Breaking down the Chris Paul trade aftermath

Two days after the most recent blockbuster trade that shipped Chris Paul from the league-owned New Orleans Hornets to the Los Angeles Clippers, the dust is still settling and some fans and franchises are left unsettled by how this happened. The end result, Chris Paul is now a Clipper, and the NBA office is about as credible as a politician. This deal was absolutely going to get done without a doubt, no matter what. It had to. If not, then David Stern would transform from pariah to parasite.

“Let’s not talk too much about how the sausage was made,” Stern said late Wednesday after the trade sending Paul to the Clippers had been completed.

Of course he doesn't want to focus on that. This is the same butcher who didn't wash he hands before grabbing fistfuls of meat.

Clippers/Hornets trade fiasco is why Stern must go

For the second time in less than a week, a trade that would send point guard Chris Paul from the NBA-owned New Orleans Hornets to Los Angeles has fallen through, and once again, commissioner David Stern is the reason.

Just days after Stern blocked a deal to send CP3 to the Lakers (who were willing to give up Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol in a three-team deal with Houston), the Hornets were once again back at it trying to wheel and deal the soon-to-be free agent, once again finding an interested buyer in the Southland. The Los Angeles Clippers stepped to the plate, working to create a package that would team up Paul with human highlight reel Blake Griffin. Instead, Stern upped the asking price to a point where the Clippers back out, and here we are.

You know something was amiss when the Clippers looked like they might become a contender. David Stern, however, was forced to raise the asking price at the 11th hour from the league-owned Hornets. Part of the controversy over killing the Lakers deal involved the fact that if the Hornets don't trade Paul, he leaves as a free agent after the 2011-12 season with New Orleans receiving zero compensation for his services.

When Stern, at the behest of other NBA owners, vetoed Hornets-Lakers-Rockets trade, he said the deal was nixed for "basketball reasons." As a result, the Commish painted himself and the Hornets into a corner. Stern must now as for a kings ransom and then some for Paul after turning down what was a more than reasonable offer from the Lakers. As a result, the initial offer made by the Clippers was deemed unacceptable, and Stern (yes, a league commissioner now negotiating a trade on behind of the Hornets), upped the anti. In fact, in this story from ESPN.com about the Hornets-Clippers trade, the name of the New Orleans GM isn't even mentioned. Why? Here's why...

At the NBA's direction, sources said, New Orleans was insisting upon the inclusion of both shooting guard Eric Gordon and Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first-round draft choice in addition to former All-Star center Chris Kaman and prospects Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe.

The Clippers found the demands "too steep," according to one source close to the process, even after Paul told the Clippers he would invoke the 2012-13 option in his contract as part of the trade, ensuring that L.A. would have him next to Blake Griffin for at least two seasons.

Just re-read the first four words of that paragraph again:

At the NBA's direction...

This is an atrocity. Fans of both the Lakers and Clippers should be outraged in Los Angeles. Hornets fans must worry whether or not they'll get anything for the lone bright spot since the franchise moved from Charlotte. And the rest of the NBA should be terrified of even attempting a trade now the league is making the "fairness" of trades its business. Teams win and teams lose in trades. It's not the leagues place to attempt to make it "fair" for everyone. And the fact that the NBA must now ask for a new starting five for Chris Paul just to save face after blocking the Lakers trade is a farce.

David Stern should be forced out, not by the 29 league owners he works for, but by the fans. Stern has a responsibility to act in the best interest of the game itself, not the 29 owners who have a loophole into the management of a team with a superstar on the verge of free agency. The commissioner is no longer acting to serve the game or the fans. He has abused the trust of both, and for that, his time at the top of the NBA must come to an end.

Stern is full of it

With more details pouring out about the NBA's blockage of a trade that would send Chris Paul from the league-owned New Orleans Hornets to the mighty mighty Los Angeles Lakers, it's clear David Stern has either lost control or lost his mind. Both explanations are still clearly on the table.

Earlier today, you read about how a blockbuster trade was undone at the league office level. Now NBA Commissioner David Stern has said that this decision is based not upon the fact that the majority of the other 29 NBA owners (aka: the NBA, aka: the owners of the Hornets) didn't want the trade to go through. In fact, now Stern says it's because this deal was not in the best interest of the league-owned franchise. From the NBA:

"It's not true that the owners killed the deal," NBA spokesman Mike Bass said. "The deal was never discussed at the Board of Governors meeting and the league office declined to make the trade for basketball reasons."

Basketball reasons? Oh, please.

NBA blocking trade leaves no winners in its wake

"Somewhere, Chairman Mao is proud of David Stern."
- Brad Williams, comedian & Lakers fan


It's hard to disagree with these sentiments that have engulfed Los Angeles and the NBA realm in a conflagration of disgust and distrust. Less than a few hours after reports of a 3-team trade that would send New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers for Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol, an insurgency of NBA owners forced the hand of league commissioner David Stern to block the trade.

First, a few ground rules:

Understand that David Stern works for the owners, not anyone else. So when he makes a move to block this, it's because he must. His bosses, the other 29 owners, wanted this to happen -- at least a majority of them.

Secondly, this is the biggest problem with a league allowing itself, and thus by proxy it's other owners, to own a team. The New Orleans Hornets are a financial mess and have thus been returned to the custody of the league rather than an owner who can't pay his bills. As a result, feel free to think of the Hornets as owned by Mark Cuban, Jerry Buss, Michael Jordan, Paul Allen, Mickey Arison, and the rest of the NBA owners, each with 1/29th of a piece of the Hornets pie. Now the people in charge of the purse-strings of the organization have direct conflicts of interest as owners of competing teams.

So when David Stern axed the Chris Paul trade, they not only made a bold statement about the truth reign of terror power the league has when it owns one of its teams, but they inevitably hurt the three franchises involved, the Lakers, Hornets and the Houston Rockets.

The letter written by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert sums up exactly where the NBA owners, each owners of the New Orleans Hornets for the time being, are coming from in their rational to block the trade. Some don't want the Lakers to gain a competitive advantage. For others, it's all about the benjamins, baby:

Commissioner,

It would be a travesty to allow the Lakers to acquire Chris Paul in the apparent trade being discussed.

A Mavs fan, rewarded

Dallas Mavericks. World Champions.

Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Did it really happen? As a fan who has rooted for this team since literally before I can remember -- as a toddler who went to games with my dad at Reunion Arena in the late 1980s -- and seeing this thing through always believing and rooting for the Mavericks, last night's 105-95 win over the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals is the ultimate payoff, for myself and all Mavericks fans worldwide.

And when I think about what this means, not only being a lifelong Mavericks fan who grew up in Dallas, I truly believe that this championship, the first for the Dallas Mavericks, is the most meaningful that I've experienced as a fan. And it makes perfect sense.

First of all, it's the fifth championship won by one of my professional teams that I grew up rooting for: the Cowboys, Mavericks, Stars and Rangers.

The Cowboys won three Super Bowls just as I reached sports-consciousness. I had just turned eight years old when Troy Aikman quarterbacked the Cowboys to the first of three titles in four years. The Cowboys greatness became an entitlement to me, as it to some degree has been for fans of America's Team since the 1970s. I couldn't appreciate just how low things had been just four or five years earlier for that franchise when Jerry Jones fired Tom Landry in 1989, and the Cowboys followed with a 1-15 season.

