Down 2-0 last Tuesday, there were only a few who gave the Oklahoma City Thunder a chance against the San Antonio Spurs. In NBA history, 94% percent of teams to take a 2-0 series lead ended up winning the series.

Well…. time for the that percentage to lower just a little bit.

The Thunder not only came roaring back down 2-0, they were down by 15 at halftime. The Spurs weren’t likely to go quiet. They didn’t. But Oklahoma proved that they are ready to take the next step. They beat the only three teams to make it to the NBA finals out of the west since 1998: The Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, and now, the San Antonio Spurs.

They say the last game is the hardest to win. Especially when the other team is backed against the wall. They start playing desperately and to the absolute max of their abilities. But Oklahoma countered in the second half playing to the very best of their abilities outscoring the Spurs 59-36. With their fans behind them, Oklahoma seemed to suck every last ounce of life out of the Spurs in that second half. That’s why you have to play four quarters and win four games. Games 1 and 2 mean nothing now except that the Spurs won 10 playoff games in a row and then lost four in a row at the worst possible time.

Could we be seeing a new dominant team rising out of the Mid-west? Quite possibly.

They said the Thunder lacked the experience to get past all three teams they defeated. I buy that to an extent. But a team without experience has to begin somewhere, so why not begin by beating the three most dominant teams in the west for the last 14 years?

Seems like an excellent place.

Then to finish it off, why not beat the history-rich Boston Celtics, or the Darth Vader of basketball in LeBron James, and the Miami Heat to claim your first title? That would be a most excellent place to solidify your place among the NBA’s elite.

That brings me to the San Antonio Spurs.

            Since 1990 the Spurs have made the playoffs every year sans 1996-97. They have won 4 NBA Championships during their run, and made it to the Conference Finals another four times counting their pending showdown against the Oklahoma City Thunder whom disposed of the L.A. Lakers in just five games. Early indications are the Spurs are the favorite to win the series and the ultimate prize: A fifth championship in 13 years.

All of this is happening and all you hear about are how the Lakers are old and done. LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and the Miami Heat are on a mission. Were they in trouble, being tied 2-2 with the Indiana Pacers? I get it though. ESPN and the NBA want the biggest markets to thrive because that’s what everyone likes to see and talk about which in turn generates revenue and all that good stuff.

I get it. But where does that leave San Antonio?

Under-appreciated and off the grid, that’s where.

But maybe they prefer it this way. They have no polarizing figure on their team whom the media constantly demands to talk to. There is no one on that team who you can , at least in a right mind, hate. They go out every year and play their game and win. That’s all they have done for the past 22 years is win. But not just regular season games like so many teams. They have won NBA titles. Dominating their opponents whilst doing so. In their four championship seasons they are a combined 63-21 in the playoffs. They do all of this under the radar, getting little to no attention. That’s a shame to me.

When the New England Patriots won three Super Bowls in four seasons, all anyone could do was talk about what a dynasty this is! This is what sports are all about! Dynasties! This never happens! The Patriots have failed to capture a title since that last one, while the Spurs have captured one (2007) and are well on their way to another. But again, maybe they prefer it this way: like a constant chip on one’s shoulder. Always needing to prove yourself to others, or maybe just that their front office and coach are fantastic at what they do.

This is the model other franchises should look up to.

Isn’t this what we want to achieve in sports? Always competitive, fighting for championships and achieving it every few seasons? Shouldn’t broadcasters, writers, and everyone else in the media pay attention to what they are doing? Because we know they aren’t. They’re a smaller market so they “don’t matter”. But they do matter. They matter more than anyone can imagine. Building and re-building their team every few years and right back where they deserve to be, 4 wins away from another NBA Finals appearance. The model of consistency that every team yearns, as they should, to achieve.

My hat goes off to you San Antonio. Don’t change your system, style, and everything else you have done for 22 years that has allowed you to become everything you are. Because when and if all of this ends one day, you know what everyone will, or at least should, say? “Man I wish I was around to watch those Spurs teams. That’s what every sports team should be like.” Because isn’t this how these things usually go? Not being appreciated in one’s own time? You have to be gone for at least 10 years for anyone to notice just how good you really were? Shame as though that is, at least in time you will be appreciated and celebrated. And that might make all the difference in the world.

