After seven long weeks of interminable playoffs the NBA finals have finally arrived. As a long time Laker fan I should be excited but I'm just exhausted. Instead of building up momentum to the championship series, the NBA's policy of stretching out each playoff round has resulted in tedium and boredom. How come the NHL can play games every other day when the NBA's convoluted schedule has resulted in several days off between games? The Lakers clinched the Western Division last Saturday and the first game against the Celtics is set for Thursday? Game 2 is Sunday, two full days off and the teams don't even have to travel between games! It's frustrating and downright ridiculous. It was even worse in the earlier rounds.
Any sport that takes nearly two months to complete the playoffs is in serious need of revision. The Olympics combine hundreds of athletes from dozens of countries and somehow get it done in two weeks. Look at the NBA Finals schedule: Game 1 set for June 3, the seventh game set for June 17th. Why? Of course the answer is television and the big bucks the networks pay to air the games. So ABC and TNT make the scheduling decisions while commissioner David Stern counts his money and the fans succumb to apathy even if they love the sport. What should be a thrilling month of action is now a drawn out ordeal where the players get rusty and the fans get angry. There's got to be a better way.
I applaud the radio hosts Petros and Money on Fox radio for continuing to bash the NBA for ruining what was once an exciting product. Now its just a war of attrition that goes from November to June. Even in the regular season teams get as much as 5 days off at a time and you can't blame TV for that.
Even worse than all the delays is the eminent free agency of a certain Lebron JaMEs. Yes, the narcissist from Cleveland can go to the highest bidder when the playoffs are done. Every single human being should know this by now because that's the only thing this guy has talked about all season long. He's barely mentioned his team, a talented group of guys with whom LeBron has led to exactly zero championships. After his last loss LeBron did mention that his "team" had some big decisions to make, but he was referring to his posse of sycophants and toadies who surround him when he's off the court. These parasites are more important to JaMEs than the Cavaliers and they've been giving him bad advice from the get-go.
JaMEs has scheduled an interview with Larry King to air during the NBA finals, making sure he steals the spotlight from the players who've actually earned it. JaMEs has called for a "summit" meeting of other free agents like Dwayne Wade to discuss which teams are worthy of their talents. JaMEs is the same guy who did nothing but celebrate himself during the Bejing Olympics while Kobe Bryant mingled with the fans and conducted free clinics. JaMEs is the guy who believes there is an "I" in the word team just like there's a ME in his last name.
He'll get his millions but hopefully he'll never get his championship. Even if he does, the NBA playoff schedule will make sure he'll have to wait a long time to get it.
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