Kobe vs. LeBron: Too Good to Be True

The possibility was in the back of everyone's mind when training camp started back in October.

It gained steam throughout the course of the regular season as both teams steamrolled through the competition en route to the No. 1 seed in their respective conference.

By the end of the first round of the playoffs, it was almost a foregone conclusion: Kobe Bryant and LeBron James will meet in the NBA Finals. The NBA was going to get to showcase the two best players on the planet going head-to-head for the biggest prize in basketball on the biggest stage. As a diehard NBA fan, this scenario would have been a dream come true.

Well, a funny thing happened on the way to the Finals. Orlando climbed on Superman's back and stopped the "L" Train dead in his tracks. Now, unless the Cavs can somehow achieve the near impossible and come back from a 3-1 deficit, the possibility of a "Dream Finals" for the NBA will have to wait.

And wait, and wait, and wait.

That's because in the history of the NBA, an opportunity like this only comes around once in a generation, if that.

Think about it, how many times in NBA history have two of the top 10 players of all-time met in the NBA Finals with both players in their prime?

I went back and counted. You know how many matchups I could find? Four: Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird. Dr. J. vs. Magic. Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain. Bill Russell vs. Jerry West/Elgin Baylor.

Now, all of these matchups happened more than once, so it has actually happened more than four times, but it illustrates my point perfectly. For whatever reason, the best of the best almost never meet in the NBA Finals. It's been 22 years since it last happened, and who know when it'll happen again.

Try and find another example, and remember the criteria: both players have to be in their prime. You can't do it.

Michael Jordan and Magic are obviously both top 10 players in NBA history, but when they met in the '91 Finals, neither was in his prime. Magic was playing in his last NBA Finals, Jordan in his first. Even if you consider that to be the beginning of Jordan's prime, Magic, for as great as he still was at that time, was still nowhere near his. It was more of a passing the torch kind of series than a slugfest between two heavyweights at their best.

There are plenty of other close, but no cigar matchups:

Jordan vs. Karl Malone in '97 and '98: The Mailman was great, but he's not in my top 10.

Magic vs. Isiah Thomas in '88 and '89: Same goes for Zeke.

Hakeem Olajuwon vs. Shaquille O'Neal in '95: Hakeem is borderline top 10 to begin with, and Shaq in Orlando wasn't Shaq in his prime, as hard as that is to believe.

I could go on and name the best players from every NBA Finals and explain why it doesn't make the list, but you get the point. The NBA Finals will always feature NBA legends. After all, playing in the Finals is part of what makes them legends. But rarely do the stars align so perfectly that two of the greatest players to ever play will get the opportunity to go head-to-head for the biggest prize in basketball.

And that's what's so disappointing about seeing the Cavs in a 3-1 hole. A week ago, we were on the verge of seeing two of the greatest players to ever play meet in a once-in-a-lifetime NBA Finals. Now, with the window to Kobe's prime slowly closing, we may have missed our first chance in over 20 years to see something truly special.

Make no mistake, Orlando deserves to be up in this series. In fact, it took one of the greatest shots of the decade to keep the Magic from sweeping Cleveland. They deserve to play in the NBA Finals this year if they can hold on. They have just as much of a chance to win the title as Los Angeles or Denver.

But as basketball fans, we deserve something, too. We deserve the privilege of watching Kobe and LeBron battle it out for the undisputed title of "best player on the planet."

I admire how well Orlando has played this entire series, and I truly am impressed with how they've handled, what I thought, was a superior Cleveland team.

But if NBA Finals start next week and Orlando is representing the Eastern Conference, you better believe that as a diehard NBA fan I'll have some resentment towards the Magic knowing that they represent the one thing that prevented my dream NBA Finals.

Kobe vs LeBron. I knew it was too good to be true.