The Oklahoma City Thunder eliminated the LA Lakers from the playoffs tonight after a series in which Los Angeles only won one game. With the victory, Kevin Durant gets his team into the Western Conference Finals where the San Antonio Spurs await them.

Having won 18 straight games, the Spurs have been lauded by many critics as the best team in these playoffs. While they would be a stark contrast to the Miami Heat in a match up of Team Concept vs Makeshift All Star Team, it’s certainly not the pairing of teams fans are hoping to see.

The top ratings option for the Finals would be to have the Miami Heat battle the Oklahoma City Thunder, giving Kevin Durant a huge opportunity to arguably surpass LeBron James in terms of stature by grabbing the championship ring.

Don’t count the Miami Heat in the Finals just yet, however. It’s very likely they won’t make it past the Indiana Pacers. While the Heat did win the last meeting between the two by nearly collecting a Triple Double in Game 4, that was a must-win situation for James & Wade as the Pacers had taken two of the first three in the series and certainly had the momentum. Game 5 in the series is Tuesday night.

Also fighting for a shot in the Eastern Conference Finals are the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers. With a victory Monday night by 16 points, the Celtics take the driver’s seat and can close out on Wednesday night.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The only home he’s ever known is Akron, Ohio, and if he stays on the Cleveland Cavaliers, he wouldn’t have to move his family.

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Because of the Larry Bird rule, whereby a veteran signing a contract to remain with his current team faces fewer limitations, the Cleveland Cavaliers can offer LeBron James more money than any other franchise.

Coach Byron Scott now takes the helm of the Cavs, and the biggest reason this could be a significant factor is that Byron Scott has worked for the past few years with Chris Paul, who seems to be one of LeBron James’ best friends.  Paul, or CP3 as some refer to him, is said to be looking to move from New Orleans to a different squad, and if he were to join the Cleveland Cavaliers he would find himself with a familiar coach and playing alongside one of his best friends.  With those two guys on the Cavaliers, they could be a prohibitive favorite to win the Eastern Conference for the next few years to come.

LeBron might not know the exact offensive and defensive schemes he’s going to be using under coach Byron Scott (though they’d obviously be targeted at his talents), but he will be very familiar with his team mates – and they with him.

Bringing a title to Cleveland brings him God-like status in that town.  He would be beloved forever were he to win the NBA Championship with the Cavaliers, and there’s nothing like having that status in his hometown.

There are reports that various car dealerships and sponsors in the Cleveland area are trying to sweeten the deal for LeBron by offering him part ownership in their businesses to remain in the area.  While that might be a nice perk, ownership in the Cleveland market pales in comparison to any sort of ownership elsewhere.

If he doesn’t leave home now for a bigger city, the odds of him ever experiencing the high life elsewhere are significantly diminished.  The adulation he’ll experience in those other, bigger markets is also a lot warmer now than it would be five years from now when he’s older, less explosive and provides less opportunity to give the new town a talent which brings them significantly closer to a championship.  Leaving home now also means that in five years, he can return to Cleveland, erasing most (if not all) of the hard feelings he’d create tonight, and finish out the remainder of his career there.

New York Knicks

There’s no place where the lights are brighter than in New York City, and playing for the Knicks would provide LeBron James the opportunity to play 40+ games per season at Madison Square Garden.

Every time you see LeBron James throw talcum powder into the air before a game or spot him in a soft drink commercial or endorsing shoes with his name on it, LeBron James is making a brand of himself.  There’s no better place in the world to market oneself than in New York City.

LeBron James plays an uptempo style, and that’s exactly how Mike D’Antoni ran things out in Phoenix.  The Knicks aren’t a great team, but with Amar’e Stoudamire, they got a whole lot better.  There’s also the chance that Chris Paul would want to come to the Big Apple to team up King James with CP3 instead of the duo connecting in Cleveland.

Think it’d be a great ovation for LeBron if he brought a championship to Cleveland?  Imagine if he gives the Knicks their first NBA Championship in 40 years.

New Jersey Nets

Aside from Chris Paul, the other person you can immediately identify as one of LeBron James’ friends is Jay-Z, a co-owner of the New Jersey Nets.  There’s no doubt that the two have talked about working together, and with King James’ ambitions to be bigger than just a basketball player, Jay-Z can definitely make that happen.

