Timberwolf

Kobe Bryant has been all business for the last few days. He has approached this NBA Finals by understanding there is a referendum for him to prove to his critics that he can win a a championship without Shaquille O'Neal. He has been focused by being indifferent of what Orlando did or what happened to LeBron or the distractions that come with the Finals.

This couldn't be a good sign for the Magic because when he is in that mode, there is no stopping him, and it results to a Lakers ...

Before the ball was tipped in the Pistons/Lakers 2004 NBA Finals, everyone including yours truly picked the Lakers to not only win the championship, but to sweep the Pistons in the process. To the basketball junkies, it was like the varsity beating up on the junior varsity, which was the case in the 2001, 2002, and the 2003 NBA Finals, and who can blame them at the time?

The Pistons proved everyone wrong by dismantling the Lakers in 5, and embarrassing them in the process at the ...

Stan Van Gundy has his critics, and rightfully so. The knock on him is that he loses the trust of his players by calling them out publicly to the media and overworking them. This is what cost him his job with the Heat, which Pat Riley happily took the opportunity to replace him with the idea he could win a NBA championship, which he did in 2006.

Van Gundy was perilously close to losing his players with the Magic in the team's second round series against the Celtics. With the Magic ...

Covering high school soccer this past fall for a community newspaper, a star player decided to walk off the field instead of shaking hands with the other team after a great battle, which ended in overtime with her team losing the game. She was very upset with the way her team's season so she showed her frustration with her immature behavior.

This sportswriter went out of his way to go savage the player to her coach, and then to the other team's coach, who made it a point to call ...

Dear Sidney:

Let me start off by congratulating you for living up the hype as the next best thing in the NHL and for leading your team to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second straight year. What you have done is a big accomplishment because there were high expectations out of you from the day you played in the juniors. It can't be easy to be the face of the league and the savior of the franchise, but you managed to make it easy.

You have earned the fame from being ...