Kobe v. LeBron=Big Fat Yawn

Am I the only one who thinks the 2009 NBA Playoffs lack real excitement?

Okay, watching the Boston Celtics see how long their box of Lucky Charms will last is fun.

I admit, my Blazers vs. Rockets series has some moments. It was the first playoff game I had gone to since 1992, when I was 12!

The Dallas vs. Denver series has had some nice punches thrown and so has the Houston vs. Los Angeles series. Sure, the Atlanta series was nice, but not thrilling.

At the end of the day, the reality is that the two best teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences are on a collision course, and their roads to the finals have sucked the real excitement out of the 2009 NBA playoffs.

We know where the plot is going. We know who lives and dies. Where is the suspense?  We have read the script before, and watched the movie. The two best players in the league are headed for a final showdown to determine the future of the NBA.

Fine.

Last year we relived the Lakers vs. Celtics saga. This year we shall relive Magic vs. Jordan of 1991. History has a way of repeating itself, even in sports.

Perhaps the NBA Finals will be great fun.  But the road it takes to get there is supposed to be filled with upsets, excitement, and suspense.  

There should be teams favored to win.  But not teams predestined to win.

All I have seen thus far are basketball series where two teams play to see who gets the honor of losing to either Cleveland or Los Angeles. This gets me to what really bugs me about this Kobe vs. LeBron stuff: Their teams are good but they rely on great players.

I want to see two great teams play.

The best team out West right now is the Denver Nuggets. They are unreal and on fire.  Tonight, I predict, they will smash Dallas and lie in wait to hopefully stun the Lakers.

The best team out East right now is the Boston Celtics. They are struggling with every tooth and nail to gut out one heroic win after another.  After they defeat Orlando in either six or seven games, they will give Cleveland their only real challenge in the playoffs thus far.

But Boston and Denver will not face one another in the NBA Finals because close games will be decided in favor of Los Angeles and Cleveland.

At the end of the day, if LeBron James wins the title this year then expect the Cleveland Cavaliers to dominate the NBA for years to come. If Los Angeles wins, then expect LeBron to win next year.

The league seems so convinced that the way to make money is to favor large market teams and players, but wouldn’t it be more economically advantageous to just have great playoff games where nobody could predict the outcome so easily?

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?