Kobe vs. MJ- Identical Plays..awesome!

LeBron James and the Miami Heat, NBA Champs 2012

After 9 seasons with 2 teams, 3 Regular Season MVP, 3 Finals appearance and 1 Decision, LeBron James is finally crowned King of the basketball world as he lead the Miami Heat in capturing the 2012 NBA Championship.

Story:  NBA
           Yahoo Sports
         

King with no Ring wins, King of the Ring lost

It was a big day for sports fans as two highly anticipated matches happened today.

First up was the NBA Game 7 match-up between Eastern Conference rivals Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat. The Heat forced this game via an MVP-like performance by LeBron James in Game 6. It was a statement game for James who was often criticized for folding in big games. Today, the Heat won the game , the Eastern Conference trophy and the right to meet the rising Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City Thunders in the NBA Finals starting on Tuesday, June 12.

After the basketball game, fans switched to watch the boxing match between American Timothy Bradley and Filipino Boxing hero Manny Pacquiao. Many fans, still enthusiastic with the thrilling basketball game, are already expecting a double celebration with an anticipated dominant victory for PacMan. But the end result shocked fans, analysts and observers as Bradley won via Split Decision over the much-heralded Pacquiao.

Two of the judges scored 115-113 with only one judge calling the match for Manny. It was a controversial win that overshadowed the Heat and James victory and one which will surely be a hot topic for the days to come.

I can only say, you win some, you lose some. And others can make you lose even if you clearly won..sadly, this is how the game is played sometimes.

Jeremy Who?!

Jeremy Lin. That's who.

Seems like his name is everywhere these days..Linsanity. Lincredible. Linsational. Call him any Lin nickname you can think of.. And why not?

Everybody knows his story. He is the surprise star of this lockout-shortened NBA season. A perfect story line for a made-for-TV series...even a feel-good Hollywood movie.

A player of Asian descent, who did not receive any athletic scholarship, went undrafted out of college, signed by his hometown team to be used sparingly in NBA games, occasionally sent out to the D-League before being waived off to clear salary space. He eventually landed with the New York Knicks.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Or maybe... the legend is just beginning.



You don't have to be basketball fan..not even a New York Knicks fan..to like this guy. I mean, come on. We all have this fantasy that one day, all our dreams will come true, right?

Then here is one man living out his dreams and enjoying every moment of it. So better believe it.



Suddenly, the NBA is not just about Kobe, LeBron,Wade and Griffins anymore. But definitely, it is becoming a better place.

Shaq Retires ( The Big Retiree)

Image courtesy of NBA.com

Read the article here: Shaq retires after 19 years

Get Ready: NBA Finals 2011

The Dawning of a New Era in NBA Basketball

Only 7 teams had taken turns in winning the NBA championship in the last 20 years (1990-2010), led by Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls with 6 titles in 6 Finals appearances from 1991-1993 and 1996-1998.

They are followed by the LA Lakers with 5 titles out of 8 trips (the most Finals appearance by any team in the last 20 years). They won their three-peat with Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Phil Jackson in 2000,2001 and 2002 and just recently in 2009 and 2010, but without Shaq in the mix.

The San Antonio Spurs and Tim Duncan are next with 4 titles in 4 attempts (1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007).

Hakeem Olajuwon's Houston Rockets won back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995. But they never flourished as a dynasty like one would expect them to be.

In between the dominance of the above teams, three other teams won the title once.

Underrated Detroit Pistons, composed mostly of role players and  underachievers, won the title in 2004 against an All- Star Lakers team with Shaq, Kobe, Karl Malone and Gary Payton. After the title, the Pistons continued to be a tough playoff matchup to anyone but never reached the Finals again.

Shaq joined the Miami Heat and helped Dwyane Wade win their first ever trip to the Finals in 2006 against another Finals first timer Dallas Mavericks. Since the title, the Heat failed to maintain the momentum, slowed down by various roster shakeups and injuries to their key players.

The Boston Celtics formed a new Big Three in Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett and won their newest match-up with their old rival, the Lakers in 2008. They continued to figure as the team to beat in the East, reaching the Conference Finals against eventual winner Orlando Magic in 2009 and losing their Finals rematch with the Lakers last season.

From the seven champions of the last 20 years, the Rockets and Pistons faded in recent years, suffering an almost similar fate- once powerhouse teams now almost dissolved into oblivion.

Of the remaining five, only the Bulls and the Heat are still in the running in the current NBA playoffs.

In the West, No. 1 seed Spurs lost its first round matchup with no. 8 Memphis Grizzlies while Phil Jackson, Bryant and the Lakers' attempt of another three-peat ended with a loud thud when they were swept by Dirk Nowitski and the Dallas Mavericks in their semi-final series.

