On December 14, 2011 , sought after guard Chris Paul was finally traded to the LA Clippers. This was not the expected landing place of Paul. Most people thought that he was going to the LA Lakers until the trade was announced. This trade could make the Clippers a legitimate team in the NBA this season.

The trade sent Paul and two 2015 second round draft picks to the Clippers. This also sent shooting guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, small forward Al-Farouq Aminu and their unprotected 2012 first-round draft pick to the New Orleans Hornets. This might the Hornets a worse team considering Paul was one of their top scorers every night and could also play defense.

The Clippers are looking like a better team with the addition of Chris Paul. They already have Chauncey Billups, Blake Griffin, and now Chris Paul. They are all great scorers are make the team look and perform better. This trade could change the NBA season for the 2011 season which starts on Christmas Day.

But, there’s a dirty little secret in this rivalry. The Lakers are the Celtics whooping boys. In the 11 Finals meetings between Boston and L.A., the Celtics have won nine times. Jerry West, one of the greatest Lakers of all time, never even beat the Celtics in the finals. Hell, before in the four game 7’s before 2010, the Celtics were perfect. When the Celtics won in 2008, it was true to form to what the NBA billed as a retro rematch, the C’s embarrasing the Lake show.

And that is why Kobe needed to win tonight to secure his legacy as one of the greatest players, and one of the greatest Lakers, of all time.

Yes, he already has three rings from the Laker dynasty of the early ’00s. But he did that with Shaq. And while anyone who said “Kobe can’t win by himself” was a fool, because not even Jordan could, the truth is he was the Robin to the Big Aristotle’s Batman. If Kobe’s only rings came with O’Neal at center, he never would have earned a spot in Lakerland with West, Kareem, and Magic.

Yes, he already won a title as the bona fide superstar and leader of the Lakers. That was in 2009, against the Orlando Magic. And while he stifled any critic from saying he couldn’t do it by himself, it wasn’t before they had new ammo to hammer him on anyhow. The year before, those very same Celtics romped the Lakers in 6, including the Paul Pierce game, the 24 point comeback, and the blowout in the elimination game. In the same way the Red Sox needed to beat the Yankees, the Colts needed to beat the Patriots, and Pacquiao needs to beat Mayweather, Kobe Bryant couldn’t be the greatest without beating the Boston Celtics.

Truth be told, Kobe Bryant didn’t have the superstar performance that everyone expected in Game 7. Oh sure, there were bright spots, such as the brillance he displayed in crashing the boards, but he shot like there was a lid on the basket. During crunch time, it wasn’t Kobe, it was Pau Gasol in the paint, Derek Fisher hitting a major three, and Sasha Vujacic hitting the free throws that sent the confetti to the Los Angeles streets. But nobody will remember that 10 years from now. All they will remember is that when people said Kobe couldn’t lead a team to a title, he led a team to a title. When people said he couldn’t beat the Celtics, he beat the Celtics. Because of this game, the legacy of Kobe Bryant will be of someone who always shut critics up no matter what they said about him, just like Jordan did.

Celebrate, Kobe, you’re officially one of the greatest now.

Image via nydailynews.com

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Major players support the cause

Kobe Bryant and Maria Sharapova, Andrei Arshavin and Didier Drogba made a short film showing the different ways to use a line of beads thrown by the sportswear company and will be available in the official shops.

Nike shoelaces that are named “RED” will cost $ 4 and 100% of the profits from sales of the product will be divided between The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – which funds drugs people with HIV – and initiatives focusing on football that provide education and information on HIV / AIDS in Africa.

Other major international sports that are added to this cause are the players Clint Dempsey, Denilson, Marco Materazzi, Javier Mascherano and Fabio Cannavaro.

The short film features a group of athletes wearing and tying his (NIKE) RED in original and creative ways. The rival players in the Premier League, Drogba and Arshavin, will show the maximum mutual respect tying each other. Kobe Bryant Maria Sharapova and add their personal touches, while all players use the strings (NIKE) RED unique ways to encourage support for the campaign.

We were a diverse lot. Mexicans and other Hispanics were enjoying themselves, waving the little flags, chatting happily. A group of Russian speakers gazed somberly at the empty stage, and some Haitians looked ready to burst into song. Then, with no warning, a large screen behind the stage lit up and a giant voice burst into song as we zoomed across the continent, vaulting over mountains, skimming wheatfields and forests, zipping past large cities in an eyeblink, all the way to the Big Apple, as if to say “see, this is where you start from, and that”s the Other Big City, where it’s always frantic and cold. You’d better watch out, buddy, stay here in the endless sunshine, by the gentle Pacific, never mind the earthquakes, you’ll be dead by the time they hit, or at least soon after. This is the promised land, the best of the best, where even Americans flock to, from the rust belt and the icy wastes up by Canada, and the buttoned up Midwest. This is Hollywood my friends, the place where dreams are made.’ The music ended, and a giant Bruce Springsteen grinned at us for a moment, disappearing with the echoes of his song.

As the screen darkened, a bureaucrat stepped up to the microphone and explained our legal status. We were all ineligible to run for president, but I could retain my British passport. We were warned that murder or mayhem would earn us immediate deportation. The man abruptly turned and left, but it was by no means the end of the show. A tall immaculate black man in a sky-blue blazer bounced onstage, dragging a spotlight behind him. There was no quiet podium for this individual as he held a cordless microphone and addressed the multitude, strutting the stage as the spotlight frantically tried to keep up. He talked about our new country. We were all welcome. We were all about to enter this realm of abundance and freedom and opportunity. We were about to become Americans. “Americans,” he cried, and I almost heard the crowd respond with a “Hallelujah!” The sermon lasted almost an hour.

There was a short hiatus, and some restless shuffling. This was going to be a hard act to follow. The spotlight drilled out again, and a knife-edged state trooper strode to the edge of the stage. He was a Marine drill instructor in disguise. “Listen up!” he told us, and we listened as he explained his complicated routine to get us, with American efficiency, to the tables on either side of the auditorium, where we would collect our naturalization certificates, and exit, immediately. “Even rows turn to your right,” he yelled. “Odd rows to the left. I’ll call two rows at a time, adjacent, odd and even.” Some of the non-English speakers were beginning to look worried. “We will practice,” he said, and for five minutes he called out row numbers, and after a while most of the people were turning as they were supposed to and not staring at their neighbor’s nose.

This was the final act, and we filed out with American speed and efficiency. In no time, I had received my official scroll, and was blinking in the Southern California sunshine. My American wife was outside, waiting for riots, earthquakes and the myriad experiences LA has to offer. “You were in there for hours,” she said. “What was it like?” I told her about the movie, and Bruce Springsteen, and the bureaucrat and the preacher and the drill sergeant. “Sounds weird,” she said. “No, it wasn’t,” I surprised myself by saying. Somehow, in a very American way, it was perfect, a Hollywood extravaganza in which I and four thousand other citizens had starred.