Now that the regular NBA season is officially over, I’d like to take a trip back down memory lane and reminisce about this past season… The good, the bad, the ugly…

The Lake Show

After being embarrassed by the Boston Celtics in the 08 NBA Finals, everyone knew that the Lakers would come out even harder this year. I can’t think of a single person that had the Lakers projected as less than #1 on the West, and if there were, they’re stupid.. Haha, just kidding (not really).. Playing without Andrew Bynum for 32 games in the season, the Lakers were still able to emerge as the top dogs of the West.

But who could’ve imagined that the Cleveland Cavaliers would be the owners of the best record in the NBA this year? We all knew the Lebron would emerge as an even greater dominant force this year, but to top the Lakers and the Celts? That’s quite an achievement.. which is the main reason why Lebron “The King” James will end up as this year’s MVP.. There were also other teams like the Orlando Magic, who we all thought would be pretty good, but showed that they can compete with the league’s elite..

But in the midst of greatness, there were also countless disappointments…

B Diddy came to Clips thinking he'd be playing alongside EB...

The Clips brought over B Diddy in the offseason, hoping that bringing another star to play with Elton Brand would lead them to the playoffs once again.. However, Elton Brand pursued elsewhere, and landed in Philly.. but where is he now? Injured worse than ever, and has sat out most of the 08-09 NBA season.. (that’s what you get, traitor!) Of all of the teams in the NBA, the Clips were the busiest in terms of offseason pick-ups and trades mid-season.. You will notice that the only 2 players from last years’ Clippers’ roster are Al Thornton and Chris Kaman..

They are also the most notable, as the biggest disappointment of the 08-09 season, although the Clips are my team… The Clips were not able to recover after losing EB, though they picked up Marcus Camby in the offseason, and traded for Zach Randolph during the season.. With a lineup featuring B Diddy, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Zach Randolph, and Marcus Camby, it’s kind of hard to imagine that they didn’t make the playoffs… by a great margin might I add… The only thing that can be said is that the Clips never really got a chance to play all together, as two or more of their starters were consistently out with injuries for extended periods of time..

Biggest impact trade of the year...

When this trade took place, I actually believed the Detroit had gotten the better end of the stick.. Boy was I wrong.. The general conception was that Billups would not be able to adjust to the offensive mindset of the Nuggets team, and that Iverson would flourish once again, as Joe Dumars had given him the “green light” to take as many shots as he’d liked, and to score at will.. This was exactly opposite of what actually occurred during the season.. Billups transformed the Nuggets and the style of basketball that they play, from all offense – no defense, to being careful about their shot selection as well as clamping down on defense. On the other hand, Iverson could not adjust whatsoever to the Pistons style of play.. After sitting out a few weeks with a back injury, his role was shifted to a player that comes off the bench.. Now, this is AI we’re talking about here.. He is NOT a bench player! He’s led the league in scoring multiple times, as well as taking his Sixers team to the NBA Finals against the Lakers back in the day… Of course he’s gonna say.. “I’d rather retire than play off the bench..” That’s like sending Kobe Bryant to the Magic, and telling him that he’d be playing behind Courtney Lee. It just doesn’t fly that way..

Now besides all the trades and transactions, the biggest disappointments of the year would have to be the number of injuries that were faced by star players.. Amare Stoudemire is probably the biggest name that went out for the season, and in turn, his Suns are out of the playoffs (another disappointment).. Other big names like Elton Brand, Al Jefferson, Michael Redd, Gilbert Arenas, Tracy McGrady were all deemed as ‘out for season’.

All in all, it was a great NBA season… PLAYOFF TIME BABY!

Michael Jordan, David Robinson, John Stockon, and Jerry Sloan will be inducted in to NBA Hall of Fame on Sept 10-12th in Springfield, Massachusetts, home of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. All four of these talented individuals have been elected today for induction respectively, and it is to no surprise that they were. All have had prestigious careers and each of them have contributed to the game of basketball forever leaving their mark.

Jerry Sloan

Jerry Sloan has been with the NBA for over 40 years, while coaching the Utah Jazz for 20 years. His coaching achievements speak for themselves, being 4th in all time wins, 7th in best winning percentage, all while leading the Utah Jazz to their 16th consecutive winning season. Although he has not won a championship (there’s still time), he has made 2 NBA finals appearances, 17 playoff appearances and has won 6 division titles. He is first in the all time list of coaching the same team consecutively which is now at 1509 games, as well as first in most wins with one team having 1,042.

Many will be surprised to know that he played in the NBA for both Chicago and Baltimore, averaging 14 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in his 11 year career as a player. One can tell that the toughness that he instills in the Utah Jazz comes from the way he played. He was an All-Star twice as well as being on the All NBA Defensive First Team four times as well as twice on the second team. Jerry Sloan has devoted his entire life to the NBA and is greatly deserving of being inducted to the Hall of Fame. Congratulations Jerry.

David Robinson

Otherwise known as “The Admiral” David Robinson is considered to be one of the best centers in the entire history of the NBA. In his first six NBA seasons he won Rookie of the Year, NBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards, in addition to a rebounding title, a scoring crown, six All-Star bids, three selections to the All-NBA First Team and three selections to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. His career average consisted of 21.1 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game as well as winning 2 NBA championships, one in his final year. David Robinson is one of two players along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to win a scoring, rebounding and blocked-shots title during a career. Long live the Admiral. Congratulations David.

