Perhaps the most misleading barometer in sports is the “beaten- to-death” homage given to stats. Somebody in the pundit department suggested that better stats makes the better ballplayer. James over Kobe? No way!! Chamberlain over Russell? No way. Plum over Unitas? No way. Tyson over Ali? No way.

Of course, if you just want him to be the best by billboard proclamation, have at it. All of the lip gloss in the world won’t hide the fact that by hook or crook, you want James to be the face of the NBA, deserving or not. If that is the case, just do it. For the record, he is not the best basketball player in the NBA.

Hurry back, Kobe, and do your thing.

It would take some combination of POR or SA losing more than half of their remaining games and .600+ ball by NO, MEM, and HOU(all sub .600 teams) to make the playoff picture even more chaotic.

A western conference division champ might have to host the Spurs. 1st round nightmare, thy name is Duncan.

At the rate they’re winning, either Denver or Utah will take the division crown and at least the #2 seed; the runner-up would have the #4 seed. One will avoid the #1(or #2 if they overtake LA) seed until the conference finals; the other will not, assuming home court advantage holds for all teams.

Bottom-line, maybe the additional playoff gate revenue doesn’t amount to enough to offset the cost of additional luxury tax payments. However, one fanbase is going to question ownership’s committment to winning for not keeping a Ronnie Brewer(Utah), or adding a Drew Gooden(Denver) if they don’t win it all.

http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2010/02/22/what-it-means-as-we-welcome-back-kobe/

Zach (Chicago)
Why do people keep writing off the Bulls for the Lebron sweepstakes? They can offer a max contract & Chicago is a very desirable place to be both market wise and talent wise.

Chris Sheridan
Miami: Warm in January.New York: Never sleeps.Chicago: Bitterly cold, have to walk past Michael Jordan’s statue on the way to work.I will say this though: If Kobe Bryant continues to say no to the extension the Lakers are offering him, and if Phil Jackson starts to talk as though he’s leaving, Chicago comes onto the rdar in a big, big way. Remember, when Kobe was trying to force a trade two and a half years ago, the Bulls were the team working most diligently to get him — right up until two days before the season-opener.

I can compare it to the ’94-’95 Lake Show team we discussed her a few months back: success when no one’s expecting much makes for a fun time for the fans. This time off for Kobe reminded me of that season.

Now that this in-season mini-vacation from the pressures of all the high expectations is about to end, I’ll admit that it’s been fun watching the other guys play well in his absence.

Vacation’s over – now let’s hope the guys get down to the business of prepping for another run into June.

My suggested solution is simple. If there’s going to be a dunk contest, open the dunk contest up for everyone (NBA, D-League, amateurs, insanely tall Scotsmen, etc). People submit audition tapes and the league selects the top eight. Then it’s a straight up 2 dunks each, three rounds halving the field each time, and let viewers vote on the winners. Basically a dunking American Idol. Who wouldn’t watch that?