NBA Finals

Lakers-Celtics again, 21 years later.

This pleases the league like nothing else. Did they rig it? Obviously. How else do you explain the Spurs plane suddenly malfunctioning right after their game 7 win over New Orleans? I'm guessing David Stern made the call sometime in the third quarter, and Stu Jackson worked feverishly with a wrench to delay the plane for 10 hours.

And, of course, Joey Crawford gets the call to ref the pivotal game 4. Not game 1 or game 2, since they were in LA and the Spurs were already tired from the plane "malfunction", the Lakers were likely gonna win anyway and didn't need any more divine Stern intervention. Game 3 obviously the Spurs would come back and win. Defending champs don't go out 4-0, so Stern wisely chose game 4 for Crawford, and the rest is history.

Of course hindsight if 20/20 and pretty much I'm still bitter that the Spurs lost since I chose them to go all the way, forgetting that it was an even year.

So who wins this year? The Celtics were the best team all season, Kobe was the best player all season. The Celtics have struggled in the playoffs, the Lakers have breezed through. There's no doubt it's the Year of the Mamba.

Prediction: Lakers in 5.