Now as a Cowboys fan who has experienced only one playoff victory since the 1996 season, I'm beginning to understand what other NFL fans face year in and year out. Apparently the Super Bowl is not our birthright as Dallas Cowboys fans. It's something I didn't quite comprehend growing up.

As for the Dallas Stars Stanley Cup win in 1999, oh, I was excited about it. I wore my Stars jersey to games during the '99 season, painted my face, cheered in Reunion Arena for this newfangled hockey team that had just come to town six years earlier and was originally marketed as "football on ice" to a gridiron-centric sports town. The Stars went back to the Stanley Cup finals the following year, losing the New Jersey Devils, and have advanced to the Conference Finals just once since then, in 2008 when they fell in six games to the Red Wings. But hockey was never on the forefront of my mind. The Stars were a cool novelty compared to the Cowboys, Rangers and Mavericks, all of which had predated my existence in Dallas.

Yes, the Rangers run last fall was magical. I still don't know how it happened. But to some degree, it came out of nowhere, and there is still a sense of being content with just getting to experience a World Series without actually winning it. I loved the Rangers growing up. I enjoyed going to games at the old Arlington Stadium. Hell, I work in baseball now. A Texas Rangers Championship last fall would have been amazing. It's what the long-suffering Rangers fan dreams of.

Except the suffering of a Rangers fan is different than that of a the Mavericks fan. As a Rangers fan, we suffer through mediocrity year in and year out -- up until last year of course. The Rangers' success came out of nowhere. The 2010 Opening Day starter, Scott Feldman, and No. 2 starter, Rich Harden, didn't pitch in the postseason. The Cliff Lee deal? Was anyone expecting that at all? No. Rangers fans slogged through 39 subpar seasons with flashes of success in 1996, '98 and '99, but the thought of winning the World Series was never something to be seriously considered. Yes, Rangers fans suffered, but only through the acceptance of rooting for what appeared -- until last season -- to be a perennial loser. Not until 2010 could Rangers fans experience true pride in their team.

The Pain of Mavericks Fandom
But the suffering of Dallas Mavericks fans is that of a dangling championship that appeared would always elude us. Dallas reached the Western Conference Finals in the late 80s, falling to the mighty Los Angeles Lakers in a deciding seventh game. Eventually the Mavericks of Mark Aguire and Rolondo Blackman faded, and the Dallas NBA franchise became basketball bottom-feeders, putting together 11-win and 13-win seasons in consecutive years in the early 90s.

That is where I came into sports-consciousness with the Mavericks. My dad took me to games to root for the Mavericks. I got to see Jamal Mashburn and Jimmy Jackson join a rookie named Jason Kidd to form what was supposed to be the trio to propel the Mavericks to compete for relevance in the NBA. Triple-J had arrived, but nothing ever game from it. Eventually the three left or were sent away from Dallas. Jimmy Jackson was part of the trade to bring Shawn Bradley to Dallas from New Jersey. Jason Kidd was shipped to Phoenix for a young gun out of Wisconsin named Michael Finley.

And still I watched as this ragtag basketball team trudged through games at Reunion Arena, all the while cheering them on with no real expectation of success. Heck, sometimes I even got to see them win. A game. But win anything of significance? Only once.

My dad took me to Reunion Arena on March 12, 1998, to see Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, the defending NBA Champions. The biggest star in the NBA was coming to our neck of the woods. It was like a great national concert tour that was going to make a stop in our little city. Sure, the Mavericks were going to probably get crushed by the two-time defending champs, but who cares.

Then out of nowhere, something completely unexpected happened. We won. Wait, what? The Mavericks beat the Bulls, 104-97. I can still remember standing at the end of a concourse tunnel as the final seconds ticked off the clock. That night, I can still remember calling in to 106.1 Kiss-FM in Dallas to tell Sammy G how "I wanna be like Mike ... FINLEY!" It was the best win in Dallas Mavericks history in my sports-consciousness. I was just two years or three years old when Dallas went to the conference finals against LA in the 80s. But this win over the Bulls was the ultimate win.

The win over Chicago was so big that the Mavericks put out a VHS of the game, "Unforgetta-Bull: Mavericks shock Bulls 104-97 in OT" and a copy of that tape sits somewhere in my parents house.

Little did I know this win, a win that seemingly would never be surpassed in the annals of Dallas Mavericks history, would pale in comparison the ride we as Mavericks fans were about to take.

In the summer of 1998, just weeks after the Chicago Bulls -- the same team that lost to lowly Dallas in March -- claimed their third straight NBA Championship, that miserable Dallas franchise made a draft day trade for some German teenager that would forever alter how people in the Metroplex and around the world would view this organization.

Dirk Nowitzki.

If you doubted him before, his greatness is now, FINALLY, validated with the label of NBA Champion. But I'm jumping ahead in the story. (Sorry, I still can't believe it happened.)

Building For Success
Dirk's emergence combined with Mark Cuban's purchase of the franchise in January of 2000 kick-started what would become the most successful stretch in franchise history. And short of Tom Landry's 20 consecutive winning seasons, it's the most successful stretch for any Dallas-area franchise ever.

Dallas made the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade after the 2001 season and met the Utah Jazz in the first round. John Stockton and Karl Malone, two Hall of Famers, taking on the little Mavericks' "Big Three" of Michael Finley, Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki ... in that order. And when we say "Big Three" it was a big three for Dallas, for a franchise that had tried to assemble it's last "Big Three" with the Triple-J boys of the mid-90s. But it wasn't a true Big Three compared to what we see today with Miami. It wasn't three players who could conceivably win a championship -- and at the time, I think we all knew that but were still happy to root for them.

Utah quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead in a then-best-of-five first round series against Dallas as the series shifted to Reunion Arena for Game 3, and if necessary Game 4. The Mavericks won game three. They squeaked by in Game 4, I want to say 94-93, but I can't remember and don't feel like googling. The series was going back to Utah for Game 5. Wow, so this is what playoff basketball is like?

I was experiencing it for the first time in my life. Playoff basketball was new to me. I'd never had a team to root for, never had a dog in the fight until now.

And facing a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter of a deciding Game 5 in Utah, the Dallas Mavericks led by Michael Finley and Steve Nash with help from Dirk Nowitzki came charging back to eliminate the Jazz. At that time, I was convinced Calvin Booth was going to forever hold a place in Dallas Mavericks lore ... and maybe because that playoff series win was the first to start this amazing run, perhaps he does. (What a crazy-ass realization.)

Can't Settle For Satisfactory
Dallas started a string of 11-straight 50-win seasons, and with each year, Mavericks fans -- now fully embracing our new "Mavs fans" persona became less and less enthralled with playoff participation and more and more focused on achieving success. The mindset shift, I feel, came in the 2003 postseason. Dallas began the playoffs with a first-round series (now in best-of-seven format) against the Portland Trailblazers. The Mavericks Mavs jumped out to a 3-0 series lead before dropping the next three games as the Blazers forced Game 7. Dallas prevailed, advancing to the next round.

