Long Day Livin' In Reseda

Just a thought. How did a Philly team with Allen Iverson, Dikembe Mutombo, and a bunch of total scrubs (Hill, Geiger, Lynch, McKie, Snow, Bell) make the NBA Finals in 2001? And how did a New Jersey team with Jason Kidd, Keith Van Horn, and a bunch of rookie or second-year players (Jefferson, Collins, Martin, MacCulloch) make the Finals the following year? The early post-Jordan years were unbelievably barren for the league. There were only four MVP-level stars (Shaq, Bryant, Duncan, Garnett) in the league back then, and they all played in the West. Kidd, too, played in the West until 2001.

It is unclear why this past decade of drafts has ushered in such a bonanza of talent (generally featuring guys with first names as surnames: James, Wade, Anthony, Howard, Paul, Roy) but David Stern and the 30 owners are surely thankful for it.