Instead, what David Stern and NBA fans across the globe were treated to was a maddeningly inconsistent display. Both teams shuffled between periods of tentative and then dominant basketball. Pau Gasol looked like Tim Duncan one night and then Luc Longley the next. I’m not sure Lamar Odom really ever checked into the series to begin with. Kevin Garnet was at once an offensive force and the next a liability.
This frustrating hodgepodge of championship caliber basketball mixed in with junior varsity incompetence was all going to end, according to ESPN’s Michael Wilbon, with a drag-out, put-it-on-record, overtime beauty in Boston for game 6. Both teams would finally put it together for a full 48 minutes and NBA fans would be treated to what they had deserved since game 1. Unfortunately, someone forgot to pass the memo on to the Lakers, who win the award for largest egg laid in Finals, no, in playoff, history. The Kobe-Bryant-“lead” Lakers never showed up. Period. In the biggest game of many players’ careers, it was a baffling and almost depressing display. Bryant, who from now on shall never, ever again be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan (can you imagine Jordan choking so royally during his team’s season-deciding game?) brought all the fire and machismo of a garden snail to the proceedings. The Lakers showed no interest in taking the game and, consequently, wilted in the face of the Celtics' game 6 passion and desire.
In summation, the 2008 Finals fell far, far short of our lofty expectations. As an NBA fan I felt let down and terribly disappointed. But as a life-long Celtics fan, one who has suffered through the careers of Dino Rajda, Pervis Ellison, and Antoine Walker, well, excuse me while I light up this cigar.
Keywords: Boston Celtics, Kevin Garnet, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, Michael Jordan
