Over the course of the past few days, I have spent my nights sitting on the couch, eating dinner and watching the opening week of the 2009-10 NBA basketball season. And I might add that it has been nothing short of what I had hoped for.
From LeBron and Shaq teaming up, to Kobe and the Lakers getting their championship rings, it has been a better than average week for basketball fans.
For those of you who don’t know, I am an avid basketball fan. If I were to make an educated guess, I would say that 90 percent of my columns last year were devoted to the NBA. And while I am still trying to find the balance between some professional sports and the majority of collegiate ones, I find that I can’t help but stare in amazement at pro basketball.
This week alone I’ve seen Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson, Shawn Marion, Ron Artest, Trevor Ariza and Rasheed Wallace — not exactly a bunch of Average Joes — all play with their new teams. As well as Kobe and LeBron doing what they’ve done for the past several
years — dominate.
While the Cavaliers did lose in their season-opener in Cleveland, something that did not happen until the 24th home game last year, James looked slimmer and all around better than he did last season. I didn’t realize that was even possible. The 6-foot-8 inch, 250-pound small forward put up 38 points, eight assists and four rebounds in his season debut, which included a 4-for-9 showing from beyond the arc.
Now I’m sure we all saw his two blocks on SportsCenter, but what they didn’t show on the highlight reel was the shot right before James’ first touring block on Celtic point guard Rajon Rondo, where James pulls up from at least six feet behind the three-point line and casually strokes in a 40-footer. No big deal. He’s not human. I’ve accepted it.
The Cavs as a team looked better than I anticipated, but in a conference that features the Celtics and the Orlando Magic, there is absolutely no clear-cut favorite. The LA Lakers on the other hand will undoubtedly control the Western Conference much to the same tune that they did last season.
Kobe’s opening night was a bit more ceremonial with the distribution of his fourth NBA Championship ring, but once the game started he picked up right where he left off in June — on top.
At the age of 31, Bryant has shown that he can still dominate a game night in and night out without fatigue becoming a factor. His 33 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists against the Clippers showed that he is still the alpha male in a league filled with superstars, and that he can get the Lakers through the early season without an injured Pau Gasol.
This left me wondering, could this finally be the year that we see a LeBron vs. Kobe showdown in the NBA finals? I understand it is still only week one, but why not get a little ahead of ourselves? With James entering his seventh season and Bryant entering his 14th, there is no telling how much longer the matchup will even be possible. One can only hope that the stars align and the basketball gods bless this season, or else this modern day Bird vs. Johnson, battle of Goliath vs. Goliath, could end up being nothing more than a ‘What if?’
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NBA, we’ve missed you
Daily Emerald
October 28, 2009
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