The ball is so big and the field is so small. And they should give the players some clothes.

You know, my first thought (with all the trade nonsense) was: If Kobe is so good why can't he do that? Doesn't he have better talent around him?

Then I realized it's the Eastern conference.

I agree it was awe-inspiring. But I'll be much more impressed if he can do it against the Spurs.

Kobe doesn't really have better talent around him. Lamar is a good player, but he's often hurt and doesn't come to play every night. Oh, and Kobe's got three rings. Yeah, he had the Disel with him, but still, three rings is three rings and he made plenty of big shots along the way to winning those rings.

3 But Wade also showed that having Diesel (even an aged one) is a big equalizer especially when you want to drive to the hole.

Lamar would have to be the third best player of the two teams, right? All I'm saying is Kobe prob has better talent around him and he still can't get past the first round. So either the Eastern conference really is woeful (good chance) and/or Kobe is great but not phenomenal (I might be biased here).

Lebron is showing something, but with him the greatness comps have been overblown and I'm just not sure it's warranted, even now. One week and I might be with you.

2 Then I realized it's the Eastern conference. agree it was awe-inspiring. But I'll be much more impressed if he can do it against the Spurs.

??? Ummmm...This was against the Detroit Pistons. I'm sorry, but, we are talking about relatively the same core '03-'04 champs and '04-'05 finalist. The eastern conference may not be better than the western conference, but I think you can say the top teams in the EC can hold hold their own if they won the title 2 of the past 4 years.

Did you even see the game last night? You wouldn't be saying that if you watched every minute. Guy was insane. Be impressed. All hail the king!

5 This ain't the same Pistons team that won those titles.

Isn't it like Jordan in 1991 against the Pistons? It was the same team, except it wasn't. Even then Jordan had to go through Ewing and the Knicks, Barkley and the 76ers, then the Pistons. And then he got the aging Lakers!

Sorry, I'm impressed but not nearly as if he does the same single-handed routine against the Spurs.

Something tells me that the NBA, ESPN/ABC, and Nike will all be very, VERY happy to have Bron-Bron in the Finals, as opposed to the Pistons.

Based on my limited knowledge of pro basketball, and many years of reading Bill Simmons' basketball columns, something tells me there may be some questionable officiating over the next game (or two, if it goes that far).

1 Clothes, eh? Remember when Isiah was an analyst on NBC in the 90s? He's one of the few guys I've ever seen pull off a bright purple suit. Dude looked sharp in everything.

Since he took over the Knicks, for some reason, he hasn't looked so good.

&!@%#&$^#* Cavs! Not to take anything away from James, because (judging only on the highlights) he was truly, genuinely spectacular, but I still haven't forgiven that team for eliminating my pathetic little Nets.

I know, I know -- the Nets sucked this year. But Jason Kidd played out of his mind and deserves a ^#&P@*$! ring. Which he will now probably never get in Jersey.

("Deserves" referring to on-court accomplishments only, here, obviously).

2 6 Unbelieveable.

Lebron had a nice performance; not bad for the second best player in the league.

man...talk about alot of haters today.

Lebron will most likely help the Cavs to pull it off against the Pistons, but I still think Spurs have a better chance at the Championship.

That said, maybe Lebron can transfer to baseball for the summer just for kicks. The Yankees could really use anyone's help...

11 I'm just sick of all the King and Chosen crap. How many guys has that been said about? Let's see him prove it - that's all I ask. Beating the Spurs is possible if he plays like last night. If so, I will readily join you in a hail and I'll even genuflect.

13 so basically ignore every remarkable feat he does along the way until he beats the spurs. nice...

all I am saying is...just give the guy a standing O like he deserves for that fine heck of a performance last night at age friggin 22...

I am pretty sure he is the first person ever that has been referred to as the King (other than Bernard King) or chosen one. Your tolerance must be really low for players of his calibur...

This is a worthy digression...

