LeBron doesn't want to be what we want him to be

Charles Barkley's comments about LeBron James were interesting, but we've heard them before. He said it's not LeBron's personality to be "a killer" like Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan.

I don't know what's going on inside LeBron's head nor will I pretend to make logical guesses as to what's going upstairs underneath that black headband. All I know is he has a whole hosts of physical talents that aren't being used the way he should be using them.

When LeBron dunks people in the lost city of Atlantis feel it. He's powerful and I know my jaw drops every time I see him jam it home. Why isn't this happening more often in the NBA Finals? Are the Mavericks really playing such stifling defense that the King himself can't penetrate to the hoop? D-Wade is getting there, so why not LeBron?

The Heat's game plan in Game 3 was awesome at the start of the game mainly because Mario Chalmers was hitting shots. Lebron and Wade were taking the ball to the basket, and it eventually left Chalmers wide open for 3-point shots. This game plan was effective, but it seemed to be abandoned. If the Heat go back to this game plan then I can see LeBron going back to being the King we wanted him to be.

Barkley said it isn't LeBron's personality to be "the killer." Well if that was the case then we wouldn't have seen "The Decision" take place on ESPN. You want the publicity, LeBron, but you shrink during the moment that counts? Again, I have no idea what's going on inside his head, but something is not adding up.

I wanted the Heat experiment to fail. I hated them when LeBron joined forces with Wade and Bosh. But I'm intrigued to see what happens. If the Heat win the NBA Finals this year then the experiment will have worked, and you'll see other teams perform the same kind of unions, assuming the inevitable lockout doesn't ruin the current model.

But in order for the Heat experiment to succeed then LeBron needs to stop being an introverted eighth grader. It's time for him to be the guy. I'm not a fan of the team, but the NBA is better right now than it's been in MY lifetime. People in '80s will say their era was the best, but I wasn't born until 1987, so today's NBA is the best it's been in my lifetime. Today's NBA needs the Heat to win the title--RIGHT NOW.

Only LeBron knows what he really wants, but actions speak louder than words. He clearly wanted a championship so bad he was willing to let the state of Ohio turn against him. Now, he needs to prove that he wanted that championship. Wade and Bosh need him in order to win two of the next three games.

Goodbye, Shaquille

Shaquille O'Neal's retirement has a special place in my heart.

He was more than just a center who won three championships with my favorite team. He was the person who helped me become interested in basketball. I was a seven-year-old kid who had just started getting into the NFL, and it was time to take my talents to the NBA.

The first time I saw Shaq on TV was the one of the coolest moments of my childhood. He immediately became my favorite basketball player. My first jersey I ever had was a Shaquille O'Neal Orlando Magic jersey during the '94-'95 NBA season. I even remember feeling sad when I watched SportsCenter one night, and the reporter on screen talked about the Chicago Bulls' game plan to doubleteam Shaq was the key to beating the Magic.

When Shaq moved to Los Angeles to join the Lakers I joined the Lakers with him. His fan-friendly personaliy and powerful dunks always made Shaq easy for me to love.

Even when he was traded to the Miami Heat and I was supposed to hate him, I couldn't do it. I kept my fandom for Shaq at bay until it was OK for Lakers fans to start loving him again. Even when Shaq went to play for the Boston Celtics this season I still had a soft spot for the big guy.

Shaq represents my entire childhood of being a basketball fan. With him gone I can honestly say it's the end of a huge era of my life. I have his basketball cards. I still have his Orlando Magic poster framed with the caption, "RIM SHAKER." Yes, I even liked "Kazaam."

I'll miss you, Shaquille O'Neal. The era had to end someday.

My Top 5 Shaq Moments:
5. 1997-Shaq returns from injury to hit a buzzer-beater fadeaway from about 10 feet to beat the No. 1 seed Utah Jazz.

4. 2009-Shaq wins co-MVP of the All-Star Game with Kobe Bryant. The under-Dwight-Howard's-legs pass to himself was amazing. Oh and don't forget his pre-game intro with the Jabbawockeez.

3. 2000-Shaq helps bring home the first title of a three-peat against the Indiana Pacers.

2. 1998-Shaq chooses not to shoot a 3-pointer in a blow-out win against the Milwaukee Bucks. They left you open, Shaq! Take the shot!

1. 1992-2011-Shaq's whole career is my top moment. Even during his twilight years as his skills and power deteriorated he still had the personality to make people happy.

NBA Finals: Whoever wins I lose

Now that the Miami Heat officially eliminated the Chicago Bulls with their Dallas Mavericks-like comeback in Game Five, we can now look toward the NBA Finals I didn't want to see.

The Finals have an "Alien vs. Predator" feel to them seeing as how whoever wins I lose.

I was a part of the group of people that immediately hated the Heat for forming the dream team with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. I refuse to jump on the bandwagon now. And as much as I should root for the Mavericks so I can say my Los Angeles Lakers were defeated by the champs, I can't do it.

I wanted to see the Bulls back in the Finals. It would have been very NBA-on-NBC-esque. Plus, how cool would it have been to hear the Bulls intro music during their starting lineups for the Finals. I have goosebumps thinking about it, but it wasn't meant to be this year.

