So the Spurs won, and nobody (anywhere) seems to care...
It was the lowest rated NBA Finals in the history of the Nielson ratings, which goes back 27 years. That's pretty bad, especially considering the series showcased 2 of the best players in the NBA today - Duncan and Kidd. Guess they just needed those "flashier" L.A. guys like Shaq and Kobe in there, huh?!
Speaking of which, I assume some of you might've heard that Kobe just had shoulder surgery last week. Turns out he was pretty badly injured for the last 10 games in the playoffs, which explains why he couldn't shoot too straight...
Back to the Finals, New Jersey barely even made a showing. Kidd was off a fair amount, and K-Mart brought nothing in the last 2 games whatsoever. They just couldn't get their fast break going enough to handle the always fundamentally sound, yet mind numbingly boring, Spurs. There were several scoring futility records set in the series as well - by both teams. Just some really dreadful play on both teams parts, which meant that the defense of the Spurs finally won out.
Oh well, at least there should be a pretty exciting free agent market in the offseason now! Looking forward to where a lot of these guys wind up next season, but I'm praying that Karl Malone doesn't wind up in L.A. (even though he'd probably help fill a glaring hole at the power forward spot for us)...
From
CNNSI.com:
2003 Free Agents:The Superstars: Elton Brand
Jason Kidd
Jermaine O'Neal
Tim Duncan
Secondary Stars: Andre Miller
Brad Miller
Lamar Odom
Michael Olowokandi
James Posey
Jerry Stackhouse
Jason Terry
Rising Studs: Gilbert Arena
Corey Maggette
Oldies but Goodies: Karl Malone
Reggie Miller
Alonzo Mourning
Gary Payton
Scottie Pippen
Role Players: Darrell Armstrong
Jon Barry
P.J. Brown
Elden Campbell
Derrick Coleman
Lucios Harris
Juwan Howard
Stephen Jackson
Rasho Nesterovic
Ira Newble
Kenny Thomas
B-Listers: Kenny Anderson
Raja Bell
Calbert Cheaney
Speedy Claxton
Antonio Daniels
Kendall Gill
Dion Glover
Adrian Griffin
Othella Harrington
Tyrone Hill
Lindsey Hunter
Jim Jackson
Tyronn Lue
Jerome Moiso
Lee Nailon
Eric Piatkowski
Erick Strickland
Gary Trent
Charlie Ward
Scott Williams
Shammond Williams
Walt Williams