Time For The NBA To Take Over The Sports Pages

The NBA has been taking a back seat to the NFL playoffs and the Johan Santana saga for the past few months. 

Finally all that remains of the NFL season is the Pro Bowl, and Johan Santana has been traded. (The Mets look scary.)

Now it's time for the NBA, the only major sport currently active, to take the lead and give us some news.

And so far, they have hit some major catagories that create buzz around a sport.

Big Name Players Being Traded

Shaquille O'Neal has been traded to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion.  It's a very interesting exchange begging the question, is this actually good for the Suns?  A great debate will rage on in the next few weeks as O'Neal makes his Suns debut.

The Los Angeles Lakers acquired Pau Gasol in a trade that sent a variety of players flying, including Kwame Brown who ended up in Memphis.  So, is this actually good for the Memphis Grizzlies? 

But of course this is good for the Lakers.  Now they have a big man to hold down the fort until Bynum returns.  And when he does, they'll dominate together.

Domination By One Major Conference

The San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Hornets, and the Los Angeles Lakers, all in the Western Conference currently hold four of the my top six spots in the NBA ranking.

And while the Western Conference holds all these great teams, the Eastern Conference boasts teams like the Miami Heat, New York Knicks, and the Charlotte Bobcats.  Not exactly anything to be proud of.

And while the West has all these great teams, the East has just the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons to be be proud of. 

Great Basketball Games

The most recent game went into overtime, as the Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets, 118-115.

And that wasn't even the game of the night.

The Pheonix Suns took the New Orleans Hornets into double OT, but couldn't finish the job and the Hornets won, 132-130.

And even though the Miami Heat lost, again, Dwayne Wade can even keep the Heat fans interested.  He scored 30 points and had huge rejection in last nights game. 

Looks like we'll have some exciting times to carry us through until the start of baseball season.

Check out my page, Joe W.