The Clippers win again and improve to 4-0. They are without a doubt the biggest surprise in all of basketball, as they are doing this without star Elton Brand.
I grew up a Lakers fan in the '80s and then rooted for Barkley's teams during the '90s but of course appreciated and marveled at Jordan. Now I'm a Rockets fan but also like watching individual players like Kobe, Lebron, Garnett, Dirk, etc. There are many other teams like the Suns and Heat (when healthy) that I enjoy watching. I've never been a Celtics fan but often watch old games now on ESPN classic and appreciate them more. I like Garnett, drafted Paul Pierce on my fantasy team, and recently watched that Ray Allen movie for the first time. If Big Baby ever gets in the rotation, I guess they could become my favorite team in the East. On the Kobe debate, I think he's definitely one of the top 5-10 players in the world. He's still at his peak so it would be hard to leave him out of the top 5. I've never been a fan of his but acknowledge his greatness. I'll probably lose any credibility with most of you but would take Lebron, D-Wade, Yao, Dirk, maybe Carmelo, maybe Garnett and Duncan (age), maybe Durant (sky's the limit) if I had to start a franchise today. Kobe obviously has accomplished more but always seems to have a soap opera around him. Last year I thought Yao was becoming a top 10 player but the playoffs proved he's not there yet and Boozer probably deserves to make the list. However, I think Yao can still get much better and will be reaching his peak soon and maybe sustaining it for another decade.
