NBA Finals Game 6: A Random Review

You know those split-screen commercials for the NBA where the players say that there are a lot of different emotions that you feel at the end of the season? That's how I feel right now. I've had 24 hours to try to come to terms with the fact that there is no NBA basketball for another five months and I'm still in denial. I feel like I should be getting geared up for Game 7 instead of eulogizing the 2007-08 season.

The biggest problem is that I've got a lot of random thoughts that I still feel like I need to get off my chest, but now that the season is over, I only have one chance to get them all out. I hate to be completely random, but it worked for K.G. in his interview with Michelle Tafoya, so I'll give it a shot. In honor of the Celtics clinching in six games, here are six random thoughts about the NBA finals.

1. Did you see the aforementioned Michelle Tafoya interview after Game 6?

Words cannot describe the interview. It really just needs to be viewed. I used to think that K.G.'s uber-intensity was an act, but now I'm convinced that he is actually a crazy person. In a two-minute span, he teared up, screamed at the rafters, swore uncontrollably for 15 seconds, hugged a bystander, hit on Michelle Tafoya, rambled on some more, then collapsed into Bill Russell's arms. Wow. If by saying, "I'm certified" at the end of that clip is his admission that he is certifiably insane, I can't argue.

2. One more K.G. thought. The universal opinion on K.G. is that he's such a great guy and such a great competitor. Yet all he did was whine last year that his situation needs to improve or else. Minnesota obliged and improved his situation by making him the final piece to a championship puzzle and everyone loves him for it.

Meanwhile, during that same span, Kobe Bryant whines that his situation needs to improve, the Lakers trade for Pau Gasol and improve it for him, Kobe changes his attitude and his style of play soon after, and everybody hates him for it.

Let's say that you are a fan of a certain team and there are two scenarios on the table, which would you rather see? Scenario A: Your star player complains quietly that the he wants to win a ring but this team sucks, so said star player gets traded and wins a ring for a different team. Scenario B: Your star player complains very publically that he wants to win a ring but this team sucks, but because he was so vocal the front office was forced to make a move which in turn set the team up for success for years to come.

There isn't a fan base out there that would choose Scenario A. Sure, in Scenario B you have to deal with the embarrassment of your favorite team airing its dirty laundry for the entire world to see, but once it's all said and done you get to keep your superstar and you get to compete for titles.

Maybe Kobe didn't handle the situation ideally, but the bottom line is that because of his comments Mitch Kupchak and Dr. Jerry Buss stopped sitting on their hands made the moves necessary to make the Lakers a championship contender for the next several years. As a Laker fan, I'll take a few months of bad publicity over a few years of watching a 20-win team in a heartbeat.

3. Enough Kobe vs. Jordan talk already. I've used this space countless times to sing the praises of Kobe Bean Bryant over the years, but even I think mentioning Kobe in the same breath as Jordan was absurd. I think, when it's all said and done, the most glaring negatives surrounding Kobe's career will be the fact that he disappeared when his team needed him most.

In Game 7 of the 2006 first round series against the Suns, Kobe inexplicably took three shots in the second half and the Suns went on to handily beat the Lakers 121-91.

In Game 5 of this series, Kobe scored 15 points in the first quarter but only 10 points the rest of the way. He repeated this "feat" in Game 6 by scoring 14 in the first, but only 8 the rest of the way.

Jordan may not be the flawless, mythological basketball creature that lore is sure to turn him into one day, but he was as good as there will ever be. One thing that stood out about Jordan, you could always count on him with his back against the wall. You can't say that about Kobe right now, and I'm beginning to think you will never be able to.

4. I'm all for celebrating after a team wins, but Boston fans need to scale it way back when it comes to celebrating milestone achievements for their teams. After the Celtics won Tuesday night, some fans took to the streets breaking out windows of storefronts.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the poster child for great decision making, but it wasn't that long ago that a woman was killed after police had to shoot beanbags into a crowd of unruly Red Sox fans who had, among other things, tipped over and set fire to a few vehicles. You'd think that maybe after such a sobering incident the fans would have had a little more sense this time around, but apparently not.

I don't want to group every Celtics fan into the same category as the few boneheads who ruin an otherwise good time for everyone, but come on. Any Celtics fan will tell anyone willing to listen that this is their 17th title. It's time to start acting like you've been there before.

5. Congratulations to Paul Pierce on winning Finals MVP. No, really. No more cheap shots, no more questioning him. But an even bigger congratulations to the NBA for not making it a three-way tie for Finals MVP just for the story. You know at some point during the second half of Game 6, some low-level NBA executive was watching Pierce, Ray Allen, and K.G. all pile in shots and thought, "it'd be great if we made all three of them Finals MVP, that'd really make headlines."

It's one thing to reward John Stockton and Karl Malone in their hometown with co-MVP of the All-Star Game, but it's quite another to get sucked into the hype surrounding "the Big Three." Allen and Garnett were both solid in this series, but Paul Pierce was the best player on the floor. Period. He deserved to be the MVP.

6. You know what the worst part of not having a Game 7 is? Not being able to see the opening montage of great NBA finals moments one last time. I want to download this clip to my iPod and carry it around with me everywhere I go and use it as a litmus test any time a stranger wants to talk hoops with me. For example, if someone asks me a question concerning the league, before I answer, I want to pull out my iPod and make him watch that video and gauge his reaction. If watching that clip doesn't bring a smile to his face, he's not a real NBA fan and I don't want to waste my time arguing with someone who isn't a real fan.

Including the sweet opening sequence, overall I thought ABC did a pretty good job covering the series, except for the fact that Mike Breen's microphone volume was about as consistent in this series as Sasha Vujacic. Marc Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy didn't exactly replace Doug Collins are greatest NBA color commentator of all-time, but they did a much better job than Hubie Brown had done the last few years.

And that's that. No more staying up late to watch the West Coast games on the league pass. No more waking up and checking the West standings to see who dropped three spots after being idle. No more lobbying for Kobe for MVP. No more taking satisfaction in the Heat's free-fall from grace. No more blockbuster trades and evaluation process of the teams afterwards. No more NBA basketball until the end of October. As much as it disappoints me, the NBA season is no more.

The NBA ... where all good things must come to an end ... happens.