Enter the Sacramento Kings. Dallas and Sacramento began a seven-game series that highlighted what would be my final few weeks of high school. In one of the first two games of the series in Dallas, the score was 44-40 Dallas after the first QUARTER. By halftime, the high-scoring blitz saw the Mavs lead, 83-80. And these numbers are coming from memory. I know I have these numbers right. In fairness, I don't remember the final score of that game. I'm not even sure if we won that high-scoring affair. I just know the series was a lights-out shootout. Chris Webber went down with a knee injury early in the series, and Dallas and Sacramento eventually found themselves in Game 7 in Dallas, on the exact same night as my senior stinkin' prom.

My little brother Matthew and a friend went to Game 7, getting to witness the Mavericks advance to the Wester Conference Finals against the in-state rival San Antonio Spurs. Meanwhile, I was at prom with my high school girlfriend. There were no smart phones. There was no "checking the score" to see how the game was going. At some point, someone made an announcement that Dallas won, but I never saw a second of the game. The night, for me, was highlighted when I got back to my then-girlfriend's house (no, this isn't going where you think it is ... remember, I'm a sports nut, so my focus was not where other high school seniors' focus would be after prom). My girlfriend's dad was at the door waiting for us, and he handed me a printout of the post-game story detailing Dallas' success. That, to me, was awesome on his part, and is in fact my highlight memory from senior prom.

Dallas stole Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals in San Antonio despite only leading for something like 67 seconds of the game, but Dallas shot 49-50 from the free throw line (again, I promise you I'm not looking these numbers up. Someone feel free to google and see what I've missed, but I doubt it's much of anything. In fact, it was Eduardo Najera who missed the first free throw for Dallas before the Mavs made 49 straight in the game.) But Dirk got hurt, and Dallas eventually lost in six games to the eventual champs.

Still, the bar had been raised. Simply participating in the playoffs was no longer satisfactory. Now, we want--, no, we need to win it all. Easier said than done, as we would find out.

That was after the 2003 season. It wouldn't be for another eight seasons that the Mavericks would finally achieve this dream. A new type of suffering was about to begin.

Struggling With Success
Dallas continued to win at least 50 games each year, continued to make the playoffs, but continued to fall short of its ultimate goal. The Mavs showed promising signs. There was a series win over Houston in 2005 after Dallas trailed 0-2, losing the first two games at home. There was a great Game 7 in San Antonio to beat the arch-nemesis Spurs in 2006 to advance to the Conference Finals against MVP Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns. Six games later, Dirk helped elevate Dallas to a place it had never been: the NBA Finals.

We all know what happened in 2006. And as much as last night is revenge, 2006 will always hurt. The series was right there. Many Mavs fans will always blame refs, and I can't disagree to strongly based on some of the generous called afforded to Dwayne Wade. Let's just say, I'm glad Bennett Salvatore didn't make an appearance in the 2011 finals. Still, the refs didn't make Josh Howard call timeout after Dwayne Wade's first free throw, not his second, in the pivotal Game 5 (granted, Wade shouldn't have been on the line, but I digress). And no one was complaining about the officiating when Dallas was leading the Heat, 2-games-to-none and up by 13 points with 6:28 left in Game 3.

The next year, Dallas got off to a rough start, beginning 2006-07 with four straight losses before going on to an NBA-best 67-win season, but the first-round loss to Golden State was a kick to the groin of our playoff hopes. Former head coach Don Nelson guided the Golden State Warriors to a six-game series win, becoming the first 8-seed to top a 1-seed in the first round since the NBA went to a best-of-seven first round format. That team was supposed to redeem the '06 Finals collapse. Instead, it was an even bigger failure. As Mavs fans, it was devastating.

Head Coach Avery Johson was jettisoned after the 2008 season and a first-round loss to Chris Paul, David West, Tyson Chandler, and the New Orleans Hornets. Dallas had traded young point guard Devon Harris for aging veteran Jason Kidd. It was a move I didn't understand. It was a move I blasted Mark Cuban for saying he would do it again if given the chance to do it over. It was a move that didn't payoff, and that playoff failure cost Johnson, a former NBA Coach of the Year, his job.

In Avery's goodbye press conference, he noted five things that a championship-caliber team needed to have. At the time, it seemed like he was making excuses for coming up short. But retroactively, it seems he was right, because it's those five things that Dallas put together three years later to achieve ultimate glory.

Avery noted that championship teams need:
1. A superstar player
2. Strong center position
3. Guard that can dribble-drive, get to the free throw line
4. Depth on bench
5. Experience on coaching staff

Well doesn't that sound like the 2011 Mavs?
1. Dirk
2. Tyson Chandler and Brendan Haywood
3. Jason Terry, Kidd & Barea
4. See Game 4 of the Lakers series
5. Rick Carlisle.

Yeah, so Avery had it right. Dallas, in fact, didn't have the pieces in place to win in 2008. But it's not like Rick Carlisle found the magic formula right out of the gate. Fans were calling for his head after last season's first-round exit to the seventh-seeded Spurs. The Mavs lost in the first round for three times in the last four seasons. Maybe that window that Dallas flung open with Dirk's and-one against Manu Ginobili in Game 7 in San Antonio in 2006 was slamming shut before our eyes.

50 Redundant Wins
Dallas was rocking and rolling to start the 2010-11 season. There were plenty of big wins, and the Mavs were one of the NBA's best teams before injuries to Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler proved to be significant setbacks, leading to a six-game losing streak, the longest since Mark Cuban bought the team, but merely "just another week" by 1990s franchise standards.

In November, the Mavs had a great come-from-behind win over the Detroit Pistons, at which time I wrote this blog about the greatness of Dirk and what we as Mavs fans were fortunate enough to witness. At the time I wrote it with the hope that one day he would win at title but knowing the reality didn't look too good. I finished the post by saying:

There will at some point come a time when he no longer suits up for the Mavs. I hope it's not for a while, because as he displayed on Tuesday night against Detroit, he is still very much capable of dominating a game in the NBA. But when his time as a Maverick is done, with a ring or not, he will be looked back at as one of the greatest sports figures the DFW metropplex has ever seen. He'll be up there with Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Nolan Ryan. He's one ring away from immortality status as far as the rest of the NBA is concerned, but here in Dallas, let's hope his team's fans know better than that.

He's already achieved it.

It feels so much better knowing his legacy will not be accompanied with the Stockton/Malone-esque "greatest to never win a championship" label.

Dirk and Mavs finished the 2010-11 season is somewhat of a slump, although it's hard to remember now. Dallas was 0-8 against playoff teams to finish the season and had lost out on the second seed to the Los Angeles Lakers, setting up a second-round match up with LA holding home court.

Bracing For Another Disappointment
There was no indication this would be a special playoff run at the time the post-season began. Dallas started off with two wins against Portland at home before dropping Game 3 on the road. Nevertheless, the Mavs had a 2-1 series lead with home court in the series, but was facing a Portland team that many predicted to upset Dallas in the first round (little did we know it would be the other Texas playoff team, San Antonio, that would suffer a first-round exit at the hands of Memphis). Then, the moment Mavs fans have sadly become accustomed to occurred.

