Damn those pundits, why does anyone listen to them? The Lakers were supposed to be a lock, and a fourth title for Kobe (first without Shaq!) would vault him into the same sentence as Jordan. The inverse happened – outside of the first quarter in games five and six, the NBA MVP couldn’t find his three-point touch, and he struggled mightily getting to the basket against the most formidable defense in the league. Awful, indeed, Mr. Plaschke.

His offensive stats in this series – 40 percent FGs, 32 percent from three, 25.6 ppg – were all down from the regular season. Defensively, the two players he was primarily assigned to, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, led the Celtics in scoring. The Lakers offensive juggernaut stalled, and the lack of defense that didn’t hurt them in the West was exposed. Kobe turns the big 3-0 this August, when he’ll be guiding the United States to Olympic Gold while simultaneously praying for the health of Andrew Bynum’s kneecap.

At the risk of getting too knee-jerk about next season, we anticipate the East rising – top two picks in the draft, Atlanta should improve, perhaps Philly has something percolating, and Boston should be back, although a year older and minus the trenchant desire to seek another title. The West? Phoenix and Dallas are aging and have new coaches in place; the Spurs have to find spare parts to match the nucleus, and questions abound, healthy-wise, for the Lakers (Bynum), Rockets (Yao), and Blazers (Oden). That paper Lakers dynasty everybody (including us) was frothing about prior to the NBA Finals? Wad it up and put it in the circular file.

All bets are off in regard to the above paragraph if Elton Brand leaves the Clippers.

MVP? More Like MIA (LA Times)