Teamwork thwarts Kobe-LeBron dream

ESPN and the NBA have got a lot under their belts, but what they had up their sleeves at the beginning of the NBA Conference Finals turned out to be nothing more than a huge crease. 

A casual NBA fan would enjoy NBA advertisers portraying the rough competition and exciting action of the Finals with a humorous attitude. 

But it seems their arrogant attitude toward "fair competition" isn't paying off. 

We all know what the NBA stands for, right? You can't miss it. It's in every one of their advertisements.

They'd tell you it's competition, commitment and dedication. 

What does the NBA really stand for?

Nothing But Advertisements.

Sixteen teams qualified for the NBA playoffs and as the Finals drew nearer, the NBA focused less on teams and any of their players.

Rather, they turned their attention toward their greatest cash cows: Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

 From trash-talking Vitamin Water commercials to Nike spotlights and even puppet shows, all the advertisements had one thing in common: They featured Kobe and LeBron in a split screen or face-to-face. 

It soon became sickeningly obvious that ESPN and the NBA had dedicated a majority of their attention — attention being money — on promoting Kobe and LeBron meeting in the NBA Finals. 

Kobe, "The Black Mamba," can spray all the venom he wants, and LeBron can be buried up to his eyes in chalk, but they will not face off in the Finals.

The NBA doesn't seem to understand the most cliche of athletic motivational phrases: "There is no ‘I' in team."

The Los Angeles Lakers saw many hardships, with their Western Conference Semifinal series with Houston going to seven games and their Conference Final going a very physical six,  but they managed to secure their spot in the Finals once again.

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers faltered and got left behind when the Orlando Magic finally managed to add their touch.

It had nothing to do with LeBron not having enough chalk on his hands or not having his shoes tied properly.

It was because the Magic played as a team, exposed mismatches and won as a team while Cleveland could only rely on LeBron to shoulder the load.

While the NBA and ESPN may be ignorant of this fact, the game of basketball isn't. It's still a team sport whether you have the MVP on your team or not.

No matter how much money you leak into an ideal match up of MVP's, it takes a team effort from both Los Angeles and Cleveland in order to get there.

Anytime such a philosophy proved true, ESPN ran to resuscitate the opposite. If the Lakers lost, it was because the team didn't help. If they won, it was all about Kobe. 

When Cleveland loses, it's all about what they did wrong and not what the other team did right. 

The NBA miscalculated the extent to which money talks and devoted a lot of time and attention to something that will never happen.

To mock the commercial: "The NBA: where advertising happens."