After Game 5, I gave up on the Lakers. I'm a lifelong Laker fan. I'm the kind of guy that firmly believes in cheering for your city's team. I was there for the Lakers during the lackluster seasons of Van Exel and Sedale Threatt. But, first and foremost, I am a fan of the game of Basketball. And what the Lakers were playing for a couple of games was an awful example of the game. So much so, that I was starting to feel that the Celtics deserved the Championship more than the Lakers did.

Going into Game 6, I was expecting the worst. I was in shock when the Lakers ended the first half up by 20 points. I was even hesitant to think the game was over until there were 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter and it was 100% clear that we would be having a Game 7.

It was great to see the Lakers second unit play with determination and focus. It was great to see Pau Gasol fighting in the post. It was great to see Artest playing competitively (even if some of his choices were questionable). It was great to see Bynum give it his all on an injured knee. Pesky defense. Lots of hustle plays. We were seeing a Laker team that wanted to win. And they won.

Let's hope that Game 7 brings out the best in both teams. More than a Laker Championship, I want to see a great game of Basketball!

I'm really looking forward to this year's NBA Finals. You can't go wrong with the Los Angeles Lakers Vs. Celtics from a historical standpoint. It'll also be very nice to have the Lakers redeem themselves after the Finals meltdown in 2008. As a Los Angeleno, I'm a Laker fan through-and-through. But I have a feeling that the Celtics are going to be a tough team to beat.

The older Celtics team know this may be the last opportunity for them to win another championship... and I think we're going to see them play with a sense of urgency and toughness that'll be a huge challenge. With the exception of that horrible Game 3 vs. the Cleveland Cavs, the Celtics have been playing some consistently solid basketball. They also match up reasonably to the Lakers.

What's so great about having a Lakers Vs. Celtics Finals is it brings with it the several years of Finals rivalries between the two clubs.This is now the 12th time the 2 teams are meeting in the Finals. Of the 11 previous times, the Celtics have beaten the Lakers in 9 of them. Beyond being one of the all-time great point guards, that was something HUGE that Magic Johnson contributed to Los Angeles: 2 Finals defeats against the Celtics! Go Lakers!

For the last 2 weeks I've been steadily playing basketball in my new shoes: the Nike Cradle Rock Lows in the Steve Nash 'Home' colors. I'm a bit old school in my shoe tastes. I like my shoes to look like shoes (sorry, not into that pseudo-sci fi flywire stuff). So when I came across photos of the Cradle Rock Lows, I KNEW I had to get a pair. Thing is, you can't purchase them in the USA.

Steve Nash has been wearing them for the majority of the 2009-10 season. Rajon Rondo wore them during the first half of the season (he even had a nifty blue pair for the 2010 All Star game). And yet they can only be purchased from retail outlets in Asia and Canada. I ended up buying mine from Taiwan via eBay. And I absolutely love them.

The White Nash editions cleverly use the PHX Suns Purple and Orange colors on a white shoe. There are plenty of nice touches like a shiny patent white leather on the front and back edges of the shoe, the "(re)fresh" nike logo and purple plaid detail on the tongue, and orange lace holes. It's got the old school basketball styling of many of Nike's Skateboarding shoes.

Performance-wise, I found that it took about 2-3 hours of gameplay to break the shoes in. But after that they felt very comfortable and stable. The puffy tongue and lacing system kept my foot firmly in the shoe (I found it helped to use the outer lace hole at the top to keep my foot in place). The "cushlon" foam felt as reactive as my Nike Zoom shoes with a little more spring upon impact.

I love these shoes so much that I'm debating whether or not to buy another pair (or two). While every other player is sporting their Kobe IV and Kobe V's, I'll be happily playing in my Cradle Rock Lows.

Kobe hits the game winner. The crowd roars! It's impossible to capture the feeling of being at a stadium during a game winning shot; but it never hurts to try. Muttpop Nico and I were fortunate enough to be at the Staples Center when Kobe made a desperate, off-balanced game-winning 3 pointer over a stretched out Dwyane Wade. I had no clue that Nicolas had recorded the event from our seats. Kobe's too tiny to see from the camera's view... but the video does a wonderful job of capturing our joy and celebration after the shot. Good times! Pretty cool we were able to have it captured on video. :-)

Muttpop Nico is a helluva lucky basketball fan. Last year, his vacation in New York included a rare Knicks win versus the Boston Celtics. Last Friday, he saw Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade dueling in what may be argued to be one of the best games of the NBA's 2009-10 season. I'm grateful to have been along for the ride! In preparation for the game I dusted off my 'Lakers 24' shirt, picked up Nicolas from Jerry's house and ventured into Downtown LA. After a slightly stressful drive trying to figure out how to get the the Staples Center while avoiding the torturous Rush Hour traffic, I managed to find some parking and it was off to the Staples Center! By now, most casual NBA fans heard about Kobe's miraculous buzzer beating 3-pointer. What many people forget to mention are Dwyane Wade's ridiculously smooth dunks at the end of the 2nd quarter (which inspired Kobe's 1st half buzzer beater) and a brilliant 4th quarter performance from Wade and the rest of the Miami Heat that was a guaranteed Heat road win... until a miraculous series of 3s from Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant in the last 10 seconds of play led to the Lakers STEALING a home court victory from the scrappy Miami Heat. I would have been happy going home from a close defeat to a deserving Wade. Instead, I got to witness one of the craziest Kobe Bryant game-winning shots in recent memory. As awesome as the experience may have been on TV, it has nothing on being there to celebrate at the Staples Center. Muttpop Nico somehow managed to film our reaction the moment the shot was made. I'll be sure to upload that as soon as I get a link from Muttpop Nico. Good times, good friend. Our buddy Ohm will NOT be happy to discover you were at one of the most exciting games of the season! :-)

WADE'S SMOOOOTH 1ST HALF DUNKS (2ND HALF OF VIDEO):

GENERAL LAKER GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

KOBE BRYANT'S GAME WINNING SHOT:

Upon the encouragement of a good friend, I watched the 2 recent Hall of Fame acceptance speeches by two Pro Basketball legends: John Stockton and Michael Jordan. During the many years in which I begrudgingly watched these two guys play (begrudgingly because I'm a Lakers fan) I never had the fortune to peer into the center of who these two men the way I was allowed to during these two candid speeches.

Stockton shares his humility, charm, and excellent sense of humor. He still looks like an overgrown version of that Munsters Family kid. He's so funny that you almost forgot how dirty of a defender he was... ALMOST.

Michael Jordan. The greatest of all time. Man, he must be a tough guy to live with. Everything, and I do mean everything, is a competition for him. In the back of his mind he's probably trying to figure out how to beat Wilt Chamberlain's "women I've slept with record". Back in the day, me and my dad had some heated games of one-on-one basketball. I can't even imagine the punishment his boys had to endure. I mean, Jordan's already great... but then he's got this attitude and swagger. Hell, if Jordan was my dad, I'd probably do something that is the furthest from his interest; something like synchronized swimming...

It's fascinating how Jordan can recount many of his obstacles with vivid detail. The dude won 6 Championships, God-knows-how-many MVP awards, Defensive-Player-Of-The-Year Awards, and probably his pick of the litter in the pretty-ladies category. And yet it sounds like he still has a chip on his shoulder about not being on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the rest of the UNC Basketball team his Freshman year. Oh yeah, and Byron Russell: congrats on being immortalized by Jordan as the trash-talking prick that convinced MJ to return to the NBA. The Utah Jazz can thank you for their lack of NBA Championships!

Michael Jordan Hall of Fame Speech:

John Stockton Hall of Fame Speech: