Ok, so let me get this right. Nike wants a Kobe Bryant vs. Lebron James NBA Finals; Vitamin Water wants it; I’m beginning to believe that even the NBA wants it… and now YOU? Say it isn’t so, please.
I understand that people want to see two of the best players on the planet go head-to-head for the jewelry. But the truth is, how often will they actually play one-on-one? Let the records show that The Black Mamba is a Shooting Guard and King James is a Small Forward. The Black Mamba can play two positions at a high level while King James could play all five positions easily. Wait, for the young’ns, I’d like to give you a quick history lesson.
Your Kobe vs. Lebron is my Jordan vs. Magic. And while many people compare Lebron to Michael Jordan, Lebron is built and plays more like Magic Johnson. Magic was the ultimate Floor General and could play all positions as he once accomplished his rookie year when the Lakers Center, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went down. Kobe is the closest to Michael Jordan as any player will come for quite some time. But even when the Chicago Bulls played the Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals, Scottie Pippen was the one that neutralized Magic, not Michael.
Back to the future… no matter how prolific and “unstoppable” Kobe Bryant is on the court, physically, he doesn’t match up to Lebron James. I know what you’re thinking… I’m just playing with you; I really don’t know what you’re thinking. Lebron James is the anomaly of his profession: 6’ 8”, 260 pounds of pure aggression. And on a fast break, dude is a LearJet 85 tearing the runway apart before lift off. Just doesn’t seem all that fair to me.
Do you know what I want? I know that the Nuggets and the Cavaliers are down 0-1, both losing games that were winnable up until the last two minutes. In my eyes, the Anthony vs. Lebron Finals is where it’s at. Yes, Carmelo Anthony, the only player in the league that could stand up to Lebron without a double team. Yes, the Carmelo Anthony that can score from anywhere on the court and has come into his own during the playoffs. Yea, I know, the same Carmelo that co-signed the “Stop Snitching” campaign, but that’s another story.
I can see the NBA with a stubbed toe scrambling to promote this matchup: Anthony vs. James, guaranteed that one of these Gold Medal winners will grab their FIRST NBA Championship.
You must admit that it has a certain RING to it.
Quick Opinions
By the time you get to this, former Atlanta Falcons Quarterback, Michael Vick will be at home with his family after serving a year and a half bid for his role in the running of an illegal dog fighting ring (I typed ‘ring’ again). While he has two months of home confinement to serve (sentence ends July 20) there is a heated debate about whether Vick deserves a second chance at the NFL. And to those that believe that Vick should rot in a cell forever for his actions, I’m sure that there is a mountain full of rocks you can kick. Was Vick in the wrong for his actions? Socially, on a mainstream level, emphatically, YES he was. All we hear about was the fact that his original apology wasn’t remorseful enough. That’s true, it wasn’t. He grew up on dog fighting, watching dogs being put down by his family and friends, the sheer gore of it all, so why would he be remorseful about something he experienced his entire life? Simply put, Michael Vick has lost more than most of us will ever gain in our lifetimes for his actions. So if he isn’t remorseful by now, he can kick rocks right along with his protestors.
Will “Deshair” Foskey is a social journalist/blogger with New Jersey as his home state and AllHipHop.com as one of his many passions. Deshair has two projects in the works for a Summer ’09 launches.