With the exit of the Spurs and Lakers, the West paved the way for the emergence of a new breed of heroes in Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant and Memphis' Zach Randolph. Already, their series has the making of a playoff classic, with one game decided in an epic triple overtime. And last night, the Grizzlies beat the Thunders to  force a win-or-go home Game 7 this Sunday. The Mavs are eagerly waiting for the outcome of that series as they also want to claim their right to be considered one of the league's elite.

The East is even more interesting. Over the course of last year's offseason, the most sought after free-agent class of LeBron James, Wade and Chris Bosh joined forces in Miami to form a super-team with a common goal in mind- to get some measure of revenge from the Celtics, win the East and ultimately, win a championship or two, especially for James. They've already accomplished their first goal as they emphatically closed out the Celtics, 4 games to 1, in their second round series. Now, fans and haters alike will wait and see if there will be another championship parade in South Beach in June.

Meanwhile, even with the alignment of stars in Miami, the league saw the resurrection of surprise no. 1 overall, the Chicago Bulls. Led by the youngest league MVP Derrick Rose, the Bulls won their match-up with the stubborn Atlanta Hawks to book their first trip to the Eastern Conference Finals since their glory days with Jordan.

With the departure of legendary teams, we may now be looking into the dawning of a new era in the NBA, where old champions lose and fade away while new and younger teams rise into the spotlight. Gone are the Spurs, the Lakers and the Celtics, the teams that virtually have owned the stage for quite some time..Maybe gone for now, but surely they will be back- maybe younger.

maybe even stronger..

Aside from those teams, we may also be bidding farewell to individuals who have shaped the NBA playoffs picture.

Names like Shaquille O'Neal who's not even in uniform in what maybe the last game of his career.

Phil Jackson,who might have called his last game,sadly in the worst possible way, with the Lakers.

Kobe, Garnett, Duncan, Pierce- they are all in the waning years of their careers. But the call of winning at least one more championship before they hang their jerseys is just too loud to ignore. I give them two, maybe three more seasons and they will be gone too.

Yet, the torch must've been passed already to the new generations. Much like how Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird passed it over to Jordan and company.

Yes, there may still be some familiar faces and names around but slowly, the future is taking shape...the future is now and it becomes as exciting as ever.

(Original article by Cy P. Mercado, with external references as linked)

Kobe vs. Jordan: Tale of the Tape at 1072 games

Kobe Bryant is now tied with Michael Jordan for the number of NBA regular season games played at 1,072. Kobe is on his 15th season, Jordan played for a total of 15 seasons over a 19 year period.

CAREER STATS COMPARISON AT 1072 REGULAR SEASON GAMES


Games Played (GP)
Bryant has played 15 consecutive seasons and played 1,072 career games (age 18 to 32).

Jordan played until age 30 then he came back from age 32 to 35, and then he came back from age 38 to 40. In total, he played in 15 different seasons and ended up with 1,072 career games (age 21 to 40).

Advantage: Bryant—Since he has never retired, Bryant will obviously play more career games.

Games Started (GS)

After 1,072 games played, Bryant started 924 games for the Lakers (86 percent).
After 1,072 games played, Jordan started 1,039 games for the Bulls and Wizards (97 percent).

Advantage: Jordan—He was a starter from his first game ever, all the way to his last (except for a few times when he was 40 years old on the Wizards).

Minutes Played (MP) 

After 1,072 games, Bryant totaled 39,088 minutes played (36.5 minutes per game).
After 1,072 games, Jordan totaled 41,010 minutes played (38.3 minutes per game).

Advantage: Jordan—Jordan played over 3,000 minutes as a rookie and over 3,000 minutes at age 40. Bryant averaged 15 minutes a game as a rookie and 34 minutes a game at age 32.

Field Goals Made (FGM)

After 1,072 games, Bryant hit 9,432 field goals (8.8 per game).

After 1,072 games, Jordan hit 12,192 field goals (11.4 per game).

Advantage: Jordan

Field Goals Attempted (FGA)

After 1,072 games, Bryant attempted 20,728 field goals (19.3 per game).
After 1,072 games, Jordan attempted 24,537 field goals (22.9 per game).

Advantage: Jordan—He shot way more and made way more as we previously saw. Are you a gunner if you shoot 50 percent for your career or just the greatest scorer ever?

Field Goals Percentage (FG%)

After 1,072 games, Bryant shot 45.5 percent from the field.
After 1,072 games, Jordan shot 49.7 percent from the field. 