While the Nets play in New Jersey for the next two years, they’re going to be moving to Brooklyn, where the spotlight will be just as bright as in the neighboring borough where the Knicks play, but with less criticism on his play than if he were on the squad whose home games were at Madison Square Garden.  There’s no doubt in my mind that the facilities that the Nets are building in Brooklyn are going to be nicer than what MSG has.

The only current piece of the puzzle in place for LeBron James to even get to the playoffs with the Nets is Brook Lopez, a star young player.  Devin Harris is a talent, but he’s yet to play a full season, and he only averages around 30 minutes per game.

Avery Johnson is now the coach of the New Jersey Nets, a considerable step up from what LeBron had in Cleveland, and that might be enough for CP3 to join King James, though the draw of Byron Scott or the jersey reading “Knicks” would still be more powerful to lure Paul to join LeBron.

Miami Heat

Dwyane Wade re-signed with Miami, and free agent Chris Bosh joined the South Beach squad.  LeBron would make for a very dangerous three-some.  That’s the current formula for getting championships, it would seem, with Kobe / Artest / Gasol for the Lakers and also Pierce / Allen / Garnett up in Boston and the Spurs having Duncan / Parker / Ginóbili before that.

If the Heat compile a trio of Wade / James / Bosh, there’s a great chance that Pat Riley would suit up as the team’s coach.

Certainly the question would run through LeBron’s mind whether he and D-Wade could coexist on the same squad for an entire season, as both enjoy taking over games.

LeBron might also consider that on the Miami Heat team as it’s currently constituted, there’s no real great jump-shooter, as most of the skillset for the trio involves taking the ball directly to the rim.

Miami is also getting a reputation for not being a great sports town.  If the Heat are struggling, the fans don’t show up.  If the Heat are running away with the conference, having gained a considerable lead over the other teams who are contending for the top playoff spot, the fans also might save their money and wait to buy tickets to playoff games.

Los Angeles Clippers

LeBron certainly identified Los Angeles as a city in which he’d like to play, but the Lakers aren’t an option.  The Clippers have a highly talented roster to which LeBron might supply the missing piece.  Blake Griffin and Baron Davis might look much better than they currently do if LeBron was leading the charge.

Vinny Del Negro is going to be the coach next season.  With only a couple years under his belt the past two seasons over in Chicago, has Del Negro shown anything that might help tip LeBron one way or another in regards to whether he’d like to play with him as the coach?

Chicago Bulls

Another huge market in which LeBron could make his name is Chicago, where LeBron’s idol Michael Jordan won his six championships.  Playing in the shadow of Michael’s legend could be a good thing, or a bad thing.

The Bulls already have a core of good young players.  Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah… LeBron could easily take that squad to the next level.

With Vinny Del Negro parting ways with the Bulls, their new head coach is Tom Thibodeau, who….

Who?

Ah, thanks Wikipedia.  Thibodeau is apparently a defensive strategist who is getting his first Head Coaching position with his upcoming stint for the Chicago Bulls.  He seems like he could be a very competent coach, but I don’t know that his reputation is such that he’d be a positive factor in bringing LeBron to Chicago, not as of yet, unless LeBron speaks to the right folks.  I’m sure that folks in Boston might have good things to say about Thibodeau, as he helped them beat the Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals… but would anyone currently with the Celtics REALLY want to help LeBron land in Chicago – a team they’d have to contend with in the Eastern Conference portion of the playoffs?  Doubtful.

Washington Wizards

This is my hometown, so I have to mention it.

Though the Wizards had a bad record last year, they’ve got a core of young talent to build around.  Trevor Booker, Andray Blatche, JaVelle McGee, Yi Jianlian and superstar-in-the-making John Wall are all under the age of 24, not to mention Gil Arenas and Al Thornton.

Flip Saunders has been to the NBA Finals, so the head coach could be strength of the area.

DC is a significantly large market with a good history of supporting its sports franchises.

The Wizards ownership is in the hands of a guy who has proven he is capable of finding the right decision makers to bring in the personnel and coaching staff to make the teams successful.

