COUNTERPOINT – Youth, intriguing match-ups make NBA playoffs better

The NBA is pure entertainment, even in a decade filled with Lakers-, Spurs- and… The NBA is pure entertainment, even in a decade filled with Lakers-, Spurs- and Pistons-dominated Finals. There aren’t too many other sports, except tennis maybe, where if you’re not interested in the game, you would be likely to spot Jack Nicholson, Paris Hilton and Jamie Foxx enjoying the action for you in star-studded crowds.

But forget that; the NBA is the likeliest sport to have a game be remembered with one spectacular move, despite what could be an otherwise boring game. Basketball is the most popular sport to play in the United States and worldwide it’s second to soccer. Why not watch the guys who play it best battle it out for the Larry O’Brien Trophy?

Anybody who is a Michael Jordan fan should tune in to these playoffs in the sport he made appealing across the globe. This Thursday is the 20th anniversary of his 63-point outburst against Larry Bird’s Celtics, so one could only hope to envision what Kobe Bryant has up his sleeve with an 81-point performance fresh in everybody’s mind from earlier this season.

Though these playoffs will be devoid of Allen Iverson, whose Sixers choked themselves into the May drawing in Secaucus, N.J., the Class of 2003 of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony have an answer for that. A Kobe who’s no longer in the public disgrace pen doesn’t hurt either, though one would wonder if Ron Artest will erupt for Sacramento either with or without the ball.

So what about hockey? It is true that scoring picked up this year following the lockout, but it’s still not like you can see a score every minute or two. It’s also not like you can walk down the street in most American towns and skate it up for a hockey game.

Shooting the puck like Wayne Gretzky isn’t any different from shooting like Dino Ciccarelli. On the other hand, driving to the basket like Vince Carter is different from doing the same as LeBron James or Stephon Marbury. When you’re handling the rock on the asphalts of Brooklyn, the farms in Indiana, to the gyms of Pittsburgh, you can be any player you want to be.

Unless you can’t dunk, of course, but it’s fun to try soaring like Dr. J.

Anyway, the NBA is the best throwback sport there is. Right now, we’re looking at a Pistons-Bulls matchup that is Bill Laimbeer-free, and those same Bulls, along with the Lakers, are trying to rekindle their past glory. Let’s see how far Phil Jackson can coach a team with only one superstar, and whether that star can become a legend out of Shaq’s shadow.

They like everything big in Texas, and while Yao’s back in China instead of hooping it up with Houston, Dirk Nowitzki is looking to try to become the next Larry Bird if his Mavericks can upend the Spurs. The only thing new in the Alamo is Michael Finley, one of the game’s most underrated players over the past decade, who is still trying to earn his first ring. Meanwhile, keep your eye out on Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who is competing in the playoffs for the first time in his 10-year career.

Speaking of new hopes, fans will find it odd with the Clippers personnel not making the annual trip to Secaucus, N.J., for the NBA Draft Lottery, instead having their young talent compete in the playoffs. When L.A.’s team not called the Lakers, headed by Donald Sterling and Elgin Baylor, is in the playoffs, that’s exciting to watch.

So the storylines are superior to the NHL Playoffs, which feature a lot of the same teams as in years past. That means in both L.A. and across the United States, it’s lights, camera, playoffs.

Dave Siegal is a staff writer for The Pitt News. E-mail him at djs50@pitt.edu.