Kobe's so good it's hard to bet against him. It is easy, though, to root against him.

I'll take the Celtics. Please, Ray Allen, don't try to be a hero and just pass the damn ball.

No matter what happens, this should be a better Finals than Spurs/Pistons....

As a Suns fan, I'm supposed to root against the Lakers. But I like seeing Kobe win--he's such a bizarrely flawed person. I like how it's put in this Slate article: the author wonders if "the greatest talent in the basketball universe is merely an expression of insecurity."

And I like to root for anything that gives the average sport-writer fits or that defies the fans' desire for the puritanical, all-American sports hero. I'm also really, really hoping that Kobe steals the show from Lebron in the coming Olympics and leads the US to a gold medal.

I'm too torn up about the NFL playoffs to pay attention to Basketball.

Err, make that NHL

I find myself not caring at all. I liked basketball in the 80s and early 90s, but then they lost me. When I occasionally try to watch a game, I don't know who anybody is anymore, except Yao Ming.

I guess I'd like to see The Celtics win, cuz the Lakers are kind of annoying. But I'm happy just to see some good games. Because friends, in the end, after that final buzzer rings out, and the nets have been removed, the coliseum falls silent and the last autograph has been signed, the cheers of victory and weeps of defeat have long subsided, after the last popcorn box has been swept up and the networks have switched back to their normal late night schedule, no matter what happens in these evenings to come, one truth remains - the great sport of basketball wins.

I see the Lakers, as much as I hate them, in six. Boston will probably win tonight, lose the next one at home, win the middle one on the road, and then the Lakers will take the title in Boston. I can see Boston losing all three in LA (making it Lakers in five), I imagine that if LA wins 2, 3, and 4 there's no way Kobe, as much as I dislike him, lets it go back to Boston.

In general I think they need to reseed the whole playoffs (throwing out the East/West rivalry nonsense) and get rid of 2-3-2 for the finals. Air travel has been around now for how many years? The teams all have their own jets, it's not like a bus trip is happening between cities...

Err, make that NHL

Wings are the Stanley Cup champs, yo!

Wait, does the B stand for basketball or baseball?

*treepour ducks for cover*

I don't know this year's Lakers team well, because that team turned me off years back and I am incapable of giving a shit about them now. They have been a bunch of prancing, overpaid, superstar dandies since their late 80s heyday when they earned their victories as a team. It is easy to hate them and very hard to admire or look up to them. Someone like Kobe comes along with incredible pure athletic ability and you have to recognize it but it only goes so far. Is the game nothing more than big money buying born talent? Doesn't spirit or wiles count for anything anymore? Maybe not.

I have not enjoyed Lakers basketball since the days of knee-high Michael Cooper socks. James Worthy, Byron Scott, AC Green... these were great players I admired as a kid (not to mention Kareem and Magic). The likes of Rick Fox and Robert Horry just make a borderline character like Kobe more slimy.

the greatest talent in the basketball universe

Jordan's still in the universe, has twice as many rings, and is a better defensive player. Buh-bye.