Two Men, Under Gold

And then there were two.

Not now and next--but now and now. Not Gods and Titans, but Gods amongst themselves. And while Kevin Garnett's season-ending injury leaves the world of professional basketball under a note of considerable anti-climax, the second half of the season showed us the playoffs would be about 2 men and 2 teams alone.

Yes, after the 2008 Finals "we shall meet again" was clearly in the air. LA-Boston. The rivalry returns and continues. But a funny thing happened that summer in Beijing. And it didn't include Paul Peirce, or Ray Allen or Kevin Garnett.

2 men, under gold, indivisible until the basketball universe stood collectively below them. Conquered. One affirmation (Kobe) and one incarnation (Lebron) they returned to their country, and their cities with a new glow. With new powers. Kobe and LeBron had achieved SS.
From the all-world team, to the all-universe, all space time continuum team. That was the jump they made. Forget trusting teammates, playing better defense or getting mentally tougher. That all came without saying, it all came with the package.

Kobe Bryant and LeBron James came out of the gold medal winning Olympic performance as indubitably--the best players on the planet--and perhaps the 2 greatest in history. Their confidence galvanized, their sense of purpose singular and indefensible.

This is the collision course the National Basketball Association has been waiting for. A kind of epic we've never seen. The DaVinci of post-Jordan basketball at the tail of his prime looking still for his first, very own mountain top against a young gladiator so physically gifted and superior, he seems to represent a breed of man 10,000 years ahead of Darwin's curve.

Or so we can hope.

There are plenty of other interesting, less-obvious storylines in this version of the playoffs. And in a way I apologize for chosing the most obvious one to write about. But put that on ice for now, because sometimes these words; destiny...epic...greatest...sometimes they do mean something.