The DC area has three airports which will fly him wherever he needs to go, not to mention a train which would take him directly to New York City.

Okay, the last one was a stretch, and I’m obviously not expecting LeBron James to name the Nation’s Capital as his choice of teams.  Based on the way the Wizards have been making trades, they don’t expect it, either.  In fact, I’m not even sure that LeBron met with officials from the Wizards, but I had to throw the facts out there regardless.

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If we get more than 6 (potentially LeBron’s jersey number depending where he ends up) respondees to this article, one of those individuals will get a free tshirt.

NBA

There’s only one game set to take place tonight, with Atlanta Hawks going to Orlando to face the Magic in game 2.  Orlando won the first game by a wide margin and it’s likely they will continue winning this series unless they sustain a serious injury to Dwight Howard or Jameer Nelson.  I don’t have a stake in this series, as neither team would be my pick to go to the NBA Finals, as I believe either one would lose to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

Friday night sees game 3 of the high profile series between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers, each having already won a game.  Though I’d be fine if the Celtics won the championship this year, I’d prefer to see LeBron James finally get an NBA Title, as that seems to be the differentiator people continually use to state that Kobe Bryant is the better player.

Also on the slate for Friday night is game 3 of the Phoenix Suns and the San Antonio Spurs, with Phoenix holding a 2 game lead.  I like Steve Nash and would like to see the Suns in the NBA Finals, so I’m happy with how this series is progressing.

All the Los Angeles Lakers fans will have to wait until Saturday to see game 3 with the Utah Jazz.  The Lakers hold a 2 game lead in that series, and though I dislike both of these teams, I don’t care which one advances.  If either of them gets to the NBA Finals, I’d love to see either the Boston Celtics or Cleveland Cavaliers take the title.  The Utah Jazz would likely pose less of a threat, but everyone I talk to who supports LeBron James would like to see the Cavaliers defeat Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals.  I’d be nervous to see that match-up, but it doesn’t matter to me much either way.

NHL

Boston Bruins defeated the Philadelphia Flyers last night 4 to 1, putting Philly on the brink of elimination at 3 games to 0 in a best of 7 series.  I couldn’t be happier about this as a Washington Capitals fan.  I like the mix of veteran and young talent that Boston has, and I like their chances in the Finals and the Stanley Cup if injuries don’t wear them down (as we’re seeing with the Flyers).  Bruins centerman David Krejci is out for the remainder of the playoffs after suffering a broken wrist last night.
My prediction:  Boston wins game 5 after the Flyers pick up a single victory to avoid the sweep.

Chicago Blackhawks took control of their series with the Vancouver Canucks last night, going up 2 games to 1 with a 5-2 victory, gaining an unlikely hat trick from defenseman-turned-forward Dustin Byfuglien.  I’m a fan of the Red Wings after having visited my wife’s family in Detroit, and I’d like to see the Sharks do well based on Joe Thornton being one of my favorite players dating back to his days with the Boston Bruins, so it doesn’t really matter to me which of them moves on to the Western Conference Finals, but I would like to see Chicago Blackhawks advance to play one of those teams.  Chicago’s got a great young team, and I’d be excited about either match-up for them.  Plus, Chicago’s a great town that I’d be interested in living in someday.
My Prediction: Chicago wins the series 4 games to 1

Tonight has two games on the slate.
Pittsburgh Penguins look to put the Montreal Canadians further in the hole in game 4 of their series tonight.  The defending Stanley Cup Champion Penguins are winning 2 games to 1, but you can expect the Canadians to fight until they’re completely eliminated as they did in the first round against the Washington Capitals, staving off 3 straight elimination games.  When they played on Tuesday night, the Penguins won 2-0, though it was a 1-0 game until the last minutes of the game.
My Prediction:  Pittsburgh wins the series 4 games to 2.

The San Jose Sharks can eliminate the Detroit Red Wings tonight, but with Game 4 in Hockeytown up in Michigan, you can bet that Detroit is going to be tough to beat.  The Red Wings lost in overtime on Tuesday by a score of 4-3, but that game was in Detroit’s favor late into the contest by a score of 3-1 and the Red Wings couldn’t find the knockout punch to end the game.
My Prediction:  San Jose wins the series 4 games to 2.