Cavs-Lakers: One For the Ages

I've been thinking of ways to start writing again lately (you know hone my craft) and out of all the ideas floating around my head, this one seemed like the best one, so here goes.

Quick disclaimer: If somehow the Lakers and Cavs don't play each other in the finals, feel free to throw this whole column back in my face.

I am beyond excited for the NBA playoffs—this is honestly my favorite part of the year. I am even more excited about the possible finals matchup, Cleveland Cavaliers versus Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron versus Kobe, part one. Legacies and history on the line.

For those of you who don't know, I'm a bit of a history nut, I love looking at things in the bigger context and thinking down the road. Now for those of you who may wonder why this matchup could be so big, here are a few reasons why you should care.

We are breaking new ground, while restoring the old ways. Any fan of basketball has heard the stories of the great days from their grandparents, uncles, parents, etc.; not only about the stars and teams, but the great rivalries: Russell versus Wilt, Magic and Bird, Isiah and Jordan, so on, and so forth.

Unfortunately, in the '90s something terrible happened—Bird's body crapped out on him, Magic got HIV, and Jordan stood alone atop the mountain.

Despite there being other viable superstars like Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Gary Payton, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Shawn Kemp, Reggie Miller, etc., none could top or excel over Jordan.

Why was this so bad?

It initiated an era without rivalries and started the trend of teams just getting one really good athletic next-Jordanesque guy (think Jerry Stackhouse early on, Vince Carter, A.I., Tracy McGrady, etc.) and just throw a bunch of guys around him and hope to win the way the Bulls did.

This led to a long period of teams overpaying these guys for little success while two teams emerged to dominate: The San Antonio Spurs and Lakers. And besides those two teams,  fan bases everywhere else hated it.

If Magic had been able to keep himself STD free (keep in mind when he retired he was only 31), that could have all been avoided and we could have been treated to many a Magic v. Jordan finals—renewing the vigor of what Magic and Bird built, while giving Jordan an actual rival.

Just imagine Magic cruising down the lane, posting up MJ, and shooting baby skyhooks all day, while Jordan comes back on the other end and fires jumpers and dunks over Magic.

Meanwhile Worthy and Pippen go Mano-e-Mano for who is the best second banana, throwing blows and seeing who can blow past who the most times. Oh, and who wouldn't want to see Vlad kicking out to whatever shooter the Lakers managed to pick up, and flopping around every time one of Jordan's much maligned actually (gulp) touched the ball. I mean who wouldn't want to see, Vlade vs. Luc Longley?

Of course this would mean two things.

One of which would be awesome, the other of which is sad, which one is which is up to you.

With the pefect center for Magic's style in Vlade, the Lakers probably wouldn't have signed Shaq, which for some fans may be a loss.       

Also, in this hypothetical world, the Lakers may have not ever been able to trade for Kobe Bryant (one of there best players and a man who may go down as the best Lakers ever when he's done).

Who knows, maybe Bryant stays in Charlotte and builds a solid young team until Alonzo Mourning leaves for the Heat, maybe Bryant isn't the player he is today (I doubt it, but who knows).

But on the other hand, it is very interesting to imagine a young Kobe playing with Magic and going head-to-head with Jordan until both, ultimately,  pass the torch onto him. Either way I think we can all agree the NBA would have been a bit more fun during the '90s.

Of course this could lead to any number of sad things, maybe Orlando never gets Dwight Howard by not sucking after overpaying Grant Hill and T-Mac, and maybe the Nets get one more finals appearance with Jason Kidd if they spend the money spent on Carter to get a big man like Marcus Camby. The possibilities are endless to cover in this note (maybe that will be my next one?).

Lakers against Cavs will be just that.

Not only do we finally get to see what we missed a decade ago. But we also get the beginning of GMs realizing again it's not dominate stars that lead to rings, but dominate teams. In case you haven't noticed, the Cavs are 40-1 at home, a record that ties them with the '86 Celtics, you know that team that had only five (if you count DJ who should be in the hall) HOFs (Bird, DJ, Mchale, Parish, Walton) and swept Jordan's Bulls, despite a 63-point game one of that series by His Airness.

If they win the title we are talking about, the Cavs will be mentioned in the same breath as teams like the '86 Celtics, '95 Bulls, '72 Lakers, '71 Bucks, '00 Lakers, and the '82 Sixers, just to name a few.

In case you haven't noticed all those teams had at least two hall of famers.

Eighty-six Celts as I've mentioned had four, arguably five,  the Bulls had two, three, if you count Rodman who definitely is a hall of fame player, the '72 Lakers had West and Wilt, 7'1 Bucks had Kareem and Oscar, the '00 Lakers had Shaq and Kobe. And the '82 Sixers had Moses and Doc J.

Besides Mo Williams, LeBron doesn't even have another all-star on his team, let alone another guy you can legitimately say right now will join him and Kobe in the hall one day.

The fact the Cavs are even in the discussion with those teams is unfathomable to me and a testament to why LeBron is this year's MVP. And if the Cavs don't win the title this year or next, and win at least 55 games next year, feel free to throw this back at me; but it's also why LeBron might one day actually be better than Jordan.

Yeah I know I just committed basketball blasphemy by writing that, but damn it if it's not true.

Listen ,any smart basketball fan knows Jordan won without tons of talent, sure we like guys like Horace Grant, Steve Kerr, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc, Charles Oakley; but besides Pippen and Rodman, Jordan wasn't playing with all time greats.