14 I agree completely. Personally, I get tired of the "show me the rings" argument that passes for intelligent analysis. Last night, James put on one of the best performances in NBA history. I don't think even Jordan has a game that matches James' performance last night. I am hoping the Cavs win the championship just so I don't have to listen to the same inane criticism that dogged Peyton Manning for all these years.

15 Amen! The whole championship=great player argument is getting old. Players can be great despite not having championships. Remember we are talking about team sports here. There are a lot of factors that go along with winning titles. To top it all off these arguments are often made before players reach the age of 30.

Also keep in mind LeBron could have been a senior in college this year and when MJ was his age he was a rookie. Give the kid time.

While Giambi may represent an offensive loss, just looking through all the comments today illuminates the silver lining in his injury, the Yankess suddenly have much more flexibility. Wouldn't be surprised if the team plays better.

It was just enjoyment to watch last night. I don't think I remember a time where I said, "Oh My God!" that many times. Other than the Charles Smith incident that we dare do not speak of.

Retrospect, this performance will probably be never replicated again, but I sure hope it gets trumped sometime in the future. It's good watching feats like this happen in sports in general, regardless who does it, because you can actually say to your kids one day...I watched that dawwwwwwwg!

4 Lamar Odom probably would have been the third best player on the Shaq/Kobe teams, yes. But look at the rest of this year's typical Laker starting lineup... Walton? Parker? Kwame Brown?? It's hardly Fisher, Horry, and Fox.

What's even worse is that, in the triangle, those third, fourth, and fifth options have two jobs: Play D, Hit open shots created by the primary and secondary. All the guys on the first list excelled at that, whereas the members of the second list? Not so much.

This is all to say that Kobe is the same player, maybe a little older and a hair slower. The quality of the complementary skill sets of the players around him has plummeted. Losing the Diesel doesn't help either, but I can understand Buss not wanting to pay Shaq $20,000,000 for 41-60 games.

14 Where in what I said above does it say to "ignore every remarkable feat"?

Damn, if that's not a bastardization of what I said I don't know what is.

It's not about the rings. It's about beating great competition. The gauntlet Jordan faced leading up to and including 1991 doesn't come close to what James has faced. Let's see him beat a great team all by himself (which Detroit isn't now) before he's annointed anything, as the padwan tried to do in 5.

19 The comp was between the Cavs and the Lakers. I'd argue that Lamar is the third best player among those two teams. Yet one is one win from the Finals and the other lost in the first round.

I just have two comments.

If I'm Kobe, I demand a trade so long as Mitch Kupchack has a job.

I was very happy to see Detroit lose. Larry Brown has his issues, but if you think firing Larry Brown in lieu of Flip fucking Sauders is prudent, you have no idea what you are doing as a franchise.

From a non-basketball fan, what's so impressive about 18-for-33 shooting?

21 Wait... You're saying Lamar is the third best player on the Lakers AND the Cavs?

24 And even if that is what you are saying, my response is that two guys can't play defense against five.

Can we just agree that the East is horrible? I swear their plays look like they're from a JV team. SA will destroy whomever gets in their way because A) Duncan is a beast B) they'll be well-rested and healthy and C) head and shoulders abover either opponent in coaching and execution.

26 and I believe I just created a new word. above is what I meant.

23 The fact that he single-handely played offense from the end of the 4th quarter through 2 OTs. The man scored 29 of the Cav's last 30 points. Everyone in the arena knew that James was the Cavs only option and he still won the game...dunks, lay-ups, jumpers and off balance threes. James was so unbelievable last night, that I was literally cheering loudly. By the way, I stopped following the NBA about 10 years ago and only put the game on because the Indians announcers brought it up.

because the Indians announcers brought it up

Was it one of those, "Due to contractual obligations, I can't tell you to change the channel, but there's a really good game going on on another network." I get a kick out of those...