John Stockton

Arguably of the best passers in the game, John Stockon has played for the Utah Jazz 19 years before retiring. He led the league in steals twice and, with a career total of 3,265, he retired as the NBA’s all-time leader. He also played all 82 games in 17 of his 19 seasons and his career shooting percentage was 51.5%. His assists records include 15,806 assists in his entire career, most assists in a season (1,164), highest average for a season (14.5 apg) and most seasons leading league and most consecutive seasons leading league (nine). He also holds the record for most assists in a playoff game (24), had the second-highest assists average for a career (10.5 apg) and tied for third for most assists in a regular season game (28). Sadly, John Stockton has never won a championship, but nonetheless has been an All-Star 10 times, All NBA First Team twice,  All NBA Second Team 6 times, and NBA All Defensive Second team 5 times. Congratulations John.

Michael Jordan

What can I possibly say about Jordan. He is the role model for all the current greats out there including Kobe, Wade, James, and everyone else pretty much in the NBA. 32,292 points, 6,672 rebounds, and 5,633 assists in his career. He has won 6 times NBA Champion, 5 times NBA MVP, 14 times NBA All-Star, 6x NBA Finals MVP, one NBA Defensive player of the year, 10 times All-NBA first team, 9 times NBA All-Defensive first team, Rookie of the Year, 3 times NBA All-Star Game MVP, and 2 times NBA Slam Dunk Champion. Need I really say more? I’ll let the pictures do the rest. All hail Jordan.

Kobe and the Lakers have become complacent...

Ever since this site started up last week, I have posted my picks on the Lakers 3 times (2 of which I bet on them, and 1 time against)… All 3 times, the Lakers have managed to find a way to do me dirty..

After winning their first 4 games of their current 7-game road trip, the Lakers have dropped their last 2 to the Atlanta Hawks and the Charlotte Bobcats. Tonight, the Lakers take on the Milwaukee Bucks. Having lost yesterday to the Bobcats, Kobe and the Lakers look to redeem themselves, and show the rest of the league that their past 2 games have been a fluke and that they’re still hungry to win. The Lakers have locked for themselves home court throughout the Western Conference playoffs, but it seems like the Cleveland Cavaliers will be the ones to hold down home court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Now I don’t see how the Lakers can lose to the Bucks tonight, even if Jefferson and Villanueva manage to go for 29 each.. but the again, who knows? The Lakers have lost their last 2 meetings in Milwaukee, where Kobe was suspended for one of the games.

Kobe "Ocho" Bryant

In order for the Lakers to win tonight, Kobe needs to be aggressive like he was back when he was number ocho. Look at that guy.. he’s flying! The Lakers have become complacent, and it almost feels like they forgot how to score. They need to shake off their previous games, and come out strong from the beginning. The X-factor for tonight’s game is Lamar Odom. If Odom can put together a solid night, the Lakers should breeze by the lowly Bucks tonight.

BEST IN THE WEST

I know the picture doesn’t show the top 3 teams in the West in terms of records, but these are my top 3 teams from the West going into the playoffs.

Of course, we have to start things off with the best in the West. The Lakers have been dominating teams all season long, with or without their center Andrew Bynum, who should be back within the next week or two to get ready for the playoffs. There’s not much to be said about the Lakers. It’s plain obvious that they’re going to be the team in the NBA Finals from the WEST. They are the only team in the NBA, to go undefeated against both Cleveland and Boston this year. Kobe Bryant is making a push to become the league’s MVP, two years in a row. If the playoffs were to start today, the Lakers would be facing the Dallas Mavericks.. HAHA! What a joke! Maybe if Mark Cuban used some of his money on getting a real franchise player, they might actually be going somewhere. But are you kidding me? You built a team around Dirk? He’s no Larry Bird, and even if he was, the way the game is played today… Even Bird couldn’t do it with the Mavs team.

With that being said, we move on to the #2 seed, the Spurs. The Spurs have been battling injuries all season, but yet they still managed to hold down the 2nd best record in the West. RESPECT! (Although I must agree with parlayking that the Spurs and the Jazz are quite boring to watch) There’s nothing new about this team. They only seem to be getting older and trying to stack up on more veterans. This will most likely be their final year where they’re seeded so high going into the playoffs. With the core of Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker, they may meet the Lakers once again in the NBA Western Conference Finals, but even they are no match for the Lakers..

At the #3 seed, we have the Denver Nuggets, who have made a complete turn-around in terms of the style of basketball they play. Chauncey Billups has done well with that team, and got the team to focus on defense more. If the playoffs started today, Denver would be hosting Portland, who has shown that they do have depth on that roster, but have also shown that they are far too young to close out an important series. Portland’s depth should scare teams for many years to come, but their time is not now. However, the real #3 seed should be the New Orleans Hornets, who is led by Chris Paul (who should have been the real MVP last year). His team stands at #7 currently on the West, but are far more capable of taking out teams once Chandler and Stojakovic return.

As we look at the matchup between #4 Houston and #5 Utah, historically speaking, we can all put our money on Utah. Houston can’t seem to make it past the first round of the playoffs as of late, and Utah can’t seem to get past the second. Look for the same trend to happen this year. On a final note, LETS GO LAKERS!