Eight points? EIGHT? Last year, when Lebron James scored 8 points in game 4 of the 2011 NBA finals (Miami Heat vs Dallas Mavericks), all I could do was shake my head. Eight points? Really? The more I watched James' disappearing act, the more I started to question if I was watching a heated competition between the best basketball players on the planet or a well orchestrated television drama series. It made me start to wonder if the NBA was rigged or fixed.
When Derrick Rose, the Chicago Bulls star player, went down with a torn ACL, I found myself once again doubting the reality of the NBA. Rose goes down and within 20 seconds, without having any clue as to whether Rose was suffering from a torn ACL or a charlie horse, the announcer exclaims "Oohh my goodness", as if he was bleeding profusely or losing consciousness. As this goes on, the other announcer emphasizes how devastating it is to see Rose holding his knee "late in a game that's already been decided." The announcers trade remarks back and forth such as, "why was he in the game?" and "oh my!" Like anyone else, I too hoped Rose was okay, however I couldn't help but notice that the announcers seemed to be urging me towards much more concern than that which I naturally felt inclined to feel.
The announcers continued on to state that there was "some give" on his knee, and that it "went in." Quite frankly, I can see no such thing. They then go on to predict the future and the effect that his injury will have on the remainder of the Eastern Conference Finals.
See the video here(real or rigged?):
Fast forward to the 2012 NBA finals, and I'm left wondering if it simply wasn't a song and dance put on for drama and entertainment purposes. I'm wondering if last year was simply Lebron "paying his dues", and the seemingly, never-ending media ridicule, was nothing more than his initiation or hazing as you may call it. Perhaps, in the world of sports entertainment, it was already known that in 2012, the red carpet would be rolled out for "King James" to take the thrown and finally be crowned as a champion.
Rigged or real, either way you slice it, the Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder to, once again, become NBA champions. Lebron James finally has his ring and the "big three" have accomplished, at least part 1, of their mission. I suppose all of the Lebron haters will have to let go of the "ring" jokes and stick to the "traveling" and "hairline" jabs.
