What the NBA Needs

Last night Oklahoma City did what very few people thought was possible, they beat the Spurs in a playoff series. The same Spurs team that didn't have a losing streak of 4 games all season, and entered this series with a 20 game winning streak dating back to the regular season, suddenly loses 4 in a row to the Thunder.

I knew something was wrong after game 3. The Spurs got beat pretty bad, the final score was 102-82. Coach Popovich pulled his old starters at the start of the 4th quarter to save their energy for another day, he knew he had lost when only 75% of the game was finished.

The Thunder went to a smaller line up more often, using Serge Ibaka at the center and moving Kevin Durant to the power forward. This caused too many problems for the Spurs. After game 3 the Spurs were never the same and seemed destined to lose.

So one half of the NBA Finals is set, OKC will be representing the West(Interesting side note, this will be the first time since 1998 that a team other than the Spurs, Lakers or Mavericks go to the finals from the West, the team in 98? The Utah Jazz).

So now all eyes are set on Boston and Miami. They play tonight in Boston, with the Celtics leading the series 3-2. If Boston wins they go to the finals, if Miami wins they head back home to play a game 7. This is a huge game. And when I say huge, I really mean it. I'm not trying to oversell this game, or over hype it. This is one of the biggest games of the year so far.

During the Pacers-Heat series I had a few discussions with some friends and we talked about how important game 4 was of that series. If you recall heading into game 4 the Pacers were up 2-1 in the series. The game was in Indiana, Pacers had just won 2 in a row, including a thrashing in game 3. I argued that game 4 was the most important game for the Miami Heat since the Big 3 started playing together. If they lost game 4 the series was effectively over, they would be down 3-1 and have absolutely no momentum.

The Heat would win game 4, then win game 5 and game 6. They won the series 4-2.

That game was still the most important game for the Miami Heat since Lebron and Chris Bosh came to town. However, game 6 between the Celtics and Heat is more important. It's not more important for the Miami Heat, they had to win that game and the series, just imagine the media chaos if the Heat lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs. This game is more important for the NBA. The NBA needs the Heat to win.

What I mean, is that for the NBA to be as successful as possible they need the Heat in the Finals. More people will watch the Finals if Miami wins. They want to see Lebron fail. They want to see him choke.

The NBA wants the Heat to make it to the Finals. It'd be a great match up, both teams are athletic with 3 big superstars. The Heat have Lebron, Wade and Chris Bosh. The Thunder has Durant, Westbrook and Harden. Even though Boston has superstars in Garnett, Pierce, Allen and Rondo, they won't put as many fans in front of the TV.

So don't be surprised if you see some shaky officiating tonight. Now when it comes to sports I hate blaming the refs for a loss. I hate fans that blame the refs, it seems like a cheap way to not accept the fact that your team lost. But in some instances refs play a huge part, and a lot of times it seems like they are trying to call a game in the favor of one team.

For me, I blame the refs for just a few losses. The 97-98 Utah Jazz is one. Game 6 of the finals seemed to have some terrible calls. Ron Harpers shot after the 24 shot clock went off, but was called good. The Jazz had a shot go off before the buzzer, but was called no good. And of course, Jordan's shoving of Russell to his his last shot as a Bull. The Jazz had some bad calls against them. They may not have won game 7, but there should've been one more game.

The 2002 Western Conference Finals, game 6. The Kings and Lakers were playing in a heated series. The Kings were up 3-2 with a chance to clinch the series. The officiating in that game was simple atrocious. I can't even begin on how bad it was. Let me just sum it up quickly by saying this, when the scandal came out a few years ago that NBA refs were caught for throwing games, or calling games in favor of one team, former NBA ref Tim Donaghy said in court that game 6 was fixed. That the refs were told not to call fouls on certain players. And that by letting this game go to 7 games it would be better for the NBA. You can Google to read more on the 2002 Western Conference Finals. The game was fixed.

The last one is Superbowl XL. Seahawks and Steelers. I don't want to spend too much time on this, but the game had several terrible calls that took away a lot of points from Seattle.

David Stern, the NBA Commissioner, has a bad reputation for trying to fix games. He fixed the 1985 NBA draft so Patrick Ewing would go to New York.

So again, don't be surprised if the refs seem to be pulling for the Heat, because there is a good chance that Stern is telling the refs to let the Heat win.

So why does the NBA need the Heat to win? It's simple really, the leagues best player needs to have a ring.
Lebron is the best player of this generation. The NBA has a way of having one elite player for every generation. We had Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, then it went to Michael Jordan. After Jordan it went to Kobe Bryant. Although Kobe is an elite player, he is not 'the elite' player, its Lebron.

The NBA can't have Lebron not win a ring. Many great players never one a ring, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, Reggie Miller, Elgin Baylor to name a few. But none of these players were the player of that generation.

Now let me be clear on a few things. I personally hate Lebron James. I don't like how he acts, I don't like how he shys away in the clutch moment. I hate how he went to Miami, not so much the fact that he went there, but how it all happened.

I use to be a huge Lebron fan. Although ESPN over covered him, especially in his early years, I was a big fan. I always rooted for him to win in the playoffs. I wanted to see him win a ring. When Cleveland had the number one seed in the east those two years I was cheering for him to win.

I was a fan until he quit. He didn't quit when he told everyone he would be taking his talents to South Beach. He quit in the final game as a Cavalier. I watched that game, and saw how little effort he gave, there was no intensity. You could tell by his body language that he was done in Cleveland. After that I stopped being a fan.

Even though me, personally, would love nothing more than to see Lebron retire without a ring. I'd love it if when people ask for the best player to fail in the clutch/playoffs they would say Lebron instead of Karl Malone. I'd like him to never have the joy of winning it all because he quits on his teammates. All that being said, me as an unbiased fan of basketball wants him to win a title.

James needs to win a championship. He is the best in the game right now. He has a chance to be a top 5 player of all time. The list of top 5 usually goes like this 1) Michael Jordan, 2) Wilt Chamberlain, 3)Magic Johnson, 4) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 5) Larry Bird. Other notables are Oscar Robinson, Bill Russell, Kobe Bryant.

To be in that kind of company is special. Lebron has the talent to be in that class easily. He has the teammates to help him. He just needs to dominate to win, if he dominates he wins.

Lebron cannot be a top 5 player without at least one ring. It is a straight up fact. One ring may not be enough. But he absolutely cannot be a top 5 player without a ring. He might have a hard time being a top ten player of all time without one ring.

Lebron will never be the greatest of all time, that is Michael Jordan's title. I don't see any player ever taking that away from him. But Lebron can still try and be better than Kobe, still try and make it into the top 5. And he needs a ring for that.

He also needs to be careful of his status as greatest player of our generation. Kevin Durant is playing pretty well, he's young and he tries. He is also in the NBA Finals.

Lebron, the move is yours. You have a chance to make it to your 3rd NBA Finals. You can shut up all of your haters, including me, by giving it your all, getting your teammates involved and by making the big shot in the 4th quarter.

It's time for you start producing rings like you said you would in the parade the Heat gave you when you signed with them.