In about five minutes, Kobe Bryant will suit up for an NBA-record-tying 13th time in a row on Christmas day. His Lakers will take on Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and ofcourse LeBron James in a much anticipated matchup. Last time the Lakers and Heat faced off on December 25th was back in ’06. Do you remember what happened?
It was supposed to be one of two annual Kobe/Shaq duels, but O’Neal was unable to go because he was recovering from knee surgery at the time. Everything worked out just fine for the Heat without the Big Diesel. A then 23-year-old Dwyane Wade dropped 40 points and dished 11 dimes as Miami mopped the floor with a Los Angeles squad that Laker fans would probably rather not remember ever took the court in the purple and gold. Anyone out there miss the Smush Parker days? Anyone at all? I’m not seeing any hands (except for my own, I actually liked watching the Lakers more back then than I do now). I’m not the biggest Kobe fan in the world by any stretch of the imagination, but watching him drop 32 a game really was something. I liked Smush, too. Hell, I’ve got the guy’s jersey, no joke. All I need is a Smushcalade and I’ll be doin’ it.
Kobe may have gone 4-17 in a 16-point L on December 25th of ’06, but he and his Lakers have certainly bounced back. Since that game took place, LA has appeared in three finals, winning two of them. Miami is yet to make it past the first round. I have a funny feeling that’ll change come this Spring. We’ll see who’s going to get the last laugh, but we’re going to have to wait longer than a few hours. As “big” as this game is hyped up to me, it really doesn’t mean much to the Heat and means essentially nothing to the Lakers. If the Lakers win… whatever, they’re the defending champs, they’re supposed to win. If Miami takes it, well, it would be an encouraging victory… but nothing more. Not like they can put the win towards the four they will need if these two squads meet in the finals. My point: enjoy the game, be excited, but try not to overreact if it turns out being decided by more than 10 points one way or another.
