History Repeats Itself (again)

So the Lakers and the Celtics have some of the premiere players in the league and are close to facing off in the finals in an east coast/west coast extravaganza. The potential for a Pierce/Garnett vs. Bryant showdown harkens back to the Magic vs. Bird showdowns of the past.

Honestly, I have been mostly disconnected from the NBA since the Jordan era, although I have noticed the quality of the superstars to be higher in the past few years. Jordan was as great as he was because there were other stars in the league and he crushed them unilaterally. (No doubt, the Jazz would have won some titles without Jordan in the league. Ewing, too - maybe.) If Kobe were to win without Shaq this year, I'd say he was approaching the legacy of a Michael Jordan as one of the elite players ever. And he's still relatively young.

I don't want to discount LeBron James, either. That guy is the real deal, from his stellar game to his media savvy. Once he gets a team around him, I can see where he could become the next Kobe.

Ok, so there's potential Lakers vs. Celtics powerhouse finals and Doug Collins could very well be the Bulls coach again. Same essential layout as last time around. The burden is on John Paxson to select the next Michael Jordan with this lucky #1 draft pick. I'm ready for six more titles.