Unconventional Gold - Guaranteed.

Is there any doubt that the following team would walk away with a Gold Medal - without even practicing? Funny thing is, not one single player was chosen for either the USA Basketball's 2002 Men's World Championship or 2004 Olympics Team embarrassments. Should be interesting to see if any of the younger players (e.g. Billups, Arenas, Heinrich or Bosh) are selected to represent the Dream Team in 2006...

PG: Chauncey Billups
SG: Gilbert Arenas
SF: Ron Artest
PF: Rasheed Wallace
C: Marcus Camby

PG: Sam Cassell
SG: Kirk Heinrich
SF: Jason Richardson
PF: Chris Bosh
C: Alonzo Mourning

Coach: Phil Jackson

Some of the more questionable historical selections:
2002: Andre Miller, Antonio Davis and Raef LaFrentz - besides the fact that Raef simply can't play, how is it possible that someone with the name Raef LaFrentz could have been chosen, or even eligible to represent the USA.
2004: Carlos Boozer and Richard Jefferson - Im convinced that besides Larry Brown, Jefferson, and his inability to make a wide open jump shot / 3-pointer (which isnt even NBA range) was the most responsible for the USA's disappointing Bronze metal finish.

MVP? More Like, LVP. AmandUH.

Kobe Bryant has gained quite a bit of momentum in the MVP race recently. Thats insane. The Mamba is the anti-definition of Most Valuable Player. 80 point games are historic, and a scoring average of 35 points is impressive on the surface. The media appears to be marveled that the Lakers made the playoffs, and they appear to be everyone's dark horse to win a round.

Its easy to look at the Lakers roster, Kobe's contribution and be impressed by their season.

However, Im not. Lets not forget that is the same Mamba that single-handedly destroyed the Lakers dynasty. The same Mamba that demanded a roster of less than role players; and the same Mamba that has made it simply impossible for the Lakers to attract talent.

In the 2003 off-season, the Heat signed Lamar Odom, and drafted Dwayne Wade. Pat Riley stepped down, and the Heat started off the season 0 - 7. However, the Heat went on to set an NBA best 17-4 record over the final 21 games and ended the season with a 42-40 record, becoming the first team in NBA history to be 11 games under .500 during the month of March and finish the season with a winning record.

Lamar Odom revived his NBA career by averaging 17.1 points, and a career and franchise high 9.7 rebounds. In the first round of the playoffs, the HEAT beat the Hornets in seven games and took the Pacers to Game Six in a close contest where they lost 73-70 and ended their home game winning streak.

While Dwayne Wade had an incredible rookie year, he was not playing anywhere near the level Kobe is playing at this year. It was Stan Van Gundy's first year as a head coach, and as much as I like SVG, hes no Phil Jackson. Rafer (aka: Skip To My Lou) Alston has proven to be only slightly better than Smush Parker. The Lakers traded Caron Butler (former Heat player) in the off-season for Kwame Brown.

So was the Lakers season this year really that impressive? Does Kobe really deserve consideration for MVP.

Impossible. The Heat took a team with a mildly similar make-up and significantly less experience into the second round of the playoffs, almost upsetting Eastern Conference favorite Indiana.

Think about the Heat's prospects of winning a title now with Shaq and Wade. Kobe orchestrated MVP consideration via pure manipulation. The Mamba is far closer to least valuable TEAM player ever.