Advantage: Jordan—Those percentage point differences seem small, but over this many games the totals are amazingly different for the two players. In fact, the percentage difference is really big.

Free Throws Made (FTM)

After 1,072 games, Bryant made 6,859 free throws (6.4 per game).
After 1,072 games, Jordan made 7,327 free throws (6.8 per game).

Advantage: Jordan—He took more shots and was, overall, fouled more too.

Free Throws Attempted (FTA)

After 1,072 games, Bryant took 8,190 free throws (7.6 per game).
After 1,072 games, Jordan took 8,772 free throws (8.2 per game).

Advantage: Jordan.

Free Throws Percentage (FT%)

After 1,072 games, Bryant made 83.7 percent of his free throws.
After 1,072 games, Jordan made 83.5 percent of his free throws.

Advantage: Bryant—0.2 percent higher.

3-Points Made (3PM)

After 1,072 games, Kobe made 1,370 three-pointers (1.3 per game).
After 1,072 games, Michael made 581 three-pointers (0.5 per game).

Advantage: Bryant—Only 1.3 made per game for his career? WTF? That's it? Seems like more. That is how perception versus reality works

3-Points Attempted (3PA)

After 1,072 games, Bryant took 4,041 three-pointers (3.8 per game).
After 1,072 games, Jordan took 1,778 three-pointers (1.7 per game).

Advantage: Bryant—Took 3.8 per game and made 1.3 per game. Oh well, not everyone wants to make half of their shots.

3-Points Percentage (3P%)

After 1,072 games, Bryant hit on 33.9 percent of his three-pointers.
After 1,072 games, Jordan hit on 32.7 percent of his three-pointers.

Advantage: Bryant—After all the three-pointers, he tops MJ by 1.2 percent. Wow. Maybe he should've taken less.

Offensive Rebounds (OR)

After 1,072 games, Bryant accumulated 1,266 offensive rebounds (1.2 per game).
After 1,072 games, Jordan accumulated 1,668 offensive rebounds (1.6 per game).

Advantage: Jordan—Jordan was a tad shorter than Bryant, but he had more hops and followed up on shots more.

Defensive Rebounds (DR)

After 1,072 games, Bryant grabbed 4,406 defensive rebounds (4.1 per game).
After 1,072 games, Jordan grabbed 5,004 defensive rebounds (4.7 per game).

Advantage: Jordan—He was once Defensive Player of the Year, so defensive rebounds for MJ is also a given.

Total Rebounds (REB)

After 1,072 career games, Kobe grabbed 5,672 total rebounds (5.3 per game).
After 1,072 career games, Michael grabbed 6,672 total rebounds (6.2 per game).

Advantage: Jordan—Exactly 1,000 more rebounds in exactly the same amount of games.

Assists (A)

After 1,072 games, Bryant dished off for 5,020 assists (4.7 per game).
After 1,072 games, Jordan dished off for 5,633 assists (5.3 per game).

Advantage: Jordan—Career high 8.0 assists per game in 1988-89, to go with eight rebounds and 32.5 PPG.

Steals (S)

After 1,072 games, Bryant recorded 1,617 steals (1.5 per game).
After 1,072 games, Jordan recorded 2,514 steals (2.3 per game).

Advantage: Jordan—He led the NBA in steals a record (tied with Stockton) three times.

Blocks (B)

After 1,072 games, Bryant blocked 569 shots (0.5 per game).
After 1,072 games, Jordan blocked 893 shots (0.8 per game).

Advantage: Jordan—Recorded more blocked shots than any guard in NBA history to this very day.

Turnovers (TO)

After 1,072 games, Bryant turned the ball over 3,133 times (2.9 per game).
After 1,072 games, Jordan turned the ball over 2,924 times (2.7 per game).

Advantage: Jordan

Personal Fouls (PF)

After 1,072 games, Bryant has fouled 2,822 times (2.6 average).
After 1,072 games, Jordan fouled 2,783 times (2.6 average).

Advantage: Jordan

Total Points (PTS)

After 1,072 games, Bryant scored 27,093 points (25.3 per game).
After 1,072 games, Jordan scored 32,292 points (30.1 per game).

Advantage: Jordan

CONCLUSION:

If arguments are to be made based on these numbers alone, Jordan remains the greatest ever. But greatness can't be measured by numbers alone. If Kobe has to match or even surpass his idol, he still has a lot of chances to do it.

The numbers do not include their career playoff stats, but Jordan was six-for-six in the NBA Finals with six NBA Finals MVPs and Bryant was five-for-seven in the NBA Finals with two NBA Finals MVPs.

Credits to source: bleacherreport.com

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