This column is coming in a little after the fact because a backload of other sports, but better late then never.
Whether you're a basketball fan or just bored because the NHL playoffs are over and the CFL is just starting, you need to be made aware of what you likely missed over the past two months.
Without going into a lengthy discussion about conferences and the various matchups that led to the final showdown between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers I will cut to the chase.
The Lakers were the defending champs from last year and, to be quite honest, the Celtics had a disappointing 2010 regular season with the slow fade of several key veterans, who had collectively destroyed these same Lakers two years ago in the NBA finals.
Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and the Big Ticket Kevin Garnett all saw their production drop off during the grueling schedule - until the real money was on the table. In an admittedly weaker Eastern Division, the Celtics steamrolled through the competition while eliminating the likes of King James and his Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Lakers had a much tougher road in the West facing off against super Canadian and two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash and beat his team on the scoreboard and at one point has his nose so bent and broken that the rugged little point guard was seen twisting it back into place himself during the action packed series.
The Lakers had a shorter bench than most elite teams and relied on a front court of three seven footers in Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and super Spaniard Pao Gasol to rebound and feed the ball to the league's closest clone of Michael Jordan - Kobe Bryant.
With the exception of Jordan's Chicago Bulls and a brief run of success by the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs, it's been either the Celtics or Lakers nearly every year since Wilt Chamberlain wore short shorts.
The NBA final was a fiercely contested affair combining the acrobatics and magical talents of some of the planet's most amazing athletes and the absolute mayhem of a cage fight or the ferocious trenches game CFL contest - all in a game that technically forbids any contact.
When you witness the fluid passing, screens and shot making ability of these NBA wizards you get an appreciation for the sport.
Seven-foot 300-pound giants fly through the air like Chinese gymnasts and battle for rebounds and loose balls like rugby players on stilts. Over the course of the seven game series, the Boston bench looked too deep for the Lakers to contend with. Wrong.
Los Angeles finally won the battle of wills and knocked off the Celtics for the title, but when you take a historical look at the league champs, Boston has typically had the upper hand.
I was on the edge of my easy chair all night long as the lead changed hands a million times until Bryant and company began the celebration. Bryant took the MVP for the playoffs despite a brutal seventh game and slowly creeps closer into the shadows of the greatest champions of all time while winning his fifth title.
Bill Russell led the Celtics to eight straight titles from 1958-59 to '65-'6 and Jordan was Jordan winning six of his own rings over his reign as lord of the hard court. The jury is out as to who claims the right to be called the best of all-time.
The gist of the column is to give the NBA a slice of your sports time and enjoy the exploits of the world's greatest athletes.
