I don’t know what it is about the NBA postseason this year but I’ve been on board for much of it this spring. Maybe it’s the priceless postgame interviews with Ron Artest that keeps me tuned in, as that’s some good reality television right there. It sure doesn’t get anymore uncomfortably awkward than that, that’s for sure. TNT and the NBA equals a match made in hardwood heaven due largely in part to the back-and-forth between Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley. And thanks to NBA.com I was able to waste too much of my life watching, and selecting, my favorite NBA playoff highlights from back in the day. Enjoy…

1970′s – The New York Knicks road two-time NBA Finals MVP Willis Reed to two titles in four years during the early part of the decade (’70 and ’73; lost in ’74) while the Boston Celtics followed that up with two of their own (’73 and ’75) behind MVP performances from John Havlicek and Jo Jo White. The two big championship game losers during the 1970s, in comparison you could argue, were the Baltimore/Washington Bullets (one win in four trips to finals) and Los Angeles Lakers (one win in three trips to finals). 

1980′s – By the time the Philadelphia 76ers faded out in the middle of the 1980s (winning one title and losing two) there were two teams from each coast constantly in the hunt year after year. And in fact, just four cities claimed NBA titles during the decade. Between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics there were six championship trophies won in the 80′s, with L.A. taking two-of-three in head-to-head meetings. The Lakers would go on to win five in all (with Magic Johnson being named MVP three times) and return to lose in three others. The Celtics (and two-time finals MVP Larry Bird) won three title games themselves despite dropping those other two trips to their cross-country rivals. The Detroit Pistons rounded out the 80′s by splitting two championship games with the Lakers while the Houston Rockets lost both times they advanced to the finals against the Celtics.

1990′s – The Detroit Pistons wrapped up a back-to-back championship campaign to help usher in a new decade but that paled in comparison to the impact six-time finals MVP Michael Jordan had on the game in the 1990s. The Chicago Bulls did much more than win six-of-six titles, they won three in a row on two separate occasions. The Houston Rockets, who went back-to-back behind two-time finals MVP Hakeem Olajuwon in ’94 and ’95, should still be thanking Jordan for taking up baseball after his first three-peat concluded in ’93. The teams on the wrong end of the finals during the 90′s were the Portland Trail Blazers, New York Knicks and Utah Jazz, who each lost twice and have not returned since.

2000′s – Although this season has yet to officially close the door on the first decade of hoops in the new millennium, it’s not too soon to take a quick look back… After the San Antonio Spurs wrapped up the NBA title following the strike-shortened season of ’99, they would eventually ride two-time finals MVP Tim Duncan (three awards in all) to three more championships in five years, essentially matching what three-time MVP Shaquille O’Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers did at the start of the decade. Only the slight difference is that the Lakers got it done three years in a row before returning twice more, only to be turned away against the Pistons and last year’s Celtics. (Sounds like the return of the late-80′s all over again). The New Jersey Nets also lost in the finals twice this past decade, to both the Spurs and Lakers.

By – Ray-Way Wallace

For better or worse, the NBA All-Star Weekend came and went before my very eyes, in high-definition. Here’s proof I remember at least a little bit of it before I offer up my regular-season ending predictions…

All-Star Sunday. Wow. From the intro to it’s finale, how much fun was that shit? From watching Shaq bust a move with a team of dancers, to him playing make-up with Kobe as they at least acted nice with each other. (Guess what‘s done is done, you both lost out on that deal). I wasn’t sure who was trying harder to take home the MVP Award between the two but best believe Phil Jackson did his part to assure Kobe at least got a share of it. And he did, as they both took the top honor. With the Big Diesel benched for most of the fourth quarter Kobe continued pumping out as many shots as possible. Before that though Shaq played the popularity card with amazing give and go’s, and taking part in running the fast break.

Overall the game had it’s moments of typical all-star park ball, and even a little defense mixed in there somewhere, but in the end it didn’t have that same pride factor in terms of going out and winning the game. The Eastern Conference laid to sleep midway through, allowing the West to straight-up blow them out. Hopefully the end of the game was at least a preview of what’s to come from King James, who gave viewers a taste of his dunk talent in the end and promised he “MAY” compete in the contest next year.

But if that was as much fun as it got then you could imagine what the Rookie/Sophomore Game and Celebrity Game were like a couple nights earlier. I definitely could have spent my Friday doing a little something better with my time. The Celebrity Game was more like a Boys and Girls Club scrimmage than anything else. There were old pros looking bad, out-of-shape actors gasping for air while falling and fouling up and down the court. And thought T.O. displayed some outstanding B-ball moves for a football star, he’s still came off like a ball hog. But who’s really surprised by that anyway? He is a receiver, not a QB. As far as the other game starring the youngsters, Kevin Durant put up 46 points in another typical Sophomore squad win.

Then Saturday was supposed to be The Day. There was the hype of the Slam Dunk Contest, which was revived last year by Superman and a Cupcake, and the opportunity for Jason Kopono to become only the third player to three-peat at the 3-Point Shootout (Larry Bird and Craig Hodges also accomplished the feat).

Just be thankful you didn’t hold your breath.

The sad part about the Slam Dunk Contest was that ignorant judges treated it like only two contestants should have even entered in the first place. Even so, I was semi-delighted to see some impressive dunks from a a winner who’s only 5’2”, as that’s amazing in itself. Especially after staging a dunk where he leaped over a 6’-10” freak-of-nature who threw down on a 12-foot rim. Got to give it up for the little man. If the dunk contest was decent, the 3-Point Shootout was an embarrassment. Not much of a shooting contest when you consider I could have walked in there and won. The final round saw seven points posted by Rashard Lewis, which was not convincing enough for newcomer and eventual winner Dequan Cook to stress over.

Seems the best shooter of the weekend was playing H-O-R-S-E, which actually was an event this year. The young stars in that were Kevin Durrant, Joe Johnson, and OJ Mayo. The new addition to the all-star lineup started out a little slow before Durrant turned it into more of a “who has the best jump shot” game to best Mayo with three consecutive shots from downtown. And although it lacked creativity for the most part, it was enjoyable watching these pros throw up a few trick shot attempts.

At least that was more worthwhile than watching the often dull team vs. team shootout with retires and WNBA stars they use to fill airtime with. Just as puzzling though is the Skills Challenge, featuring the likes of up-and-coming stars such as Devin Harris, Derrick Rose, Mo Williams and Tony Parker. It was like watching a NASCAR driver practice maneuverability. So they can dribble, pass and shoot – isn’t that their job in the first place?

Looking back on the weekend in Phoenix (as a Lakers fan, mind you) I couldn’t help but smile about the way the Suns organization has completely fallen apart over the last year, from firing two coaches, trading Shawn Marion for Shaq, then getting rid of Diaw and Bell. Jason Richardson even added a little sugar on top of the situation out there by getting caught doing 90 mile per hour in a 35 as his kid rode shotgun without a car seat. There’s nothing like a little speeding and child endangerment to help matters out in the desert. Hey, I got an idea for ya, now go get rid of the only player you have who’s young enough to build around (Amare Stoudamire). Thanks again, Danny Ainge!

And a sincere congrats to Bill Russell, the new name on the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player trophy.