All About the NBA

After watching the NBA all-star game festivities this weekend, I realized two things:

1. The NBA has the best all-star weekend in all of sports because their weekend showcases the NBA's athleticism and the "competitive" portion of this weekend actually is entertaining. Through the dunk contest (won by Los Angeles Clippers' big man Blake Griffin; more on that later) and the skills competition (won by the Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry) fans get to see the athleticism and skill of players in isolation without the role of rules such as traveling (wait? they already don't call traveling in the NBA?). And although most of the actual all-star game is a school-yard, ball-handlers game (note the obscene amount of ATTEMPTED alley-oops) the last five minutes of the game are usually very competitive and you can tell that winning/losing means something to the players. No other professional sports league can pretend to claim those two things about their all-star weekend.

quick slam-dunk contest/Blake Griffin point: I like Blake Griffin's game and his ferocious dunks on SportsCenter are always a treat, but he didn't have the best dunks in the competition. This dunk contest was more of a testament of Blake's increasing popularity (like Justin Beiber winning the MVP of the celebrity all-star game) as the media and fans just handed over the trophy when the other contestants went out there and truly performed more impressive dunks.

2. I have still not written an article about the state of the NBA union. For those that have been paying attention to the NBA, the state of the union is strong (with the obvious exception of the looming breakdown over labor negotiations between the league and players. Without the NBA, my sanity is up in the air; to the the rest of the world: you have been warned). This league is brimming with talent (young and old) at virtually every position and parity is up (despite the presence of a handful of juggernaut teams), ensuring a more entertaining visual experience for fans and commentators alike. That said, there are only a handful of teams and players that have dominated the story lines thus far. Here's a quick run-down of teams (we'll have a post about players later this week) that have mattered the most in the 2010-2011 NBA season:

Teams:

Los Angeles Lakers (38-19, 1st in Pacific Conference, 3rd in Western Conference)

The reigning two-time NBA champions are never one to shy away from the spotlight. This year the Lakers have had their usual amount of controversy (Ron Artest's woeful shooting, Kobe calling out teammates, Phil Jackson/teammates calling out Kobe, to name a few) but it has been followed by an uncharacteristic amount of losing. The Lake Show have had their first 4-game losing streak in the Pau Gasol era as well as a handful of 3-game losing streaks. Kobe's freshness during the all-star game, particularly his repeated drives to the basket (he attempted almost a dozen field goals inside of 6 feet, making 8), came as a welcome sight. Despite the escalating difficulty of their schedule,  look for the Lakers to start playing more consistent basketball as we get closer to the playoffs

San Antonio Spurs (46-10, 1st in Southwest Division, 1st in Western Conference, Best Record in the NBA)

Inexplicably, Father Time has overlooked the Spurs as the 4th oldest team (weighted by minutes played, thanks hoopism.com) has jumped out of the gates and not looked back. With perennial all-star Tim Duncan playing below his lofty standards for much of the season the Spurs have been able to amass the best record in the NBA doing what they do best: paying attention to detail and playing "within" themselves. Head coach Gregg Popovich has this team working hard on both ends of the floor (never a surprise on defense, but their offense has been more potent than in past years) and every Spurs player knows his role. I think the Spurs will start to rest their players for the playoffs as their stranglehold on the best record in the NBA is all but complete

Boston Celtics (40-14, 1st in Atlantic Division, 1st in Eastern Conference)


Boston are playing like the San Antonio Spurs-Eastern Conference Version. Their methodical consistency on the defensive end combined with the great playmaking from their "Big 3" and point guard Rajon Rondo are a tough combination to beat night-in and night-out. The Celts are the unquestioned favorite in the East and all competitors in the Eastern Conference know that the road to the NBA finals as the Eastern Conference representative goes through Boston. Especially this next team...

Miami Heat (41-15, 1st in Southeast Division, 2nd in Eastern Conference, Brangelina like media coverage)

The Heat trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade (not a mis-spelling, that's how he spells his name) and Chris Bosh have received an un-real amount of scrutiny this year with the Carmelo Anthony trade saga a VERY distant second as far as NBA news print is concerned. After starting the season 9-8, the Heat have banded together to go 32-7, including winning an NBA season high 21 games in a row. In fact, their record might have been more impressive if not for each of the "Heatles" (the self-styled nickname of Miami's "Big 3") missing at least one game and important role players like Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem missing significant time. Now that they Heat are rolling, they know what they have to do, beat Boston (they are 0-3 in 3 tries this year...or they could hope that Boston is upset in the early rounds of the playoffs. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that scenario to happen) if they want to battle for an NBA championship this June.

With no offense to other teams having a great year (the Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Mavericks, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic to name a few), these are really the only 4 teams that have a chance to win the 2011 NBA championship. Barring injury to important players or another unforeseen disaster, I expect these teams to be the NBA's "final four" in a couple of months. I haven't settled on a favorite out of these teams (other than my irrational bias for the Lakers telling me that they are the best of this bunch) and it will be exciting to watch the final third of the season develop.

What excluded team do you think has the best chance of crashing this "final four" bracket that I have presented?