Dallas led by 23 points against the Blazers when Brandon Roy had a career performance, scoring 24 points and leading a shocking comeback to tie the series, 2-2. If the window of opportunity for Dallas to win a championship was still open at this point, it wasn't by much. Buckle up, because this was the first-round upset everyone was project about to happen. Dallas was cooked.

But then, something different happened. Something even the most diehard of Mavs fans might have been cringingly expecting. Dallas didn't complete the collapse. Instead, they bounced back, winning Game 5 and going into Portland to win their first road playoff game in the last 10 years (okay, that stat is not accurate, but it sure felt like it before the LA/OKC/Heat series, right?). Dallas closed out the series in six games but would have an even bigger task waiting for them in the next round.

Defeating Goliath
The two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers earned home court by winning two of three games against the Mavs during the regular season. Kobe Bryant is an assassin with a basketball, and his supporting cast is nothing to scoff at. He has former, current and future All-Stars all around him along with the greatest coach in NBA history, Phil Jackson, on the bench to guide this basketball juggernaut against the Mavericks who barely edged the Blazers in the first round.

Dallas and Los Angeles went down the final minute with the game still in doubt, but Dirk made the plays when it mattered and Kobe clanged out what could have been the game-winning three as time expired. Dallas escaped LA with a Game 1 win, 96-94, and captured home court. Good. Now Dallas could just take care of business at home and win the series. Wasn't that what we all were thinking?

If you were thinking Dallas would sweep, you're either A. mentally challenged, or B. a LIAR! (and you've already read all this, so I doubt you're not all there in the head).

But that's what Dallas did, including an all-out blitz in the Game 4 clincher that was marred by flagrant fouls from Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum. I thought J.J. Barea might have died that day. How he survived that cheap shot from Bynum, let alone was still able to play in that game, heck, in these playoffs, was amazing. If anyone was going to question the collective toughness of Dallas anymore, just look at that play. The Mavs were going to take every shot put on them, both legitimate within the game and otherwise, get back up and continue to go to work. With a defeat of the Lakers, Dallas had a clear path to the finals basket with San Antonio already out of the picture. A return to the Finals was the light at the end of the tunnel, and we could clearly see it.

Handling The Little Brother
Dallas faced the new young guns of the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder. If you really think about it, the Thunder is exactly where Dallas was in 2003, a young team finding itself on the brink of the Finals for the first time. Maybe the lights were too bright for them on that stage, or perhaps Dallas simply willed themselves past OKC. Whatever had happened in that series prior to Game 4, however, didn't matter.

The Mavs trailed by 15 points with five minutes to play. Oklahoma City was sending the series back to Dallas tied, 2-2. The Mavs would have three games, including two at home, to win two more to advance to the NBA Finals. Not a bad position to be in at all. But that wasn't good enough for these Mavs. Dirk put Dallas on his back, the Mavs ended the game on a 17-2 run to force overtime, where they went on to part the clouds with a 112-104 win, sending the series back to Dallas 3-1, and the Mavs closed it out in front of their fans to advance to the NBA Finals.

But when Dallas was awarded the Western Conference Finals trophy, they didn't celebrate. Instead, Dirk walked off the stage, headed to the locker room. His teammates saw this and followed. This was not the trophy they came for. There was still work to be done. They have one of these trophies... and its meaning is hollow after how 2006 ended. The tone was set. Dallas was going back to the Finals on a mission.

A Familiar Foe
If Mavs fans dreamed of making a run to the Finals as the 2010-11 season began, it might have been wise to anticipate a rematch with Miami after they assembled their three-headed monster in the offseason. LeBron James was the big national story, but to Dallasites, Dwayne Wade was the true enemy. Wade, not LeBron, took what we were so close to capturing in 2006. Wade, not LeBron, said Dirk wasn't the leader Dallas needed him to be after that series. Wade, not LeBrong James is who Dallas needed revenge against. But beating the self-proclaimed King in the process, that's just icing on the cupcake.

Wade quickly reminded Mavs fans of what they were up against in 2006, pushing the Heat to wins in Games 1 and 3. The Mavs had a chance to win Game 3, but Dirk's shot, his flamingo one-footed fadeaway didn't fall -- perhaps for the first time ever? -- and Miami led the NBA Finals, 2-1. The Mavs would need to win three of the next four games if they were going to validate the previous decade's streak of 50-win seasons and the franchise's entire existence with a championship.

Dirk's flu game in Game 4, followed by an offensive outburst for the first time in these Finals in Game 5 put the Mavs on the brink, one win away from a title for the first time ever.

Last night, June 12, 2011, the Dallas Mavericks finished the job. Dirk bounced back from a 1-for-12 first half in which Jason Terry dragged the Mavericks kicking and screaming to an improbable 60-57 halftime lead. The Big German shook off the cobwebs after the break for 18 second half points to achieve him dream, to help us as Mavs fans achieve a dream of all of ours. There's no need to go into overdrive on last night's Xs and Os for why Dallas won, but it was so very fitting that the one Mavericks aside from Dirk who made the Championship-clinching victory possible was the same Maverick who took so much heat - no pun intended - since his arrival in Dallas simply because, frankly, he wasn't Steve Nash. Jason Eugene Terry, the JET, finally took flight to new height, scoring a game-high 27 points as the Mavericks etched themselves into immortality as NBA Champions.

Meaning
Forever the names of these Mavericks players will hold a special place in the heart of all Mavs fans. Dirk Nowitzki would have been remembered as the greatest Mav ever regardless. Now, it's just got a nicer ring to it (that time, yes, pun intended). Jason Terry is also now a Maverick-immortal. And the names of Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd, J.J. Barea, Shawn Marion, DeShawn Stevenson, Brendan Haywood, Peja Stojakovic, Brian Cardinal, Corey Brewer, Ian Mahinmi, and even Caron Butler along with head coach Rick Carlisle, this will forever be the group that got it done for Dallas. These are the ones who brought Larry O'Brien to Dallas. Their legacy, in our eyes as Mavs fans, is forever sealed. Much in the way I remembered Calvin Booth's contributions as a young Dallas team beat the veteran-laden Jazz in 2001 to begin this incredible journey, I will remember these players who came along a decade later for finishing the job.

The Dallas Mavericks are NBA Champions. If it means suffering through the types of 11- and 13-win seasons we had to endure in the early 90s, so be it. Because we will forever be able to look the rafters of the American Airlines Center to remember what was accomplished this year.

Long before Mark Cuban's marketing team coined the phrase, I was a Mavs fan for life. And today, I find myself living a dream.

Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks, the 2011 NBA Champions, and thank you for rewarding our loyalties with your demonstration of class, dignity, and above all else, a title. This season will live into eternity.

Roddy inspiring memories of Finley

I remember back to a crazy 1998 night in Reunion Arena when the lowly, pre-Cuban Dallas Mavericks shocked the world and Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls, 104-97, in front of the largest crowd in the history of the arena. That night a young guard still in his infancy with the Mavericks, Michael Finley, led the way. His amazing quickness, elite athleticism and dynamic scoring ability resulted in 32 points in the stunning upset.

