NBA: after lockout year one.
Has anything really changed for the NBA since Lebron crumbled and the Heat lost the NBA finals to a freak playoff performance by Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks?
They always say, the glory days are lost and forgotten.
When players played the game they loved and were gracious to be paid to play.
As fans, we have waited so long for basketball, and now that we have seen enough to digest, criticize, post about on facebook and Twitter, we simply can't get enough.
It's why a lockout, and a return is enough lack of media or social coverage to have us hooked.
And once the fish is hooked, the NBA reels in their desired revenue. profits to be specific, not changing the price of
admissions or a drastic realignment of their economic plan, just enough media attention than prior, which was in a bind like the supposed players union and the NBA just months ago.
Before the season started we already had drama in the city of angels.
All star point guard Chris Paul was supposed to be traded to the Lakers in a trade that was blocked by commissioner and acting owner of the New Orleans Hornets David Stern.
Paul eventually landed in Los Angeles but with the Clippers, creating the lob city Clippers with Dandre Jordan and Blake Griffin leaving fans in awe as they catch and dunk alley oops rising above the rim to do so.
The slow and old Mavericks and Celtics are desperately trying to keep pace with young rising teams such as Portland, Denver and Philadelphia.
Kobe caught fire yet again scoring 40 or more points in four straight games, yet the Lakers find themselves chasing their in-town rival Clippers led by the addition of Chris Paul and the resurgence of Blake Griffin and "Lob City" in the Pacific division.
Dwight Howard is still unsure if he wants to leave for a large market team or stay and the Magic find themselves struggling at times.
The Bulls and reigning MVP Derrick Rose sit atop the east yet have fallen to the Heat already and still look to be missing a piece to the puzzle.
With the way the season has gone on thus far, many see the Oklahoma City Thunder led by Kevin Durant and Bryan Westbrook squaring off against the Miami Heat's big three in this years NBA championship.
Let us not forget about the intoxicating story of the rise of Jeremy Lin.
A player cut by three teams in the past two years found a home in the big apple, patiently waiting for his chance to shock the world with his talents as a point guard.
A true story of resiliency and determination to prove his worth, Lin became only the second player in NBA history to average 25 points and seven assists s game in his first five starts.
What started as a heart-warming story has become an international phenomena stretching to the far east side of Asia as the Harvard graduate and first Taiwanese American athlete to achieve global status.
Lin continues to add to his game and now has a healthy duo of All Stars in Amari Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony to distribute the ball to.
The mecca of basketball, New York has won 8 of their last 10 games with Lin as the starting point guard leading into All Star weekend. The Knicks are poised to make the playoffs and continue their climb up the eastern conference standings thanks in large part to an undrafted player cut by two teams and deemed inadequate for NBA standards.
With the all star game fast approaching the stars will aline in Orlando, and the basketball world will be rocking with even more buzz and media coverage.
Mission Accomplished for the NBA right?
Wrong, at the end of the day, the NFL, the Superbowl rematch of 2007 between the Patriots and Giants, where Peyton Manning will end his legacy and Tim Tebow are still the most coveted and reel in the bigger revenues.
As fans though we sit at the edge of our seat, draped in our favorite players gear, with our popcorn in hand anticipating the buzzer beater that will propel our team to glory.
One can hope that the lockout has brought us that much closer to those glory days of Magic, Bird and Jordan.
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