The NBA playoffs need help. The league's own version of George Mason, the NCAA's 2006 Cinderella, would spice up two months of playoff boredom. But who fits the slipper?
The NBA playoffs are about as exciting as reruns of the Lawrence Welk show. Two months of methodical, ho-hum play saunters by like a long, cold winter, with few truly thrilling games for even the most ardent fans to enjoy.
What the NBA could use, in order to add a little zest to its year-end tournament, is a sleeper - a real Cinderella. The NBA needs its own version of George Mason.
The mid-majors' NCAA Tournament darling, George Mason stormed through its first four games, leaving a string of previous NCAA champions in its wake, and bringing the emotions of college hoop fans to full boil. Even casual sports fans beat a deep path to the Patriots' bandwagon, during their remarkable run to the Final Four.
Americans love Cinderella stories. Throughout history, they've thrilled to the likes of James Braddock carrying a nation on his shoulders, as he came from the depths of depression and years of retirement to capture the heavyweight title; The New York Jets, circa Broadway Joe Namath, shocking the football world with a win over a three-touchdown favorite in the Super Bowl; and Seabiscuit, a tiny racehorse, who reminded us that anyone can overcome extreme odds, while outrunning a host of bigger and stronger thoroughbreds.
NBA basketball, more than any other sport, needs a Cinderella story. The game lacks baseball's history and football's fury. There are stunning athletes - LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade and Steve Nash, to name a few. The opportunity for individual explosiveness is lessoned, though, by the half-court game that the playoffs invariably deliver. And the NBA's best team, Detroit, plays a fundamentally sound, hardnosed style that is far from awe-inspiring.
So, what or who is to save the NBA playoffs this year? The two best candidates for the NBA's version of George Mason are the Cavaliers and the Clippers. These two franchises are the league's version of baseball's Cubs or football's Saints.
The Cavs and Clips are perennial losers, the dregs of sports, but they finally have a chance to shine.
It would certainly liven things up if either of these two, or heaven forbid both, were to win in the first round and throw a scare into a second round opponent with a win or two early in that series.
The NBA might suddenly be faced with excited fans and shockingly-high TV ratings. A steady diet of LeBron James and Elton Brand is just what the sports doctor ordered for a stuffy, brutally-slow NBA playoff season.
And to really spice things up, how about LeBron and the Cavaliers facing Nash and the Suns in the NBA Finals? David versus Goliath in the NBA playoffs could turn the sports world's biggest yawner into legitimate fun and frolic.
Meanwhile, Braddock, Namath and Seabiscuit might have to make room for another great Cinderella.