There was no Steve Nash or Dirk Nowitzki. Before the "Big Three", Finley stood alone as The One, the clear cornerstone of the Dallas franchise. Coupled with the future league MVPs Nash and Nowitzki, he helped lead the Mavs to a decade of success. And while he hasn't been a part of the organization since 2004, the Mavs haven't had a player with the abilities of No. 4 since.

Until last night? It's entirely possible.

Rookie guard Rodrigue Beaubois continued displaying his hot hand, dropping 40 points for Dallas in a runaway win over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night, 111-90, in Oakland. And while Beaubois isn't a physical carbon-copy of Finley, standing seven inches shorter and weighing more than 50 pounds less, if you squint your eyes watching Beaubois, you'll see more than a hint of Finley.

Obviously Dirk is the franchise player, the greatest Maverick ever, and more important to any other player in terms of the success of this franchise for the next five years, at least. But it certainly can't hurt to have someone like Roddy B emerging from the depths of the bench as a surprise Tonto to Dirk's Lone Ranger act.

Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Caron Butler and Shawn Marrion are now all key cogs in this machine, but since the club said goodbye to Marquise Daniels, traded away Devin Harris for Kidd during the 2007-08 season, and sent Josh Howard to Washington earlier this season, it's been fair to wonder about the youth of this franchise.

Roddy the rookie is the youth movement for this franchise. And while head coach Rick Carlisle now has to figure out where to find more minutes for the youngster, who is more deserving with each performance, it's nice to see someone other than J.J. Barea who isn't already carrying an NBA AARP card.

Here's the current Mavericks 2009-10 roster by age:

Team Roster
NO.	NAME	POS	AGE	HT	WT	COLLEGE	2009 - 2010 SALARY
3	Rodrigue Beaubois	G	22	6-0	170		$1,075,440
11	Jose Juan Barea	PG	25	6-0	175	Northeastern	$1,657,500
92	DeShawn Stevenson	SG	28	6-5	218		$3,883,929
13	Matt Carroll	SG	29	6-6	212	Notre Dame	$4,700,000
4	Caron Butler	SF	30	6-7	228	Connecticut	$9,780,970
33	Brendan Haywood	C	30	7-0	263	North Carolina	$6,000,000
0	Shawn Marion	SF	31	6-7	228	UNLV	$6,635,068
41	Dirk Nowitzki	PF	31	7-0	245		$19,795,714
31	Jason Terry	SG	32	6-2	180	Arizona	$9,075,000
14	Eduardo Najera	PF	33	6-8	235	Oklahoma	$3,000,000
7	Tim Thomas	PF	33	6-10	240	Villanova	$825,497
25	Erick Dampier	C	34	6-11	265	Mississippi State	$12,115,500
2	Jason Kidd	PG	37	6-4	210	California	$8,100,000

All-Star Game

A few quick thoughts in the recent aftermath of an All-Star night that was representative of the size and pride of Texas:

- With more than 108,000 packed into Cowboys Stadium, Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban set the attendance record they were after. And by set, I mean SMASH. As Dirk said before the game: everything's bigger in Texas.

- Anyone else sick of Dwyane Wade collecting trophies in Dallas? He hoisted the O'Brien Trophy in 2006 at the American Airlines Center, and tonight took home hardware as the All-Star Game MVP.

- The West had a chance to win with 5 seconds left, but Carmelo Anthony's 3-point look suffered from blurry vision. Gotta believe that Denver coach George Karl wanted his guy to get that last shot rather than drawing up something for Dirk to attempt a game-winning three. Seriously, who would you rather have attempting a game-winner? Carmelo is a great player, a rightful All-Star, but Dirk should have been the one taking that shot. They never even tried to get him the ball.

- As pathetic a showing there was for the All-Star Saturday Night festivities, that's truly how grand tonight was. Jerry Jones sure knows how to throw a party. I wonder what that place will be like a year from now when Cowboys Stadium hosts Super Bowl XLV.

- Kudos to Mavs owner Mark Cuban for sticking to his guns of only wanting to host an All-Star game if he could get a seat for all the Mavs fans. Mission accomplished. With room for 108,713 to pack Cowboys Stadium, Cuban was able to host any and all Mavericks season ticket holders who wanted to get a seat. No special lottery or drawings necessary. As a North Texas sports fan, it's hard to picture any city with a pair of owners as great at Cuban and Jones.

Dirk's Weekend

The NBA's All-Star Game takes place at the Dallas Cowboys palace later this evening. Yet in a North Texas region so devout about its football, this weekend will most likely end up being a celebration of the region's greater NBA player.

Dirk Nowitzki is the defacto host of the All-Star game, the lone Mavericks representative on the Western Conference roster (before Jason Kidd replaced an injured Kobe Bryant). And it's been giving Mavs Maniacs and Dallasites and opportunity to reflect on his journey from Germany to the elites of the NBA.

Even Kobe Bryant thinks Dirk will be the MVP tonight.

It's Dirk's party. Let the fun begin.

All-Star Saturday Night Thoughts

It's "half time" at the All-Star Saturday Night festivities, and it seems there is a 1-to-1 ratio of empty seats to filled ones. Rest assured that is a generous estimate.

Perhaps the most impressive moment of the evening was seeing Steve Nash win the skills competition here in Dallas after helping to light the Olympic cauldron in Vancouver last night.

The North Texas crowd enjoyed seeing Nash take the skills challenge as well as seeing the Dirk-led Texas team win the Shooting Stars contest, with the 9-time All-Star hitting the winning half-court shot in his home building.

The Three Point Shooting contest and Slam Dunk are still on deck. But at least a painful performance by Erykah Badu is behind us.

I'm not sure if the empty seats are more a representation of North Texas non-football apathy, the lack of excitement about All-Star Saturday, or just that the city is still recovering from 12.5 inches of snow on Thursday. Either way, there may be 10,000 to 12,000 people here tonight. It'll take about 70,000 more for the type of crowd Mark Cuban and Jerry Jones would like to see at the actual All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium.

Dunk Contest Disappointment

Tonight the NBA will hold its Dunk Contest as part of the All-Star Weekend festivities. With the DFW metroplex still melting off the 12.5 inches of snow from Thursday, it's hard to believe this dunk contest can be the fire that heats things up. The participants are middle of the pack at best. And as for the dunks, it's been pretty bland in recent years.

Oh, sure, people like to ooh and aah over Dwight Howard's ability to throw (not dunk) a ball through the hoop while wearing a cape, but I felt like someone from outside the modeling world watching Derek Zoolander. ONE LOOK!

Not much stands out these days. And the only dunking LeBron James is interested in involves a competition for a Big Mac -- a funny commercial but it'd be nice to see some of those moves in the actual official dunk contest.

Don't expect anything to bring you out of your seat tonight. The underwhelming competition is the only "slam dunk" predictable for tonight. The last time the NBA held the All-Star game in Dallas, Spud Webb won the Dunk Contest, all 5-foot-7 of him. Don't expect another Spud of a contest in Dallas, just another dud of a hollowed out shell of what used to be a great spectacle of basketball excitement.

