The Lakers Win The Finals In 6 Games

KOBE AND ALLEN FEUD
The Los Angeles Lakers will travel to Boston to play the Celtics at TD Banknorth Garden in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday evening. The Lakers and the Celtics are the two most storied franchises in the annals of professional basketball and their upcoming series is the most anticipated Finals showdown the league has provided fans with since Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls won their last championship in six games over the Utah Jazz in 1998.

The Celtics and the Lakers have combined for an astounding 30 championships between them (Boston has 16 championship trophies and Los Angeles has 14) and the two legendary organizations epitomize the East Coast/West Coast rivalry. A series of this magnitude does not require any additional hype to excite basketball fans throughout the world. But, for good measure, the media is feasting on the alleged animosity that exists between Lakers icon Kobe Bryant and the third leg of Boston’s “Big Three,” Ray Allen.

The perceived feud began in 2004 when Allen (who was then playing for the Seattle Supersonics) predicted that Bryant would regret the role he played in muscling Shaquille O’Neal out of Tinseltown.

“In about a year or two, he will be calling out to (Lakers Owner) Jerry Buss that, ‘we need some help in here,’ or ‘trade me,’ promised the star of Spike Lee’s movie He Got Game. “We’ll all be saying we told you so when he says that.” Allen continued, “He’s going to be very selfish. He feels like he needs to show this league and the people in this country that he is better without Shaq.”

When told of Allen’s prophetic words, Bryant disdainfully dismissed the former University of Connecticut standout by saying, “Don’t even put me and that dude in the same breath.”

It is extremely rare when two quarreling players both make valid points in their cheap shots against one another. But, in this case, Allen perfectly forecasted the fortunes of the Lakers and Bryant in their immediate post-Shaq existence and Kobe correctly scoffed at Allen for putting his beak into business that was none of his own to begin with.

Unfortunately for Allen and the rest of the Celtics, nobody in this series is “in the same breath” as Bryant and, because of that, Los Angeles will earn their 15th championship banner when this historic series is in the books.

CLAIRVOYANCE
Everybody who knows me will concede that I am a humble man and I do not like to flaunt my intelligence by saying “I told you so” when my phenomenal skills of clairvoyance shine. But, in lieu of the consistently nasty comments that I receive from two “off the boat psycho(s) who live with their mother(s) in Brockton,” Hammer and Brad Belichick, I find the need to go on the offensive and say “I told you so.” Below is an excerpt from an article that I wrote in the middle of February.

The Los Angeles Lakers (29-16) acquired 7-footer Pau Gasol, 27, Friday from the Memphis Grizzlies (13-34) for center Kwame Brown, rookie Javaris Crittenton, two first-round draft picks and the rights to Fredo Corleone (Gasol’s younger brother, Marc, 23, a 2007 second-round pick). Gasol, a creepy-looking man who looks like he could sing for the Goo Goo Dolls, is an extreme talent who may help lead the “Hollywood Fakers” to their first finals appearance since 2003. In essence, the eighties have revisited us. The Lakers will rendezvous with the Boston Celtics (36-8) come June.

http://juicedsportsblog.com/2008/02/3-days-in-sports.html

PAUL PIERCE IS NOT A HALL OF FAMER
Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics defeated the Detroit Pistons 89-81 Friday night to advance to their first NBA Championship series since the 1987 season. The Celtics (66-16) are a tremendous team and an instrumental piece of their success is the stellar play of Pierce.

Nevertheless, recently I’ve spoken with a slew of incompetent Bostonians, all clearly intoxicated off of one too many Samuel Adams and bowls of clam chowder, who actually believe that the former Kansas Jayhawks star is a Hall of Fame talent. Pierce, 30, who was stabbed 11-times in the face, neck and back in 2000 during an altercation at Buzz Club in the city’s theater district, is a quality player who has made the All-Star team six-times and has been named to the All-NBA third team 3-times since being drafted with the 10th overall selection in the 1998 draft.

“The Truth” is, Pierce, who has averaged 23.1 points and 3.9 assists in his professional career, is a good player. But, in zero capacity should he be considered for the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Objectively, how can a man who has only made the All-NBA third team be considered an all-time great? It is simply inconceivable. The closest Pierce should ever get to the “City of Homes” is the crib he owns in Lincoln and that is the factual truth of the matter.

ONE BAD BEAR
Famous 1970’s child actress Tatum O’Neal was arrested Sunday for buying crack cocaine near her Manhattan apartment. O’Neal, 44, who may be best known for her role as the tough-talking Amanda Whurlitzer with the golden-arm in The Bad News Bears, was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and she was released without bail. In light of O’Neal’s struggles, perhaps it is fair to assume that the alcoholic Morris Buttermaker wasn’t the best role model after all.