It’s late. Very late. I should be fired up. Instead I’m pensive… forward thinking. About three months forward to be exact. But more on that in a moment.
Monday evening I watched as the Lakers have just put on a dominating second half performance against the Orlando Magic, spanking them like they were one of the eighth graders from Dazed and Confused.
With their recent surge the Lakers are suddenly back in vogue as the favorite (albeit not a predominate one) to win a third straight NBA title. And while it is perhaps presumptuous and short-sighted to assume that they’ll even make it past the Spurs (who still have a far better record) to the Finals, I am nothing if not impertinently bold. Besides, what’s the fun of being a sports blogger if you can’t engage in rampant speculation?
Now, surely every Lakers fan has a different take on who they want to see the purple and gold matched up with in the finals. But is there a correct preference? Is one opinion more valid than another? In short, I say yes.
I know a lot of Lakers fans who would like nothing more than to get another shot at the Celtics. A rubber match with the big three edition of Boston would surely be a satisfying way to finish out the season. And with franchise championship number 17 on the line (tying the Celtics no less) a victory against them would be all the sweeter.
Then there’s the lot who want to beat the Heat. Overnight LeBron James has managed to become the most hated player in the league and if the Lakers were to meet up with him in the Finals they might actually play the role of the good guys.
Of course there are also some who might just hope for the worst team possible and most sure chance the Lakers would prevail in a seven game series. This would probably be Orlando.
But for my money there is one team above all others that I want to see the Lakers play in the 2011 NBA finals. One team that would not only provide the most competitive games but also the most compelling story lines. And that team, as you might have guessed, is the Chicago Bulls.
Now here’s why.
Next: About The Narrative
For as much as Lakers fans may want to believe that Kobe could sneak away with the MVP this year in an utterly underwhelming field, the truth is there is really only one guy who could be considered the favorite to take home the award and his name is Derrick Rose.
Rose is now a legitimate superstar. He has the ability to get seemingly anywhere he wants with the ball in his hands. He is the rare combination of a guard who is both herky-jerky (Manu Ginobli) and ridiculously athletic (Russell Westbrook). When he goes to the basket he moves with irresistible power and grace and explosion. He doesn’t just score the ball, he devours the rim.
As I watch highlights and mix tapes of Rose on YouTube I think about what it would be like to see these two squads tangle in the Finals. There would be kind of a sweet symmetry to that match-up, wouldn’t there?. Epic story thread years in the making finally coming to a conclusion (or completely unraveling) and new narratives undergoing their genesis.
Imagine Kobe attempting to tie His Airness for six titles while going up against the great one’s franchise. Phil Jackson, who beat the Lakers for his first championship, plays the Bulls for (presumably) his last. Derrick Rose attempting to blast through the specter of MJ’s enormous shadow. Magic talking revenge for the ‘91 finals. Every backup point guard and center and role player who ever suited up for Phil will probably have an opinion. Ron Harper, John Salley and down the line. Even that troll of trolls Jerry Krause might crawl out of the gutter to lambaste PJ for being the real reason the Bulls dynasty broke up. It would be a media bonanza.
But is that the real reason I’m hoping this will happen?
Next: Something New
No, beyond the narratives, the subplots and all the rest of the potential hoopla is the basic fact that Lakers versus Bulls would make for great basketball.
What’s impressive about the Bulls is that they, perhaps more than any team in the league right now, are greater than the sum of their parts. The Bulls play hard. They utilize the same defensive scheme coach Tom Thibodeau directed as an assistant to stymie Kobe during the ‘08 Finals. They have a full blown superstar, a decent second option in Boozer and a legitimate center who is a tremendous interior defender and rebounder in Joakim Noah. Beyond that is a group of role players who do their jobs and buy into the system. It works. It’s a team that, even if you’re not from that city, you can get behind.
Like the Lakers they too have suffered a key injury setback by missing Noah for two months. Also like the Lakers they seem to be hitting their stride just as the playoffs are approaching. And now with both teams playing their best basketball of the season they are essentially 1 and 1a in just about every set of NBA power rankings currently available on the internet. It would appear that what we’re witnessing is the revving up of two steam engine trains departing shortly, heading towards one another on a collision course. And if that were to happen I don’t think there would be anyone happier than I.
Will Thib’s defense work again on the Mamba? Will Rose shred Fisher like bagged lettuce? Will Noah slow down Bynum and Gasol? Will Carlos Boozer wilt in the clutch? Forget the circus that surrounds the games, these are the questions I want to see answered.
Of course it wouldn’t be the worst thing if we ended up with another Lakers and Celtics Finals. I mean, it is a classic isn’t it? The Shawshank Redemption of sports rivalries. And after all there’s something nice about that familiarity, isn’t there? I mean, thirty seconds of beautifully crafted Morgan Freeman narration and we’re hooked. We know what we’re doing for the next two hours and that’s that.
But here’s the thing. You know what I like watching even more than a great movie I have seen before? A great one I haven’t.