The Dead Zone

As we enter the eye of the NBA storm--and I am pushed to the sidelines by a fractured toe--I would like to delve into my ultimate starting five. And since its my blog, I fucking well will.


PG: Gilbert Arenas

Gilbert has been a maelstrom of controversy, at least early in this offseason. However, by inviting this controversy on himself he teaches us something about ourselves.

He was arrested not for pot, not for heroin, and not for soliciting hookers the night before the Super Bowl, but for sticking up for his teammate. That may have taken the form of standing in the middle of the road and shouting something about being Gilbert Arenas, but that makes his quest no less valid or valorous.

Let us not also forget that ill J he busted in LeBron's face to send the game into OT. His shot was at once not and highly predictable; we knew he was gonna drop some insane shit, and we knew he was gonna tie the game, but how you gonna shoot a J from 10 feet outside the 3 point arc?

If you're Gilbert Arenas, that's how.

SG: Kobe Bean Bryant

81 points. Eighty-one points. Eighty points plus one point.

No matter how you say it, one thing is certain. It was the best offensive display of all time. Yeah yeah, Wilt dropped the century, which probably will never be repeated. But at this point 100 is like .400 or the Triple Crown--it was done in a different era against different competition.

Kobe was the most dominant force in the league last year. The sportswriters ignored him for a floppy-haired whiteboy they felt guilty for handing it to a year ago.

Weird.

TO BE CONTINUED