26 The Eastern conference in general is horrible. The Pistons and Cavs and a few other teams are not. They do play the western confernce throughout the season if I am not mistaken and I do believe they do not lose everytime they play a team from them. It's a little exaggerated to say that that the cavs and pistons are horrible competition just because the conference they come from sucks ass. The Pistons have one of the better defenses in the whole NBA. They are just talented teams stuck in an unfortunate conference, in an unfortunate imbalance of talent, in a lopsided league.

Their team's, as more importantly their individual acccomplishments shouldnt have to be disregarded because of that fact.

30 Again with that bastardization...

No one said of the East "that the cavs and pistons are horrible competition".

Me, personally, I think the Cavs and Spurs are good teams, but not great teams. If Lebron plays like he did last night, the Cavs can beat anyone. But to me, right now, that's a big if.

The test is the Spurs.

30 I'll give you that the Pistons are a good team, but you cannot tell me that the Cavs are. Yes, they have a phenomenal player on the court (one who can take over games and has the ability to be unstoppable) but the rest of that team is barely adequate.
I'm a Warriors fan. For a while the Wizards were known as the "Warriors of the East" in these parts (Arenas, Jamison) and handily made the playoffs, while just a year prior couldn't even get a sniff of them in the West. It wasn't the coaching or the complimentary players. It was an inferior league, IMO.
Anyhoo, LeBron's performance is one of my biggest issues with the NBA. The guys are so talented, but for some reason they take nights off with regularity. I'm not sure why that is, but it's become so rare that I see guys giving 100% that I wandered from the NBA all together. Plus the game is alive and well in the NCAA.

I agree, seems like there is something more at stake in the NCAA. Could it be pride? Or could be that we are comparing a 30 game season with a rougly 60 game season. Who knows. Overall, giving 100% efforts is what makes teams special. It would be nice to see that everyday from every team, every player, in any sport, nonetheless, the NBA. You should come back. The NBA is not that bad...come on. At least for the dancers.

33 I'm still on the fringe. The GSWs have broken my heart many times in the last decade (until this year, God bless them).
The playoffs are great. I just wish they didn't string them out for soooooo long.
And I'll never diss the dancers. Me and a buddy got to meet the whole GSW squad before a game when I was a young'un. I've been hooked ever since.

28 "The man scored 29 of the Cav's last 30 points. Everyone in the arena knew that James was the Cavs only option"

The first part sounds like he ought to have passed more. If the second is true, then ok.

35 Not really, because the other thing that everyone else knew was no one else was going to come close to making a shot. In fact, I think more "other Cavs"' shots were blocked than actually made it to the rim.

Dag?

33 I snooped around and found out that the average length of an NBA player's career is less than four years, roughly the same as a college player, but with much more superior talent and competition, not to mention the length of a season, blahblahblah... I agree it has to be pride for the most part, because most college athletes live among and attend classes with their fans and school associates, so there's more at stake personally and community-wise. (I wonder when's the last time a New York pro athlete lived in the same borough they play home games in?)

1 :)

35 Look at it this way: Everyone in the world but Pat Riley knew that John Starks was not the option in 1994.

Well, maybe he knew, but didn't care since he was leaving anyway...

I can't believe people are hating on Lebron's performance, and I'm someone that has been a little skeptical of him. The Cavs literally had NOBODY that could make a shot during the last 3 periods (4th quarter and the two OTs). It had nothing to do with Lebron not passing to them, his teammates were the most hapless offensive four in history.

The only individual Jordan offensive performance that I would rate as comparable would be when he went off on the Celtics in 86, and even those Bulls, as bad as they were, were able to make the playoffs with him injured most of the year. In his prime, Jordan at least had guys like Paxson, Pippen, Grant, Kukoc, and Kerr that he could go to for some help. Defensively, the Cavs played very solidly, but offensively, they were a mess.

At this point and time if I had to build a team, Jordan would be the guy I'd choose, but Lebron is getting up there.