Can you honestly say if LeBron wins this year and next year's titles or another title down the road with this team as it is now, that he didn't win with less?

I mean Delonte West, Bobbie Gibson, Wally Z, Big Z, Ben Wallace, and Varejao aren't exactly game changers themselves either. At least Kerr, Grant, and Harper can all say they are arguable HOF role players and won on more than one team.

Pippen and Rodman can say they won on multiple teams, and heck Rodman can say he won a ring without Jordan.

Do you think any of the Cavs guys will ever be able to say they won something without LeBron,?

I don't.

Which is exactly why if he continues to succeed the way he is, and learns some post moves and improves his jumper, LeBron could be the greatest basketball player ever!

This is also a testament to the great coaching of Mike Brown. Now I know I had my doubts about Brown but he has proven me wrong, he is truly a great coach with the way he has this team legitimately coming together and uniting, playing great defense and doing the little things it takes to win. I know it's too early to call but I think we could be looking at a Phil-Jordan type coach/player team of Brown and Lebron.

Now on to the one thing that can prevent this from happening.

And by one thing I actually mean two; Kobe/Lakers/Phil and Andre Bynum. As well all know Phil is trying to win one more title to pass the great Red Auerbach for most titles all time for coaches and Kobe is not only trying to win a title without Shaq, but prove to the world that: a. Lebron is not ready to pass him and become the NBA's best player yet. and b. He is a player worthy of being compared to and looked at the as the guy who can knock Jordan off his number one spot, not Lebron.

And wow what a different team from Lebron does he have to do it with. If the Cavs are overachieving by a longshot the Lakers are right where they are supposed to be. Not since Kevin Mchale have we seen as second banana who was so good, yet so ignored because his number one guy was so good like Pau Gasol. Now I still have my doubts about Gasol's toughness on defense and in the clutch, but offensively this guy is a monster and the perfect big guy for Phil's triangle, a great passer, a guy who can shoot from the post and play 4 and 5 effectively, and unselfish guy and most likely the NBA's best second banana, sorry" Truth" but it's the truth. The fact that he is ignored by people who argue that Kobe deserves MVP(by the way Gasol is only averaging 18 points, 9 rebounds and almost 4 assists per game with guys like Kobe, Bynum and Odom on his team) because he is still the best player the league has. Is a testament to his unselfishness and to his mental toughness.

And that's just scratching the surface of this team. We have the versatile forwards in Sasha and Odom, both of which can take over a game. The x-factor in Ariza, a solid young roleplayer who is skilled both defensively and offensively(think Josh Smith only smaller and if Josh Smith could actually shoot). And who could forget the Zen Master, one of the greatest NBA coaches ever. The Lakers seem to be untouchable and may be the reason, why ultimately Lebron and Cleveland have to hold off their celebration for another year.

But there is one interesting chink in their inpenetrable armor; their point guards. For those of you who don't regurlarly watch the Lakers you may ask: "But Phil they have Fisher and Farmar, they are pretty good right?" Well yes and no. Normally you are right those two are very effective smart points, but lately they have been terrible and haven't shown the capacity not to make bad plays or get burned by the other teams points. So if Mo can will himself to match Lebron's intensity in a couple of games I could see him dropping a couple of 30 point games in the finals, which may be all the advantage the Cavs need to beat LA.

Plus now that he lives without the pressure of being LeBron's No. 2 and starting, don't underestimate Anderson Varejao's ability to pull out a Leon Powe like game on the Lakers and dominate and bully Gasol for one game. I have critized Varejao as a started, but as a bench guy I love his toughness, his swag and the fact that he takes nothing away from his team while bringing alot of nice things to the table. Granted I would be remiss if I didn't mention that all that could not matter because of one man.

No not Kobe, you silly rabbit. I'm talking about his big man in the middle, Andrew Bynum. Bet you thought I forgot about him? In truth I did at first. But now that I do remember him, I think he is the perfect start to wrapping this note up.

Bynum gives the Lakers something they needed last year. A big man who won't be pushed around by inferior players(i.e. Powe, Big Baby), and a gritty toughness on defense that they failed to display against the Celts last year. He is the type of guy who just grinds out 24 and 12 games, catching you off guard when you see his first quarter stats are only 8 points and 3 rebounds and at the end has 25 and 14. He continues to marvel me every time I watch him, and keep in mind this is a guy I once thought was overpaid. Man was I ever wrong.

Which brings me to my final point. It's funny how one game or one series can make your legacy, whether it's Drexler and Pierce winning late titles cementing them as all-time greats, or guys like T-mac, Vinsanity and A.I. ultimately being judged by their failures not their successes. And to guys like Kobe and Lebron it means everything.

Considering this it's funny that even if Kobe wins, it will be because of guys like Bynum and Odom stepping up and emerging as great players. So even if he crushes LeBron and cements himself as the NBA's number one guy, he still won't top Jordan as his team simply has too much talent. Which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Bad thing for Kobe, great for me. The NBA's GMs will finally see the truth yet again, that you don't win with a superstar and a bunch of inferior parts(unless your the Cavs), but with defense, great coaching, determination and most of all a great team!

Finally Camelot and the Knights have returned and the NBA is on the right track to being it's old self again. With stars that appeal to both to urban and suburban fans, the return of focusing on teams, not just the stars, and hopefully teams finances sorting themselves out(more on that later maybe?) Things are looking up for the NBA and I couldn't be Happier. So if Mr. Stern is looking for a new motto for this year's playoffs, I have the perfect one.

The NBA: Where dreams really do come true!