The "King" to abdicate 23

The NBA's "King" is not abdicating his thrown but his jersey number. Last night Cleveland's LeBron James announced he will switch his uniform number - from 23 to 6 - next season as a tribute to NBA legend Michael Jordan, who according to LeBron was a pioneer for guys like him.

"I feel like no NBA player should wear 23. I'm starting a petition, and I've got to get everyone in the NBA to sign it. Now, if I'm not going to wear No. 23, then nobody else should be able to wear it."

- LeBron James on ESPN.com

There are so many things wrong with this, I'm not quite sure where to start. First, let me get one idea out of the way. A number change could very easily go hand-in-hand with a uniform change, so when LeBron does debut his #6 jersey in 2010, let's see what city is across the front of the jersey. Just keep that in mind as we go through the rest of this.

But James' abortion of an idea isn't stupid because he wants to honor MJ. In fact, I like that. I appreciate that LeBron feels that Jordan was such a great player that no one should ever wear #23 again. But that's not for him to decide.

The only other players in this context who have their numbers retired across an entire sport in North America are Wayne Gretzky's #99 in the NHL and Jackie Robinson's #42 in Major League Baseball. Gretzky is more along the lines of an MJ-type, a truly great player who helped put butts in seats all across the league whenever his team came to town. But Jackie Robinson wasn't just a great player. He represents so much more, and for him to have his number retired across an entire sport also represents what he stood for and the significance of his debut in the Major Leagues as the first black man. Breaking the color barrier is something to honor across an entire sport.

Taking off from the free throw line? Not as much.

James was quoted telling ESPN.com that "what Michael Jordan has done for the game has to be recognized some way soon," James said. "There would be no LeBron James, no Kobe Bryant, no Dwyane Wade if there wasn't Michael Jordan first."

So there would be no modern day superstars without MJ? Maybe there would be no one for them to live in the shadow of, but Jordan didn't do anything to help them break in. Jordan went to college where Bryant and James did not, so it's not like he set the tone of making the jump to the NBA at age 18. There were others who did it before LeBron. KG anyone?

LeBron was also quoted calling Jordan a "pioneer" of the game. A pioneer? Maybe for winning titles and selling merchandise. But Jordan didn't boost the NBA the way the rivalry of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird did, catapulting the sports popularity into a prime-time spotlight in the 1980s. Jordan helped, but he wasn't the reason. MJ was a great player. Certainly better and more decorated than LeBron will most likely ever become. But it's not LBJ's responsibility to lead the charge to honor Air Jordan.

No other player in the NBA should feel pressured by the league's golden child to switch their jersey number, and no future NBA players should feel they cannot don #23 because of LeBron's gesture. This isn't George Washington stepping down as a two-term president to set the standard. This is a guy who more than likely would really like to see his #6 uni leapfrog Kobe's #24.

LeBron also went on to say "I feel like no NBA player should wear 23. I'm starting a petition, and I've got to get everyone in the NBA to sign it. Now, if I'm not going to wear No. 23, then nobody else should be able to wear it." Are you kidding me? Just how self-righteous are you? If you're not going to, then no one should?! You know, maybe no one else should ever hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy either based on that logic.

The 12 other players in the NBA currently wearing #23 are most likely doing it because they too grew up watching Jordan, idolizing him, and while they may look themselves in the mirror and think they cannot in good conscious wear #23 out of respect for how good Jordan was, that should be their decision to make unless mandated by the NBA.

LeBron is so concerned with honoring Jordan because Jordan did so much, but there are certainly other NBA figures that have accomplished just as much. It's ironic that James will wear #6, the old number of 11-time NBA Champion Bill Russell. Is it not a slap to the face of Russell or even Julius Erving to say that it's not okay to wear #23 but #6 is fine because LeBron is only 25 and wasn't born when Russell was dominating in Boston?

Michael Jordan was a great player. Maybe he was the best player the NBA has ever seen. But for LeBron to feel that he needs to be the one to initiate a movement is irresponsible and selfish. If you want to switch numbers - or teams - then go ahead and do it. Maybe it's to get your jersey back at the top of the pile in sales. Maybe it's because you feel you need some sort of a fresh start (such as when Kobe switched from 8 to 24), but don't create a crusade out of it because you are too young and irresponsible to remember what true pioneers of sports really accomplished.

Bulls-Celtics: Win by 2?

As the Bulls and Celtics played into a third overtime in Game 6 and a seventh overtime in the series, I realized that even though I was more focused on the Mavericks/Spurs series, as a hoops fan, this series is the most undeniably amazing series ever!

Joakim Noah tapped the ball away from the C's, dibbled the length of the floor, and elevated in the face of Paul Pierce to jam home the winning points and force a deciding Game 7 in this amazing series. Basketball fans across the nation will be clamoring today about how they never want this series to end. To help these fans cope with the finality of a Game 7, I've come up with a great solution.

Just for this series - because getting such a great series is rare, and you never know how the next rounds will play out - the Bulls-Celtics should adopt a similar format to tennis, ping pong or volleyball: must win by two.

Think about it? Chicago and Boston are currently tied at 3-3. Game 7 will be the end of it before one of these teams plays the Orlando Magic in what could not possibly be as entertaining a series as this has been. But what if Game 7 goes into OT, as so many others have this series?

With the exception of Game 3, these games have all been so close, and so perhaps if a team was required to win the series by two games, basketball fans could rejoice as this series continued. While it's not necessarily a practical solution, I don't think anyone would complain about more Bulls-Celtics this season.

Weekend Quickhits

The Cowboys and Steelers are just a few hours of renewing a rivalry between two of the most historic teams in the NFL.  And as I sit on my couch eating my coconut-topped cake donut and small hot chocolate from the place down the street, there's a few thoughts I need to get out from this past week in sports.

+  Watching the USC game last night, did anyone else chuckle at the awkward silence following the back-to-back uniform-induced timeouts to start the game? With Mike Patrick and Todd Blackledge calling the game for ABC/ESPN, and as the referee announced the timeouts (for the home jersey followed by UCLA's voluntary timeout), here's how it went down:

(Flag thrown)

Referee: "Failure to wear required equipment. By the kicking team. That is a violation. That is a charged timeout. The first of the half by USC. Charged timeout, UCLA, their first of the half. Those will run concurrently. 30 second timeout"

Mike Patrick: "Sounds like the O.J. sentencing."

(silence for my count of 7-Mississippi)

+ I wonder if NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wakes up each morning and gets some sort of national security style briefing like the President does, except Bettman's contains a report on who call whose girlfriend a slut. As much as I think the Stars will be better off without Avery, sort of an addition by subtraction, and that's simply based on what everyone in that locker room is saying, I do think this whole league-imposed suspension is a grown-up version of the middle school assistant principle sending a kid to detention for name-calling.

If the Stars really didn't like what he said, they could have suspended him before the league did, but that wasn't going to happen. If Dallas is really serious about moving on without Avery, they should follow the lead of the NFL's Eagles and Buccaneers when those teams deactivated receivers Terrell Owens and Keyshawn Johnson. Both teams followed Super Bowl seasons, and both teams decided that their high-priced headaches weren't worth it. The Stars, coming off a successful season, might just want to get rid of this name caller. Gawsh!