Instead, the team we all wanted to fail is in the Finals against this year's "America's Sweetheart." (*GAG*)

I'm pretty much over my Lakers hangover, but not having Oklahoma City vs. Chicago is a bummer to me. I'll watch the Finals this year because I love basketball and even though I hate the Heat they are fun to watch, but I still feel like a Finals loser this year.

Knicks to get crushed in playoffs

Carmelo Anthony scores 39 points against the New Jersey Nets, and I'm supposed to get excited like the announcers? Granted, ESPN needs its announcers to pump up whatever game the network is covering, but take a look at what happened to the Knicks tonight. They gave up 68 points in the first half to the Nets. The NYETS! The New York Knicks play no defense whatsoever. A'mare Stoudemire has been atrocious since Anthony showed up in New York. Melo is legit. There's no doubt about that, but the fact they give up 116 points to the Nets is absurd. Deron Williams isn't doing anything for the Nets, so there is no excuse as to why this happened. If the Knicks expect to compete with either the Boston Celtics or Miami Heat in the playoffs there are many things that need to change. However, I don't see how he Knicks are going to learn how to play defense in two weeks. The boys in blue and orange are staring at a first-round sweep. They'll run and gun and make things exciting, but there is too much power in those other two teams. The Celtics will force the Knicks into a grind-it-out series that the Knicks have no chance of winning. The Heat's Big 2 1/2 will just be too dominant if that's the series that ends up getting matched up. LeBron James actually plays defense, so you can expect Anthony's production to go down. If it's the Celtics you can expect Paul Pierce to be all over Anthony much like Pierce was all over Kobe Bryant in the 2008 NBA Finals. The Knicks will be fun to watch in the playoffs because of the storylines, but let's not kid ourselves: A sweep is in their "Magic Eight Ball."

A farewell to Jimmer

I'm not going to try and quote Ernest Hemingway in my blog, but the title is appropriate for what's about to happen in the life of Jimmer Fredette.

His five-month run as a celebrity came to a close Thursday night in the Sweet 16. Florida was the better team, and Jimmer took some pretty bad shots in the game.

For me it was strange. I've always been a huge NBA fan first and then a college hoops fan like fifth. But the Jimmer brought the college hoops game to the forefront in my mind. It's been weird.

Now Fredette will enter the NBA Draft and try to make it with the big boys. If Thursday's game was any indication of how he will play under pressure then I don't expect him to be very good as a pro. As Colin Cowherd said, "He's coming to an NBA bench near you."

Even though Jimmer will make more money as a lottery pick, he will be more productive as a later pick. If he really cares about basketball and not the money, then waiting for the Celtics, Lakers or Heat to draft him is what he should be hoping.

Right now the Lakers have Steve Blake coming off the bench to run the point. He gets like 8-10 minutes a game and is supposed to be knocking down 3-pointers. Blake doesn't always knock down 3-pointers. If the Lakers let Blake go then they can pick up Jimmer. He will come in and do what Blake is doing right now, but he will do it better.

If the Utah Jazz do the irresponsible thing of drafting Jimmer, then he will be thrown into the starting lineup. I don't think he will fair well.

Do the right thing, Jazz. Don't draft Jimmer. As for the Lakers: dump the dead weight of Blake. Jimmer can do his job better.

All-Star Weekend Bonanza

I love the All-Star Game every year, but I think I've been blinded because the Lakers are usually in first place in the Western Conference when the game rolls around.

That wasn't the case this year: the Lakers are struggling, and they're being accused of not caring again. Kobe Bryant didn't look very good down the stretch, playing while he was sick and other things.

Then he goes and scores 37 points in the All-Star Game. Call me crazy, but you go and stink up the court against the worst team in the NBA, but then you go and win MVP in a game featuring the best players in the league?

I'm beginning to think Kobe might be part of the Lakers' problems as the second half of the season gets under way tomorrow night.

Why can't Kobe go out and score 37 every night? Granted, nobody plays defense in the All-Star Game, but those are still the best players in the league. I think Kobe might be the one with a lack of motivation, and it carried over into his Laker teammates.

I'm worried with the playoffs arriving in a couple of months. I really don't want to see the Lakers bounced out in the first round by like Portland or Utah or somebody like that. With the way LA has been playing I've got no reason to believe they'll win a championship this season.

Something needs to happen, and seeing Kobe shine in the All-Star Game has got me worried about the rest of the regular season. No more flipping switches. I want to see results now, starting with tomorrow night's game against Atlanta. Kobe, go be the All-Star Game MVP against the Hawks tomorrow night.

NBA 2K11 rocks the house

NBA 2K11 already garnered "greatest sports video game ever" honors from me when I first started playing it due to the Michael Jordan theme, and getting to play as his royal airness.

But the game solidified itself when I won the NBA Finals with the Lakers: your first off-season task as the World Champs is to visit Obama at the White House. So there you are in the White House with video-game Obama. Unbelievable.

It was one of the cooler things I've seen in a video game. Obama is the only president that could pull this off. 2K Sports did a fun thing by taking advantage of having a "cool" president. Kudos to Obama for agreeing to this as well.