Certified

Lingering thoughts after the most entertaining finals in about a decade.

Pau Gasol
Suddenly that trade doesn’t look so lopsided. We knew he was soft, but this soft? He’d have a hard time guarding Lisa Leslie in the post right now. He showed occasional flashes of competence but apart from that? Huge, European disappointment. I say European because he is the stereotype of the European big man. Sweet shooting, sweeter passing, occasionally sweet post moves, abysmal at everything else.

Lamar Odom
I wrote this long post about Odom yesterday before the game but the internet
possibly hates me and probably hates Odom as well so it saw fit to delete it. Maybe one day I will rewrite it in its entirety, perhaps as a eulogy to his career that wasn’t (which, by the look of things, doesn’t seem like it will last much longer) but not right now. I will however reference it. I don’t think there is a bigger enigma in the NBA today or possibly ever. Odom, whose career I have followed since his sophomore year (and I have a Clippers banner to attest to this fact), is possibly the most gifted player in the world not named Lebron James. You see the occasional flashes of it. Youtube him and watch a mixtape. He does things no one who’s 6’10”, 235 should be capable of. He’s like the spiritual twin of Derrick Coleman, but with more potential, and thus, more of a disappointment. All is not right, in a strictly basketball sense. He’s the anti-Jordan when it comes to swagger. He seems completely out of place in the man’s world of professional basketball. You could see it when he got stared down by KG. You could see it when Rondo played keep-away with the ball after a Celtic turnover. Maybe one day he’ll “get it”. If not, the man who could’ve been the evolutionary Magic Johnson will merely end up the black Toni Kukoc. Also, look for him to be traded this off-season.

Kobe Bryant
Bryant started this series as Michael Jordan 2.0. He ended it as the poor man’s Paul Pierce. By all accounts the comparisons to His Airness stopped after the game 4 meltdown and have been forgotten completely following the game 6 blowout. But still, has anyone ever done more damage to their own legacy in under two weeks? I want to feel sorry for him, but can’t.

Phil Jackson
Ok, scratch what I said about Kobe and his unprecedented legacy self-destruction. The Zen Master will be right up there with him. Really, if you want a scapegoat for the Lakers’ implosion, look no further. He’s been getting outcoached by Doc Rivers, he’s been on the receiving end of a historic thrashing, but he doesn’t seem to care. I don’t know whether his absolute nirvana-esque calm comes from his Zen philosophy or the 6-figure paycheck he’s drawing/sugar-mama he’s banging.

The Lakers
After watching them dismantle the Spurs I couldn’t help but drink a little of the Purple and Fool’s Gold Gatorade. Their offense was sublime and their defense was efficient. And all without Bynum. Here was a worthy finalist. It wasn’t to be so. I don’t think the Mavericks meltdown in the finals is the benchmark anymore. The Lakers have usurped their inglorious throne, and I don’t even think I’m exaggerating. Will they make the finals next season with a “healthy” (back for the second round of the playoffs anyone? Anyone?) Bynum? If you’d asked me two weeks ago I would have said, “Undoubtedly!” Today, I’m doubtful. Very doubtful. If Kobe can be stopped once he can be stopped again. I think every team will count on that.

Ray Allen
Say what you will about Garnett’s intensity and Pierce’s heroics, I think the glue that held the Celtics together in the Finals was Allen’s professionalism. Despite everything Pierce did, I still feel like Allen should have gotten a big piece of that Finals MVP trophy. He brought it every single game. At both ends of the court. Pierce gets most of the credit for guarding Kobe and making life difficult for him, but it always seemed like Allen was the one with a hand in Kobe’s grill on every important possession. And I’ll give him the bulk of the credit for the comeback game which was the tipping point of the series. Posey and House might’ve had big games but Allen was the MVP of that game. He played every single second. He was manning the point almost the entire time. He was guarding Kobe most of the time. He made the game clinching shot. He broke the Lakers spirit. One of the most understatedly superlative performances I’ve ever seen.

Paul Pierce
He probably deserves this title more than anyone else. He could have been like Kobe, he could have asked out. He could have been a prima donna. He could have been a gunner extraordinaire. But he stuck it out. He played the good soldier and was rewarded for it. And at the end of the day he’ll probably watch his number get reeled up to the rafters right next to Bird and Russell. If that isn’t a fairytale story, I don’t know what is.

Kevin Garnett
On the one hand I’m happy for the guy. Nobody deserved a championship more than him. But I can’t help but feel a twinge of sadness. He deserved to get this in Minnesota. There are a few players in NBA history that will always be indelibly associated with the teams they played on. You can’t think of Jordan or the Bulls without thinking of the other. Magic and the Lakers. Bird and the Celtics. Duncan and the Spurs. Payton and the Sonics. Miller and the Pacers. Ewing and the Knicks. Stockton/Malone and the Jazz. Will Garnett be remembered as a Timberwolf or a Celtic?

Rajon Rondo
Every time I see him steal the ball, or make a sick pass it burns me to think that he was drafted by the Suns. Damn you Robert Sarver. Damn you to hell.

Sam Cassell
Please. Just retire. Please!

Doc Rivers
Might not be the best coach of all time, but he stepped up to the plate. Having Tom Thibodeaux on the bench probably didn't hurt.

The Celtics
Will they make the finals again next year? I don’t see why not.