We’re all old enough to remember the time when there was only one important name in basketball, and it had an “air” in the middle. But lets be honest, while we may have watched some Bulls games with our families, we were too young to truly appriciate the rise of the greatest basketball player the world has seen. Watching every game from all 6 of the Bulls’ runs to NBA championships on ESPNclassic (which I pretty much have) pales in comparisson to watching the games on TV, discussing them with friends before, during, and after, and overhearing people talk about it on the street everyday. It is for that reason that I strongly encourage EVERYONE WHO CAN to watch the NBA finals this weekend and next week.For those who don’t know, this year’s NBA finals are between the San Antonio Spurs and the Cleveland Cavaliers and game 1 is on Thursday, June 7th. A little background on the teams, before I start on the man of the hour; The San Antonio Spurs are a heavy favorite in this series largely due to their experience and depth. They are led by 3-time NBA Finals MVP Tim Duncan, who can dominate a game offensively and also provides a strong shot-blocking presence on the defensive end. The Spurs are known for their lock-down defense that they play on every single posession for the other team (an increasingly rare quality of NBA teams today) and a team-oriented offense that can come at you from anywhere on the court. San Antonio won the 1999, 2001, and 2005 NBA championships all under Duncan’s leadership and playing the same, what some critique as boring, undeniably winning style of basketball.

Meeting the mighty Spurs in the 2007 Finals are the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers are a young team built around a couple of key veterans and their one superstar (if that even describes him). They are like the Spurs in that they pride themselves on defense first. They are led by Lebron James, a basketball phenom since the age of 12, and the current man who many consider to be Air Jordan’s heir apparent. I say “the current man” because there have been many before him to be cast as the next Jordan by fans and analysts. Grant Hill, Jerry STACKhouse, Vince Carter, and Kobe Bryant have all been the man who, at one point or another, was a consensus as the most likely to match Jordan’s amazing career. So far none of them have matched what His Airness was able to accomplish (Kobe has come the closest, but his 3 NBA titles were all in the shadow of Shaquille O’Neal and his team has had little success with him as the focal point).

So here we are again, another candidate to be the new “greatest basketball player to ever live” on the court, and excitement about the NBA in the streets once more. I ask, are we setting ourselves up for a let-down? Could Lebron POSSIBLY be THAT good? And what if the Cavs lose? Does Lebron really deserve the comparissons, so much attention and so much praise before winning a single NBA title? The answers are, in order: yes, yes, Mrs. James will cry, and yes. For elaboration about these questions and my answers to them, please visit imma kiiiiiiiiiiing (the re-up), coming Wednesday.