The long wait is over!
After a couple of back-to-back, three-peats and dynasties the most popular rival in the NBA again takes the center stage for the 2008 NBA finals. The new look Boston Celtics will feature the league's hottest trio in Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett going up against the Kobe Bryant led Los Angeles Lakers. Majority of people predicts a Lakers route of the Celtics but, the men in green were able to hold their own in game one against a balance Laker attack. As expected Kobe led the way for the lakers getting ample support from Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom but the Laker game was not enough to douse the Celtic dominance of the game.
At the start of the season I did not expect personally, a showdown between the two teams because of contrasting atmosphere in their respective divisions. For Boston - everybody knew even before the regular season started that they are a title contender for the eastern conference due to the off-season acquisitions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. Garnett was shipped to Boston from Minnesota after several years of playoff disappointment, Allen on the other hand is hoping that Boston would be his last stop as a pro after sporting the jerseys of Milwaukee and Seattle. Although they already got the ingredients of having a championship-caliber team league insiders still look at them as the underdogs.
Shifting our attention 3,000 miles across the continent, we now see a Los Angeles squad who is equally deserving of taking home the championship this year. The 2008 season was the turning point of Kobe's basketball career, because after publicly criticizing his team and vocally demanding a trade he was able to make a 360 degree turn and led the Lakers atop the western conference division. The sudden change of fortune of the Lakers is also because of key addition of Pau Gasol the the lineup, with Gasol on hand the Lakers now has a reliable big man and a good defender. And to sum up the supporting cast from Bryant, the Lakers can also depend on Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher for support and direction.
I've always been a fan of these two ball clubs, and I am confident that whoever takes home the bacon really deserves it. This is going to be a spectacular series and it will be down the wire, I've been monitoring the NBA as early as start of the season hoping that a Laker-Celtic showdown materializes, somehow my prayers have been answered.
Personal Impact
I play pick up games every Saturday morning with my ex-colleagues from PS and guys from other call centers. I'm proud to say that I'm getting my old game back and I'm getting back in shape,maybe it's because of the frequent nba talk wherever I go. I just hope that I can still have my last hurrah in playing ball, taking the games seriously has also helped me avoiding drinking weekly.
