The Lakers may be making a believer out of their number 1 hater.  No, seriously, according to the blogs I'm just a Kobe hater.  Still, the way they destroyed the Jazz last night was impressive.  Taking out Dallas on their court was respectable also.  When you consider it was without Pau Gasol ... even the haters  got to give up props!

Lakers now have truly emerged as one of the top 4 contenders for the western conference crown, along with the Spurs, Rockets, and Suns.

Did Kobe get back in the MVP race with the last 2 victories?  Jeez Louise I hate to say it ... but I think it's true.  What is to become of me?  Maybe I should spout like 50 cent and say if Kobe gets the MVP I'll leave the business!  50 cent didn't honor his words when Kanye West beat him in record sales.

Well, the Lakers ain't champs yet and Kobe ain't MVP.   So, make me believe it.

D. Wade is shutting it down for the year, duh?  He should have never came back.  If ever there was a time when a coach needed to step in and protect a player, that was it.  Riley missed his chance to save the franchise weeks ago.  We can only hope that the tough kid didn't do any further damage to his wheels.

Seems like Phil Jackson used to give MJ and Scottie mini-brakes during the game.  He would sit them out just long enough to get a blow.

Don't expect real competitors to sit out a game if they can play thru the pain.  That's where a good coach is needed to step in and save the player from himself.

When Greg Oden comes back, he better be coming off the bench.  IT takes 2 years to get over the type of injury he had and bringing him back as a starter the next year could end his career prematurely.  That kid played about 30 games a year in college ... and he didn't even do it for 4 years!  The pros play more than 90 a year if they make the playoffs.

The Lakers and Andrew Bynum face the same problem.  First of all he was playing over his head spurred by the comments of Kobe.  He may never play at that level again.  Bringing him back too soon could end his career.

Some of these NBA coaches are actually smart and we need them to step up and be smart where the players are not.  To jump leagues to make a point ... that's what happened to Terrell Davis of the Denver Broncos.  Shannahan is a great x and o coach, but he is a terrible people person.

My God ... now I have to hear about how great the LAKERS are now for who knows how long. I long for the days when they were a miserable bunch of whiners who couldn't shoot straight led by the  prima donna. Wasn't that just last year? Now, it's the Lakers vs Celtics in the NBA finals already and Kobe for league MVP! Enough! Kobe never gets MVP because he's just Dominique on a better team with a great coach. Look at most of your past MVPs and you will see they dominated in more than one category. Iverson was a league leading scorer and among the leaders in steals. Duncan was among scoring and rebound leaders. Ditto for Shaq. Kobe scores like many scorers before him. LeBron James, however, appears regularly among the scoring and assist leaders and is a true triple threat. If the MVP does not got to Kevin Garnett, it should go to LeBron. (I'm not a Kobe hater, but he has a long way to go to win me back as a fan.)