The Wizards are not cursed
I wrote rather extensively 10 days ago about the fall of the Dallas Wizericks — the former Washington Wizards who went to the Dallas Mavericks in search of playoff glory and found just another first round exit from the playoffs despite their team’s #2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Hopes were high for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and Deshawn Stevenson saw their hopes dashed in 6 games as if they were just another hobbled Wizards team facing the Lebron James behemoth.
Of course, there was one other prominent Wizard who was traded at midseason to a playoff team expected to do great things in the postseason. I mean, of course, Antawn Jamison, who went to two All Star games as a Wizard, but was traded away for future cap space and a very late first round draft pick later this summer. James went to the Cleveland Cavaliers to play with that self-same Lebron James behemoth and the team steam-rolled its way to another #1 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
After being run off the court in their own gym — losing 120-88 to the Boston Celtics in game 5 — the Cavaliers are down 3-2 in the series and staring elimination in the face. Not just elimination, though, but possible oblivion, as speculation circulates that another playoff disappointment will lead Lebron James to conclude his best hopes for an NBA championship and basketball immortality are in another city, playing for a different team.
Am I not supposed to enjoy this? I understand the Wizards and the Cavaliers are not rivals. One of them is one of the best teams in the NBA and has been for several years, despite its inability to succeed in the playoffs. The other team has been eliminated by the first team 3 times and will spend its second straight season in the NBA Draft lottery, a victim, not of injuries this time, but of colossal stupidity, selfishness and over-confidence.
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