NBA Finals

It is that time of year again. The time of year when we all sit back and ask that age old question, is the NBA rigged?

Last season the leagues most marketable player (King James) lead his band of role players and bench warmers to the NBA finals by defeating a far superior team in Detroit. Of course the Cavs were on the receiving end of the LeBroom thanks to the aging yet fundamentally sound Spurs.

Then last summer has the NBA ref scandal, the NBA draft steals the first pick from the tanking Celtics and the saga of Kobe Bryant wanting to be anywhere but LA (anywhere of course equals New York or Chicago).

The NBA did not look good, I even hear people were looking forward to the NHL season. Then Danny Ainge somehow someway becomes a solid GM and acquires Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett (assist to T-wolves GM Kevin McHale on helping out an old teammate there) and the Celts immediately become the team to beat in the Eastern Conference if not the whole league.

The Celtics looked like the toast of the east all year (if you don't count barely winning any road games in the playoffs) and disposed of the teams they were supposed to, while advancing to the finals.

As far as the west goes... the 2008 regular season will be remembered as one of the more competitive regular seasons of all time (Golden State finished 7 games over .500 and missed the playoffs). The day that the race changed was the day that Memphis gave LA Pau Gasol for summer membership to six flags and two slices of Dominoes pizza.

With Gasol to play second fiddle to Kobe the Lakers have been nearly unstoppable giving the NBA their dream series. Lakers-Celtics.

Did the NBA set this up? Probably not, but is sure a nice time for it to happen when the league has had some pretty lousy finals in the years leading up to this (Cavs-Spurs, Spurs-Pistons, Heat-Mavs). Wait the Heat-Mavs series can be a whole other case for the NBA being equal to the WWE.

OK, the NBA got what they want, but the ultimate test is if something funny happens to get this series to go 7 games. The 2-3-2 finals format is awful, if the Lakers get one in Boston there only chance to win at home is to take the next three. It is much better in a 2-2-1-1-1 forcing the the Lakers to probably win twice in Boston yet still have a chance to win at home. I just can't see the NBA letting LA win if the series gets to game 6 or 7 (not because they are not more talented). The NBA also does not want a 5 game series, a 4-1 finals is not entertaining. A 4-2 finals can be, just look at the Stanley Cup. So if the NBA is rigged you will see Boston ending up with the championship in 6 or 7 games.


Somewhere in the third paragraph or so this rant lost its way, but hopefully you get the picture.

Prediction: Lakers in 6* and the NBA is not rigged** and the city of Boston burns to the ground.


* I reserve the right to change this prediction if the some dude named Sully breaks Kobe's leg in tunnel before or after game one
**it pains me to type that