Column: The NBA’s ‘back’
Feb. 22, 2008
You’ve all heard the hype — the NBA is back. Of course, to a lot of us it never went away. And to many more it has been “back” countless other times before: the Lakers three-peat, the Lakers/Kings rivalry, LeBron and Carmelo entering the NBA, the Suns bringing up-tempo basketball back — but whatever. I guess a good dunk contest and a few trades are reasons as good as any to declare a league back from the “dead.”
So if you only found out about this NBA renaissance last weekend (Dwight Howard wore a cape, for crying out loud), here’s why the second half of the season matters — which, trust me, it wouldn’t have if Gerald Green hadn’t blown out that candle.
Kevin Garnett. This one is obvious, but still awesome. The soul-patched one hasn’t busted anyone’s jaw in Boston for blocking his shot in practice yet, but he has re-energized a moribund franchise. One quick note: Al Jefferson’s statistics in Minnesota: 21.1 points per game, 12.2 rebounds. Kevin Garnett’s statistics: 18.8 PPG, 10.0 RPG. Just saying.
The Eastern Conference’s ineptitude. Wait? Aren’t we talking about a renaissance? One conference, as usual, didn’t get the memo. The Western Conference’s recent dominance is well-documented, but now it might be more complete than ever. In an attempt to match the staggering trades of many Western Conference powers, the Eastern Conference contenders added Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak and Juan Dixon. They did bring in Mike Bibby (albeit to a 21-30 team — which, on second thought, is probably good for the second in the East), but they shipped out Jason Kidd.
Aside from the Celtics, Pistons and maybe the Cavaliers, the East is worse than ever compared to the mighty West.
The Western Conference’s dominance. So in addition to the embarrassment of riches it already had, the West now has an apparently healthy Shaquille O’Neal, the aforementioned Kidd, and Pau Gasol on a contender. The Suns, Lakers, Spurs, Mavericks and Jazz are all better than any team in the East, and the Nuggets, Warriors and Hornets would be the top three for sure. It is hard to discern who is truly the best, though. The Spurs finally look tired, and the Suns and Mavs aren’t as dazzling as in recent years, but they do appear to be the top three. Many have been quick to coronate the Lakers because of the Gasol trade and Andrew Bynum playing 35 good games, but it would be a fool’s errand to assume they could beat any of the big three on Bynum’s still-very-raw back and without another scoring guard to shoot when Kobe is having an off night. They will be in big enough trouble against the Warriors and Jazz as it is.
Which brings us to the next reason to indulge yourself in this historic period of NBA basketball. (I just don’t get it — Howard threw it in.)
The Warriors. Please, God, let these guys win the West. It was fascinating watching them blow their fuses and the Mavs out of the building last year in the playoffs, but it seemed destined to be a one-time thing. It wasn’t. Averaging 110.1 points per game this season (tied with the Suns for the league lead), few things are as thrilling as watching Baron Davis, Monta Ellis and Stephen Jackson fast break dunk while also yelling at the refs.
So there you go. The NBA is “back,” and there is nothing you can do about it.
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