Kobe and the Lakers now await the winner of Cleveland/Orlando  and it’s pretty obvious who all world wants to see come out of that series. If Lebron can somehow pull off game 6 tonight in Orlando and go back to Cleveland for a game 7 the dream matchup will be one step closer.  The thought of a Kobe vs. Lebron in the Finals is enough to wet the appetite of even the most gorged basketball enthusiast.  On the other hand, Kobe vs. Howard is something I think that just won’t fill my basketball hunger.  Yes, Howard is a complete beast who is on tier two under Kobe and Lebron.  However, seeing him go up against Kobe (or really Andrew Bynum) just doesn’t do it for me.   Please Lebron, tell me your bag of tricks isn’t empty just yet. -DM   FantasyTrophies.com

Manny Ramirez is currently 4th in the NL voting for starting outfielders in the  MLB All-Star game and  I, for one, hope the fans keep it up an actually get this guy in the line-up.  The All-Star game is a complete joke that Bud Selig has tried to turn into his version of the NBA All-Star game.  Getting Manny in would be a great statement to just how ridiculous the game has become. The NBA treats it’s All-Star game for what it is- a nothing game with no defense and an excuse for guys to play street ball indoors. A game with nothing on the line but a wafer thin sliver of pride.  Baseball, on the other hand, has put home field advantage  in the World Series up for grabs and  decided that the way to get people to watch the game is to put more  of an emphasis on winning.  Absolute nonsense!  Fans, for years,  would continually vote in the same guys  even if they didn’t deserve it (insert Cal Ripken) and many players used every excuse they could to try and get out of it.  Hey Bud, here is an idea.  Have players, coaches, and writers vote for the All-Stars and award the guys who truly deserve the prestige. Then  guys will start showing  up again and may even play hard.  Knowing that will never be done, I guess all I can do is hope Manny gets in the game and wins the MVP so that Bud would have to give him the award.  Now that would drive up ratings.

Lebron James’ days as King are over, he has now become basketball God.  I’m sorry, but the comparison to Kobe Bryant should now be a thing of the past.  Kobe is a great scorer and defender, but when it comes to pure basketball genius and dominance in almost all aspects of the game-Lebron is alone at the top.  Now I’ll admit that I’m a biased Cleveland fan, but  when I try and take off the Cleveland hat and just look at the facts, Lebron is a matchup nightmare that is only going to get scarier as the years go on.  6′ 8″ and 250 lbs. of muscle that can pass, shoot, rebound and defend is just not right and has NEVER been seen before.  Mike Brown should even split his coach of the year award with Lebron since the guy is pretty much an additional coach on the floor.

 Watching him have something to do with 32 straight possessions against the Magic at the end of game 5 ranks up there with some of the greatest performances in the history of the game.  If he can pull off 3 in a row and reach the finals for the second time in his career would be legendary and instantly put him in the same category as some of the greats.   So take it in basketball fans and realize that you are watching an athlete that has NEVER graced this planet before and may never again.