After watching the Lakers last season, nothing surprises me
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Around this time last year I was preparing for midterms at the University of Southern California, managing a long-distance relationship and preparing to embark on one of the greatest assignments ever.
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That the Lakers are now bumping up against the N.B.A.âs top tier â with Kobe Bryant firmly at the controls â is a surprise to everyone except perhaps Bryant.
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The NBA finals continue to draw far fewer viewers than last year.
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This year's National Basketball Association playoffs recently provided not one but two examples of a very interesting facet of human decision making. Even if you are not a sports fan, these moments tell you something about human nature.
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Kobe Bryant knew there were going to be games like this. No longer surrounded by fellow future Hall of Famers Shaquille O'Neal, Karl Malone and Gary Payton, Bryant and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers couldn't rally. Tim Duncan had a double-double, and San Antonio won 105-96 Friday night in the teams' first meeting since the Lakers eliminated the Spurs from the Western Conference semifinals last season.
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Seldom has an NBA regular-season game drawn the attention of Saturday&#39;s Heat-Lakers matchup. And when it was over, most agreed that Shaq-Kobe I had lived up to expectations.
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At the Jazz and Laker game, I realized there was something noticeably absent from the rafters. No, not the name of a waste management company, we have one of those. It was Adrian Dantley's retired jersey.
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LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal made sure their teams wouldn't be pushed around again by rivals. There was nothing Kobe Bryant could do to help the Lakers, however.
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The shots kept clanging off the rim, one after another. Dunks, layups, 3-pointers. It didn't matter. Nothing was going in.
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Squandering fourth-quarter leads was supposed to be part of the Celtics' past. Didn't they put all that nonsense behind them with a double-overtime defeat of the Clippers and overtime dismantling of the Cavaliers? Didn't those wins prove Boston could play tough until the end of road games? Weren't fans witnessing progress before their very eyes throughout December?
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History tells us that these NBA Finals are, essentially, over. In 60 previous NBA Finals, only three times has a team come from a 2-0 deficit to prevail. Cleveland, which has led for 96 seconds over two games, does not appear to have what's needed to be the fourth. That's being kind, really. The Cavaliers look hopelessly ...
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Steve Francis and Shaquille O&#39;Neal enjoyed big debuts with their new teams. Kobe Bryant found out he can&#39;t carry the Lakers all by himself.
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When the Lakers were dismantled last summer, the Sacramento Kings thought their biggest rivalry was finished. Turns out Kobe Bryant and his new teammates are ready to start it up again.
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It&#39;s hard to imagine, but the league that gave us college basketball&#39;s last two national champions is about to get a lot better.
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Dwyane Wade was the undisputed star of last season's NBA finals.
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Ron Artest&#39;s season on the brink finally toppled over the edge this past weekend. But was anyone really surprised? If you follow the NBA, you had to have seen this coming.
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No LeBron James, no problem for Cleveland. Life without Kobe Bryant wasn't so easy for the Lakers.