Are Kobe and LeBron the New Magic and Bird?

I was following my same Sunday morning routine, feeding my fish then turning on the plasma to watch The Sports Reporters.

They started to do their segment on the NBA when I heard (pardon me if I do not remember which reporter said it, but I was shocked by the comment), one reporter say that the Celtics are so yesterday and Kobe and LeBron can be considered the new Bird and Magic.

Are you kidding me!

First of all, Bird and Magics rivalry began in the hallowed halls of the NCAA and it continued because there careers paralleled each other from start to finish. Both careers derailed by illness and injury in their later years.

Now if Bron Bron had went to college and brought a bunch of players who would probably never make anybody else's varsity team to the NCAA championship then I would say you can start the similarity with Monsieur Bird.

However, he did do it in 2007 with average NBA players and was quickly swept in the most non-eventful finals I ever witnessed. In fact, if I had not slept well the night before a game, the next night when I watched the game I was able to fall asleep by half time.

James still has an average supporting cast; yes Mo Wiliams made the all-star team but I believe that in the playoffs he will not be a major factor. A player can score a lot of points but that does not mean he can carry a team.

Williams ppg averages are comparable to when he was with the bucks, 18 as a Buck , 16 as a Cav; his assists are down going from eight to four. You may argue that his assists are down because LeBron has the ball in his hands most of the time. Well didn't they bring Mo in to take some of that pressure off of him? 

When James is resting and he is in the game he does not run the team well. I saw an interview with Williams the other day and he stated that he didn't want the pressure of being the man.

He prefers to be in the background, Scottie Pippen didn't mind being second fiddle to MJ but he ran that team when MJ rested and MJ knew he could not win his titles without him.

Larry Bird had vets such as DJ (R.I.P) Mchale, and of course the 'Chief Robert Parrish as part of his championship team core.  McHale known as the 'black hole'(the ball goes in but never comes out of the post), had the best footwork of any big man in NBA history. 

Look what he has done with AL Jefferson in Minnesota and of course KG before him.

DJ was a savvy 6'4" point guard who knew how to run a team. Bird said he is the best player/guard he ever played with. The Chief anchored the paint and kept the same stoic expression throughout the game. 

Bird a HOFer himself had other present and future HOfers with him, all of them all-stars.

Let's see, LeBron has Delonte West, Mo Williams, Big z, and when healthy Big Ben Wallace.

Wallace a marginal player who made the all-star team in a year when there really weren't many top big man stars for the East. Mo Williams whose averages barely change from when he was with Milwaukee but because he plays with Bron he is suddenly an all-star?

Sports fans I think we have a problem!

The Cavaliers as constituted lack the balance to win, they have no inside presence. Big Z often gets lost in the shuffle as the Cavs diminutive guards bomb away from three point land.

Z is not a post up player therefore that leaves LeBron with his fledgling postup game to handle those duties. The other big men are like the algae eaters in my tank they feed of the leftovers. 

The only thing Bird-like about Bron is that he is a great scorer a la Bird, a sure fire HOFer and  he can elevate his game above mere mortal ballers.

Kobe on the other hand has had a HOF coach, center, and he himself the wunderkin is also a sure bet for the HOF. He is the bearer of three NBA championships, one Olympic gold, the most supreme game yet the most selfish attitude.

He has a legit second tier star in Gasol, who himself has had to be the man and has been an all-star. A versatile wing man in Odom, an up and coming big man Andrew Bynum.

In the next two or three years his name might just be mentioned in the same sentence as Kareem, and Shaq. Oh yeah, he is being tutored by one of the premier HOF big men, Jabbar himself.

Three of his supporting cast members have excellent games and can carry the team when Kobe rests. That is why they swept the season series with the Cavs.

Now that we have debunked the new Bird vs. Magic theory do not forget the defending champs who seem to be dismissed in this whole debate.

The C's know they can beat the Lakers, though they did not do so in the regular season. That is of little importance to them because they are not in the same conference.

The Cavs and Celtics have yet to win on each others home floor but the Celtics have a chance this afternoon. If the Celtics win it will be a psychological blow to the Cavs because this will be the second time they lost and Garnett did not play.

Yes these two guys are great and have transcended the sport, but dubbing them as the new Bird and Magic is quite a stretch. The teams are not evenly matched. Lakers would win every time.