ESPN made their Finals predictions this past week, and of the 10 NBA "experts" they asked to make predictions, 9 of 10 called a Lakers win. The lone holdout (Tim Legler) predicted the C's to win in 7. I didn't realize the team with the best record and home court advantage in The Finals has so little chance to win it. And it's not just with their predictions that ESPN is pro-L.A., they've also put a television staff together to root them on too. The ABC/ESPN family opted to use a panel for The Finals (pre-game, halftime and post-game) consisting of Stuart Scott and Michael Wilbon. Fine. The other two members of their Game 1 panel? Jon Barry and Magic Johnson. Barry was a 1st round pick of Boston's in '92, refused to sign, and was traded (for Alaa Abdelnaby) without ever playing a single game here. He is also a former Laker. And Magic Johnson? No explanation needed. How is this an impartial group? Magic and Larry, fine. Magic and Barry? I don't think I've been this annoyed since Bret Boone was on the broadcast team to watch brother Aaron and the Yanks play the Sox in the 2003 ALCS. If somebody to represent the Green doesn't show up in the booth tonight to talk about the other side of the rivalry I will boycott all analysis from ESPN for the rest of the series. It's fine if they want to root for L.A., but they certainly don't need to stick it in our faces this badly.
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It's actually tough to tell if they are pro-LA or just anti-Boston. They also had 6 of 10 pick the Pistons over Boston and even 3 of 10 picked Cleveland over Boston.
In other words, more people thought that Cleveland would beat Boston than think Boston can "Beat L.A."
I think it awesome that all the "experts" pick the Lakers. Once the Celts knock off the Lakers, i'm looking forward to all the excuses they will make. Making the victory that much better
I am in Los Angeles and just ate brunch next to Keyshawn Johnson and his hot girl. He was in full lakers gear and looked way out of shape. However, he is a true LA sports fan...so no front running. I am totally just name dropping right now...didnt interact with him
Good job having Bill Russell out there for Game 2.
And I was thinking further about the prediction part of things...after the Super Bowl and Big Brown losing yesterday maybe having everyone picking against you in '08 isn't such a bad thing.
I think the picking LA fad is even more trendy now that they are down 0-2, heading back to LA, and had a ton of whistles against them last game. I have yet to see anyone, including Boston writers, pick the Celtics to win game three. The irony is that this would be far from an upset if the Celtics win as it would just re-establish the fact that they are domininant and the best team in the league.
How they were a Game 2 underdog at home is still beyond me.
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