+ Cowboys are playing the Steelers today without Marion Barber and a questionable DeMarcus Ware on a cold, blustery day in Pittsburgh. If weather could ever truly describe a city, today might be the perfect Pittsburgh day. Chance of snow, Wind chill in single digits. And the only people nuts enough to go outside at all today will be the 65,050 at Heinz Field. With a healthy Barber and Ware, the Cowboys could take down Pittsburgh, but without these two Pro Bowlers, could we see the resurrection of the Steel Curtain? The Cowboys offense better find a spark with Tashard Choice or hope that there's a Doomsday revival on the other side of the ball.

+ Oh, Canada! Today the Buffalo Bills are playing their first "home" game in Toronto, the NFL's first ever game in Canada. We saw a Cardinal/49ers regular season game in Mexico a few years ago. Now the NLF is invading the Great White North. I understand playing in Mexico and England, but Canada has the CFL. Grey Cup enthusiasts will be plenty upset aboot these hosers, eh. All three other major pro sports in the US have Canadian-based teams (although technically, I'd argue the NHL is really Canada's league that we're allowed to play in), and now the NFL is beginning it's move to embrace the Canucks. Goofy-looking 20-yard end zones not required.

+ Did the Mavericks find a useful player in J.J. Barea. He put together solid games against the Clippers, Suns and Hawks, and the Mavs are rolling along at 11-8 now. It's still only good for 7th in the West, but it's a great improvement from 2-7. All without Josh Howard, by the way. Now if they can just take care of Mark Cuban's kindergarden haircut, they'll be great.

+ The GBL made Rickey Henderson a $1M offer to go into the Hall of Fame as a San Diego Surf Dawg. Some league critics on message boards are upset that a league that history doesn't spend a lot of money would solicit Rickey for seven-figures. And that's the genius of it all. Because the Hall of Fame has the final say on which cap a player wears into the HOF, the league knows the possibility of Rickey as a Surf Dawg is virtually none, while the publicity generated is virtually a lot.

+ I tried to get through this week without talking about this, but I just can't. I'm weak. But how the heck does a world class athlete shoot himself in the freakin leg?! I swear, carrying a gun in your sweatpants. Plaxico Burress could lose up to $27M in salary and spend years behind bars. Doesn't make Terrell Owens look so bad now, huh?

+ Obligatory mention of Manny Pacquiao defeating Oscar De La Hoya. I don't care. Moving on.

+ Looks like the college football national championship will go down between Oklahoma and Florida, a pair of one-loss teams, but the Rose Bowl match up between USC and Penn State should be just as good. Penn State runs the spread, while USC has been led by a defense that gave up 93 points on the season. Oh, and these two teams have just one loss each as well. The BCS title will be decided in Miami, but the best game of the BCS Bowls will be played in Pasadena.

+ Finally, speaking of BCS Championship games, we're seen plenty more blowouts than close, amazing games. Here's some of the recent bloodlettings in the title game:

Blowouts
2007-08: LSU 38, Ohio State 24 - enough OSU
2006-07: Florida 41, Ohio State 14 - so much for being undefeated
2004-05: USC 55, Oklahoma 19 - OU was supposed to roll; rolled over instead
2003-04: LSU 21, Oklahoma 14 - not as close as 7 point difference
2001-02: Miami 37, Nebraska 14
2000-01: Oklahoma 13, Florida State 2
Nail-biters
2005-06: Texas 41, USC 38
2002-03: Ohio State 31, Miami 24 (2OT)

Happy football watching today. I'll be back Monday with some thoughts on the Cowboys-Steelers, providing I don't repeatedly slam my head into a wall during this match up.

Dynamic Duo: Jones, Cuban team up

Two of the most high-profile owners in major American professional sports are teaming up to bring the NBA's 2010 All-Star game to North Texas. Mark Cuban's Mavericks will host the All-Star weekend at Jerry Jones' new Cowboys stadium in Arlington. Frankly, these are two owners that any sports fan should want running their favorite team. Each places a high priority on winning while at the same time building the franchise brand. While they both have made questionable (at best) decisions over the years, their passion is undeniable. I ask you, are there any better owners in all of sports?

UPDATE: All-Star game officially announced

Kobe & 22.8 seconds left

With the Celtics leading the Lakers 106-102 with 22.8 seconds left in Game 2 of the 2008 NBA Finals, Kobe Bryant ran himself out of the play -- and I still don't know why.

I have rewound the Tivo a few times since the game ended five minutes ago, and each time I get more and more confused.  Here's what happened.

With 22.8 seconds left, Kobe Bryant inbounded the ball from the near-side to Paul Gasol on the near-side wing.  Bryant immediately took off to his left, around a Sasha Vujacic screen, under the basket and out to the far side, completely away from the play and eliminating all possibility of a non-Ryan-Leaf-pass in a desperate attempt to get him the ball.  As Bryant ran down and back up the far side, Gasol struggled to find someone to get the ball to.  Radmonovic flashed to the top of the arc and got the ball.

Radmonovic looked to Kobe and saw two Celtics obstructing his view.  Had he passed it, the Lakers would never have even gotten a shot off.  He took one dribble and slung the ball to an off-balance Vujacic, whose three-point attempt brushed off the out-stretched fingertips of Paul Pierce.  The Celtics grabbed the air ball, and the Lakers' fate was sealed by a few free throw conversions.

Now, here's what I don't understand.

First, let me just say I like the idea of Kobe inbounding the ball.  Before the play, I told my friends Brad and Ozzie to look for either Kobe or Vujacic to inbound to leave the possibility of a give and go with the inbounder for a hard-to-guard three-point attempt.  My thinking was Vujacic inbounds to Kobe, who draws two defenders and gives Vujacic some time to get open for a three-pointer to bring the game within one point.  That would have taken at the most five or six seconds.

Instead, Bryant inbounded to Gasol who seemed flabbergasted once the play began.  From there, the Lakers never had even a chance to get the ball to their best player - correction, the league's best player.  Something tells me that the Zen master over-thought this one or that Bryant got his wires crossed.  Bryant isn't a run-away-from-the-play guy (see the Dallas Mavericks in the fourth quarter for examples of this *cough* Josh Howard *cough*).  He wanted the ball, and he was visibly frustrated after the Lakers failed to convert on that possession.  

So then why run out of the play and never get yourself in position to even get the ball?

The Celtics defense was ready for it, I suppose, but in watching the replay (I think I'm up to 12 or 13 times now), Kobe Bryant could have inbounded the ball, aggressively moved to his left to one foot inside the arc before quickly popping back out.  Gasol flips the ball back to Bryant, who by virtue of quickly changing direction has shed his defender, for a three-point attempt by the most clutch shooter in the league.  

It didn't happen.  

And now the Lakers find themselves in a 0-2 series hole as they head back to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Tuesday.  Over the next two days, I look forward to some explanation of just what exactly was the logic behind Bryant running himself out of the deciding play of Game 2.

Which conference is which?

