NBA Playoffs: Return to The Natural Order Of The Universe

When I'm not talking sports with my friends and waving the five (a reference to the five Cowboys Super Bowl wins) in their faces, I teach high school level mathematics ranging from Pre-Algebra to Advanced Algebra and Trigonometry.  So logic and the philosophy of truth is something that I kinda have to apply on a daily basis even if it doesn't come as naturally as I would always like.  Not just knowing, but understanding why two and two make four, how and why the opposite reciprocal of a line creates its perpendicular.  These are things that I try to teach to high schoolers as well as gain a deeper understanding for myself. 

Sometimes I like to apply the same logic to things of the world that we take for granted.  How to graph the bouncing of a ball or even something as trivial as to why Dr. Pepper is so dang good.  And even then, there are things that cannot be explained in this world.  They just are.

Amongst the most definite phenomena  in this wonderful universe is the supremacy of the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.  In the 61 years of NBA Finals basketball, the Lakers and the Celtics have 30 titles combined (49.18 percent!).  Also astonishing is that in the past 30 years only 10 of the 30 teams have won a title with either the Lakers or Celtics winning ten of those years (33 percent).  In this obvious elitist league, it should be no surprise that we could be headed for another Lakers-Celtics Finals.  

Before I even knew about the NBA, I knew Magic and Bird.  My two most fondest memories as a young kid in Los Angeles in the mid to late 80s was the D.A.R.E. program and the classic championship series' between these two teams.  Clearly, Magic was and still is my favorite basketball player, while the Celtics were the team I loved to hate, yet had the utmost respect for.  So to see this great rivalry rekindled after a 21-year hibernation is very exciting for me.  

Compare the ingredients from their last meeting to this year's version.  The '87 Celtics team had the Big Three: Bird, McHale, and Parrish.  This year its Garnett, Pierce, and Allen.  The Lakers had a superstar guard in Magic and tall, lanky Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  This year it's Kobe and Pau Gasol.  And while Pau pales in comparison to Kareem, there's no question that Kobe is the best player in the game just as Magic was in his prime.  

All this is to say that if your a NBA fan, that's you Suns, Mavs, and Cavs fans, don't be surprised by what is about to happen.  Just understand that it's how things are supposed to be.  Just as sure as the earth rotates and revolves clockwise.