David Theiss

It’s beginning to look more and more like the Cleveland Cavaliers have no peers in this year’s NBA Playoffs.  While LeBron and Co. are blowing out any and everyone that is put in front of them, the once highly touted Lakers are struggling to put away the injury-depleted Rockets, and the Magic vs. Celtics series looks as if neither team even wants to win.  I suppose being the sacrificial lamb to Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals isn’t appealing to either club.

Surprisingly, since none of these teams still duking it out in their respective second round series’ seem to be as good as we were led to believe in the regular season, the only legitimate contender appears to be the Denver Nuggets.  The trade to acquire Chauncy Billups from Detroit was by far the move of the year (yes, even above the oft-celebrated Mo Williams deal), allowing Denver to unload the over-the-hill Allen Iverson and really get a tough, efficient player at the point position who can hold his own as an on-ball defender – something the run-and-gun Nuggets desperately needed.

With that being said, the way the playoffs are shaping up it appears there are two big winners: the NBA and advertisers.

If the Lakers put away the Rockets and the Cavs dispose of whoever they face in the Eastern Conference Finals like most expect, that means we get either a Lakers vs. Cavs Finals or a Nuggets vs. Cavs Finals.  While the NBA would like to see LeBron and Kobe going head-to-head, I think the Carmelo Anthony vs. LeBron James storyline could be just as interesting.  And the way both Cleveland and Denver have built their teams, it could set up a Magic/Bird-lite for many years to come.

Finally, the advertisers.

My, oh my.

Could they be pushing a Cavs/Lakers finals any harder?  First, there was this Vitamin Water commercial that pretty much implies the “inevitable” match-up.  Then, Nike seems to be rolling out a new campaign that centers around the two superstars.  Note to advertisers: there are other teams in the playoffs – hell, there are other players in the playoffs besides these two.  While, I guess I shouldn’t expect these companies to not roll out their biggest stars, doing it in this way minimizes the other teams that are more or less window dressing as the Cavaliers and Lakers march to an epic championship match-up that will undoubtedly make a lot of people insanely rich – or in most cases, make insanely rich people even richer.

With that being said, I think the new Nike commercials are hysterical.  They’re so funny in fact, I’ve embedded them below for you viewing pleasure.

Enjoy.