, time and time again. The only other franchise in North American sports that regularly gets those kinds of advantages, and literally seems to be able to buy championships as a result, would be baseball's New York Yankees. Literally, there is not one other example in any of the other four major sports that I can think that seems to get these breaks over and over again, and it grows tiresome. That is why I am an "anybody but the Lakers" kind of guy in basketball, just like I am an "anybody but the Yankees" kind of guy to the extent that I am a baseball fan (even though I care little about baseball, admittedly).
Also, like Yankees fans, Lakers fans have a sense of championship entitlement that grows incredibly cumbersome. They somehow even manage to put the arrogance of Dallas Cowboys fans to shame by way of comparison, and that's hard to do!
So, for at least one season, I will be pulling strongly for the Golden State Warriors, despite their own string of success in recent seasons. That is because up until a little over three years ago, the Warriors had gone forty years without a championship. So, if they win a fourth one next year, as I both suspect and hope they will, and establish a dynasty, it will not upset me, but make me feel glad. After all, they did not win five NBA championships in both the 1980's and the 2000's, like the Lakers did. They did not luck out in multiple decades by strangely and acquiring some incredible talent, from Shaq to Kobe to Gasol and now to LeBron. Frankly, I hope that this little experiment with the Lakers fails, because even though they have not won a title in eight seasons, it seems too soon still for them to simply begin winning on that level again.
Maybe seeing the Lakers win and win and win again is the highest form of entertainment that David Stern can think of, but I can think of nothing more boring than seeing the same team get break after break, and win over and over and over again.
And so, at the risk of sounding like a bandwagon fan of sorts (if only for the next season or two), as I suspect that only Golden State can now realistically keep the Lakers in check, I have one thing left to say:
Let's go Warriors!!!!
NBA's dream Finals? You get one guess by Jay Posner, April 18, 2008
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