By RACHEL COOK Sportpinion
Football season just began and baseball is reaching the height of its season. But for those of you like me, we are still anxiously tapping our feet, awaiting the greatest season of them all: basketball season.
This past finals was an experience that can only be aligned with that of a ’97 finals. Although LeBron James did not have the flu, he was still able to lead his team full of scrubs to a six game series; his two other leading men being out due to injury.
Andre Iguodala was named the Finals MVP after an unparalleled performance and Steph Curry air-balled more threes than he made. Hopefully this will end all the hype surrounding him in the league.
The post season saw just as much drama as always, especially between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Dallas Mavericks. With the apparent discourse between Clippers players DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul, the Mavericks swooped in and successfully persuaded free-agent, Texas-native, Jordan to pack his bags and move to Dallas. Clippers fans unanimously cried, knowing that all hopes of a post-season run went with him.
Leave it to Blake Griffin to save the day! Blake flew to DeAndre’s home in Texas and persuaded him to break his contract with the Mavericks and re-sign with the Clippers. Well, lets just say that Clippers fans once again have hope, and Mavs fans really hate DeAndre these days.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will try as always to be a legitimate contender. However, until Kevin Durant realizes that he cannot do it without Russell Westbrook, they will always lose out short.
Kevin Garnett returned to his humble beginnings with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the offseason. The Timberwolves organization is extremely excited believing that KG will reignite what Kevin Love left and it will be like the old Kevin Garnett. Well they’re wrong. Garnett is old as hell. After double ankle surgery two years ago, he isn’t contributing to anybody’s team. But best of luck to a legend!
Speaking of legends... and being old... the Spurs are still at it. When you get to the point where each year you wonder, is this going to be the last? are they finally going to hang it up? Then it’s probably time for you to call it a career, boys. Don’t get me wrong: Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker may be the most legendary big three of all time alongside head coach Gregg Popovich. However, the game has gotten too fast-paced for them, and it gets old when you watch Pop have to revert to the ‘hack-a-Jordan’ strategy in order to keep Duncan on the court.
Jahlil Okafor is hoping to spark the flame with the Philadelphia 76ers, but lets be honest, he will probably end up like most one-and-done rookies and will tear an ACL or just not live up to the hype.
My least favorite team in the league, the Chicago Bulls, will probably once again believe that this is the year for Derrick Rose and put all of their faith on him. Rose will proceed to make a layup and the media will go crazy throwing him up there with names like MJ, Malone, Kareem, and Magic.
On the subject of Magic, the Los Angeles Lakers will once again be a team full of scrubs that will probably finish just below.500 on the season. Yes Kobe is back, but Kobe is old, slow and far past his prime. Kobe was phenomenal in a different era of basketball, but the game has changed and Kobe has yet to recognize that change.
A team to keep an eye out for this year is the Portland Trailblazers. With some solid acquisitions in the offseason and an unmatched point guard in Damian Lillard, the Trailblazers are a force to be reckoned with. LaMarcus Aldridge also had a career year last year and we will be expecting even greater things from him this upcoming year.
So to wrap things up, the most unexciting team this upcoming season will probably be the Philadelphia 76ers because Jahlil Okafor will not last. Whether it is due to injury, hype or the organization itself, just trust me when I say, he will not last. The most exciting team to look for next season will by far be the Cleveland Cavaliers. As unfortunately cliché as that is, it is true. With everyone returning, and hopefully having a fully healthy Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love along side of LeBron, there is no stopping them.