One conference in the NBA has all the excitement.  Everyone knew it would play out this way.  The first round of the NBA playoffs will feature some very close series in one conference and a palate of blowouts in the other.  No one knew, however, that it'd be the Eastern Conference - not the mighty West - that would hold the best match ups.

Here's a look at each of the eight first round series and where they currently stand.

Western Conference
(1) LA Lakers vs. (8) Denver Nuggets
The Lakers (57-25) and Nuggets (50-32) were separated by only seven games in the regular season.  Very few people, if anyone, thought the Nuggets would actually pull the upset, but it didn't seem all that far-fetched.  Instead, Kobe, Pau and Lamar are leading the way from blowout to blowout.  The closest game until tonight's Game 4 clincher was the 14-point thumping the Nuggets faced in the series opener.
Game 1: LAL 128, DEN 114
Game 2: LAL 122, DEN 107
Game 3: LAL 102, DEN 84
Game 4: LAL 107, DEN 101
Los Angeles win series, 4-0

(2) New Orleans Hornets vs. (7) Dallas Mavericks
Before this series started, I thought it odd just how so many thought Dallas would upset the Hornets.  Then again, if the Mavs upset the Hornets, it's be easy to brush it aside as obvious.  Dallas was in the finals two years ago and won 67 games in 2006-07.  The Hornets didn't have any of this much-talked-about and ultra-necessary "playoff experience."  Yeah, New Orleans has been crippled by that lack of experience.  Except for the fact that in his first two career playoff games, Chris Paul dominated both games.  The Mavs find themselves in a 3-1 hole with the series returning to New Orleans where the Hornets can advance to round two on their home floor.
Game 1: NO 104, DAL 92
Game 2: NO 127, DAL 103
Game 3: DAL 97, NO 87
Game 4: NO 97, DAL 84
New Orleans lead series, 3-1

(3) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Phoenix Suns
Okay, Game 1 was perhaps the best game of the playoffs so far.  Heck, it nearly went to triple OT (this isn't playoff hockey!).  Since that marathon series opener, the Suns just have not been able to keep up with the defending champs.  The Suns acquired Shaq to better deal with Duncan and have a more dominant inside presence.  Doesn't seem to be working.  The Spurs are finding ways to win these games despite the Suns' best efforts.  Before the playoffs started, I thought this would be the most competitive series.  Game 1 lived up to the hype, but the series since then has been lacking.  The Spurs got up 3-0 in this series, a deficit no NBA has ever overcome.  The series may not be technically over, but the Suns have set.
Game 1: SA 117, PHX 115
Game 2: SA 102, PHX 96
Game 3: SA 115, PHX 99
Game 4: PHX 105, SA 86
San Antonio leads series, 3-1

(4) Utah Jazz vs. (5) Houston Rockets
Everyone knew how touch the Jazz would be on their home court, but they took it one step further and crushed the Rockets in Houston in Games 1 & 2.  Houston stole a game in Salt Lake City, true, but that seemed like more of a fluke than anything.  While the games in this series have been closer than the other three Western Conference battles, the Jazz have shown no reason why they can't go back to Houston for Game 5 and steal a third in H-town to clinch the series.
Game 1: UTAH 93, HOU 82
Game 2: UTAH 90, HOU 84
Game 3: HOU 94, UTAH 92
Game 4: UTAH 86, HOU 82
Utah leads series, 3-1

As it stands right now, there is one series in the West that should go to six games (Jazz-Rockets).  That's because the Rockets are playing Game 5 at home, but Utah still can wait to finish the series at home in a Game 6.  No pressure there.

In the other three series, the Spurs and Hornets can win a home Game 5 to advance to the next round without having to travel back to Phoenix and Dallas, respectively.  The Lakers didn't even need five games to get things done against Denver.

Guess that ultra-competitive Western Conference will have to wait until round two before all that hype is realized.  As for the Eastern Conference, the series were simply a formality before the Celtics topped the Pistons to advance to the NBA Finals as the representative from the East.  As it turns out, both top seeds are struggling against two sub-.500 teams.  

Eastern Conference
(1) Boston Celtics vs. (8) Atlanta Hawks
Remember how there was a seven-game differential between the 1- and 8-seed in the Western Conference?  Well check this out: the Celtics went 66-16 while the Hawks limped to a 37-45 finish.  That's a 29-game difference.  And apparently that doesn't matter.  After the Celtics stormed out to a quick 2-0 series lead, the Hawks held serve in Atlanta by winning both their home games to tie the series at 2-2.  Did anyone - anyone? - see this coming?  I can't find anyone who picked the Hawks to win more than a single game, and even that was considered a stretch.  This would be an even bigger upset than the Golden State Warriors six-game stunner over Dallas last season.  
Game 1: BOS 104, ATL 81
Game 2: BOS 96, ATL 77
Game 3: ATL 102, BOS 93
Game 4: ATL 97, BOS 92
Series tied, 2-2

(2) Detroit Pistons vs. (7) Philadelphia 76ers
Similar situation to the Celtics-Hawks series.  The Pistons went 59-23 while the 76ers were 40-42.  The Sixers started the series strong by shocking the Pistons in Detroit to catapult this series to the forefront.  All of the sudden, this wasn't a pushover match up of the big bad Pistons and some lowly bottom feeder in the East.  Now it's a series, and it's a series worth watching.
Game 1: PHI 90, DET 86
Game 2: DET 105, PHI 88
Game 3: PHI 95, DET 75
Game 4: DET 93, PHI 84
Series tied, 2-2

(3) Orlando Magic vs. (6) Toronto Raptors
The first of the first-round series to wrap up was supposed to be one of the closer opening-round match-ups.  Didn't happen.  The Magic made the Raptors disappear thanks to Dwight Howard's third 20-20 game of the series.  Yeah, 20-20.  He is quite possibly the most dominant player in the Eastern Conference right now.  KG has a solid team around him in Boston, but Dwight Howard has been sensational.
Game 1: ORL 114, TOR 100
Game 2: ORL 104, TOR 103
Game 3: TOR 108, ORL 94
Game 4: ORL 106, TOR 94
Game 5: ORL 102, TOR 92
Orlando win series, 4-1

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Washington Wizards
These two teams seem to gravitate toward each other when the playoffs get going.  For the third year in a row, the Cavs and Wizards are facing off in the first round in what was thought to be the most even match up in the Eastern Conference.  It should be; it is the 4-5 match up.  While Games 1 and 4 were pretty close, Games 2 and 3 turned into blowouts quickly.  LeBron and the Cavs have been able to pull out the closer contests of the series, and the defending Conference champs are now in position to close the series out at home in Game 5 on Wednesday.
Game 1: CLE 93, WAS 86
Game 2: CLE 116, WAS 86
Game 3: WAS 108, CLE 72
Game 4: CLE 100, WAS 97
Cleveland leads series, 3-1

So with one series in each conference already in the books and four other series with the higher seed in position to close things in five, the closest match ups in these playoffs are the two series that everyone thought would be the least contested.  The Celtics and Pistons are both dead-locked in their respective series.  Meanwhile, no single series in the Western Conference was even tied at 1-1.

I still think the West will produce the champions of the NBA, but for now it's the East that is providing all the excitement.