With the NBA playoffs on our doorstep, if we believe everything we read, there's no reason to play anything before the finals. Lets just throw LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in a steel cage and its on. And although that appears as the likely scenario as these playoffs are about to commence, I'm going to tell you why I think that will NOT happen come the start of June.



I must confess that in the East, its virtually impossible to make a case for anyone but the Cleveland Cavaliers. The defending champion Celtics will have too large a mountain to climb in beating the Cavs on the road in the absence of Kevin Garnett. They might not even make it to Cleveland without Garnett. If this were the NCAA tournament, the selection committee would lower their seeding. And the Orlando Magic are not quite ready to take the Cavs. I sit here giggling like a mental patient thinking about Courtney Lee trying to guard LeBron in a playoff games in Cleveland. So before I turn this column into a LeBron love fest, let me get to the point.



The Lakers will not win the West. I think I'm going to say it again for effect.....



The Lakers will not win the West. As a matter of fact, there are four other teams in the West that are more than capable of going to the finals besides for the Lakers. This year's version of the Western Conference is too strong and too talented for it to be anything but wide open.



The Denver Nuggets are starting the playoffs as the #2 team in the West. They went 1-3 against the Lakers this season. One of the losses was before the Billups/Iverson trade. They can be a tough matchup for the Lakers. The Lakers do not have a point guard to match up with Billups. Kobe would actually have to play defense in this series because no on else on the Lakers can guard Carmelo Anthony. Denver's athletic big men, Kenyon Martin and Nene, match up well with the Lakers' bigs. And Nuggets coach George Karl is a good enough coach to neutralize some of the bench advantage that Phil Jackson brings. The one player who can tip this series towards the Lakers is Lamar Odom. He's too big for Anthony to guard and too quick for Martin. But Phil just loooooves Andrew Bynum, so if Odom's hightops gather dust on the bench, the Nuggets are right there.



The Houston Rockets are starting the playoffs as the # 5 team in the West. They lost all four times they played the Lakers this year. I will not let that statistical anomaly deter my analysis. The Rockets have the best Kobe Bryant defender in basketball in Shane Battier. They also match up well with the Laker bigs. Sure they can't guard the Laker bigs, but the Laker bigs can't guard them either. Their lack of a very strong point guard does not hurt them against the Lakers because the Lakers don't have one. And because of their size and great perimeter defense, they can wear the Lakers down in a long series. If this series occurs, it will come down to Bryant's willingness to play team basketball because we know the Rockets will. Kobe will need to spend time guarding Ron Artest, because no one else on the Lakers can. And Kobe will have to share the basketball, because there will be times that Battier keep him from even seeing the basket. This is also a potential series where Phil Jackson's bench advantage will be somewhat neutralized. Rick Adelman is a good coach in his own right and has been going head to head against Phil for years, first in the 91 Bulls-Blazers finals and then in those epic Laker-Sacramento King battles of the early 2000s. This Rocket team is bulit for the playoffs. As you can see, I'm not paying mych attention to their winless regualr season versus the Lakers.

The San Antonio Spurs are the # 3 team in the West. They lost 2 of 3 games against the Lakers in the regular season. The whole world has dismissed them because they will not have Manu Ginobili for the playoffs. In years passed, this would have been devastating for them, but this year they are in a position to replace his clutch production. In typical Spurs fashion, they acquired Roger Mason Jr under the radar in the offseason. He has hit some clutch shots for the Spurs this year and has particularly elevated his game since Ginobili went down for the season. That, in addition to the maturation of Tony Parker could make the Spurs a ton of trouble for the Lakers. And even though the Spurs have no one who can guard Kobe, the Lakers have no one who can guard Parker. The Spurs are deeper than they've been in the past. And Tim Duncan gives the Laker bigs fits. Also, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is probably the one coach who can outcoach Phil Jackson. If Phil is thinking right, he'll play Odom a ton of minutes at small forward and force Michael Finley to guard him or Kobe. If Phil insists on giving Trevor Ariza and Luke Walton the lion's share of the minutes at small forward, we may be looking at another Finals appearance for this very proud, very accomplished Spurs group.

Thje New Orleans Hornets are the #7 seed in the West. They lost 3 of 4 games versus the Lakers in the regular season. They had alot of injuries all season, but look like they're starting the playoffs healthy. Their point guard, Chris Paul is for the Lakers, which is lucky for the Hornets because they don't have a player on their roster who can even distract Kobe. They have good size across the front line and one of the Laker bigs is going to be pulled to the perimeter to guard Hornet power forward David West. The best guy on the Lakers to handle this job.....(lets say it all together).... Lamar Odom. If Phil buries Odom on the bench in a potential New Orleans series, the Lakers could have more than they can handle. What could save the Lakers in a series like this is the fact that Hornet coach Byron Scott generally coaches in tight spots with two hands wrapped around his own neck. And even though he made two finals trips as the head man (hey now) for the Nets, he's in over his head against Phil Jackson tactically. You could probably say that about Scott going against any other coach in the West, which is the primary reason I list this potential upset as the least likely scenario. That, and I don't think New Orleans can survive Denver in the first round.

So there you have it. Four different scenarios that send NBA commissioner David Stern rushing to his cardiologist. He probably goes into cardiac arrest if he gets a Rockets-Cavs finals and Ron Artest injures LeBron for the series in a game 1 with a flagrant foul.

Now don't get me wrong. I would enjoy a Kobe-LeBron steel cage match. But lets let them do what needs to be done before we crown anyone. In the words of a balding, aging, overweight, broadcaster, who is in dire need of a new catch phrase..... Thats why they play the games.

Giddyap. Y'all be cool