Dwyane Wade is injured again. In 2005, it was his rib injuries that stopped him from really playing well in the series. Two years ago it was knee and shoulder pain that prevented him from playing effectively against Chicago. This year, he’s got a back problem, and he is having trouble even standing up against a solid wall. As a result, there is a question whether he will be especially effective tonight against the Hawks in Game 5. Atlanta and Miami are locked at 2-2 in the best-of-seven series and they will be really fighting it out this evening. Wade could be a major difference in that game, but if he’s still too injured, he may not be able to break through for his team. It’ll be an exciting game anyway, as these teams are pretty evenly matched!

Dikembe Mutombo is out. Not just for the playoffs, not just for the season, but forever. He got injured a playoff game against the Portland Trailblazers and didn’t get up. He was just too injured to keep going. It was a big disappointment, and it’s also kind of odd, because we’re not used to having him out of the game. His teammates carried him off the court, “like a wounded soldier” and he wouldn’t play again. He was sad and so were the fans. Yao Ming also won’t have the kind of backup that he’s been used to for these playoffs. It’s kind of a problem for him but he’s been leading the team as best as he can this season, so he’ll probably step up!

Boston has tied the playoffs with Chicago. Dallas and San Antonio are also tied up. The other teams are working on their playoff series, most of them with just one game played so far. Cleveland is playing well as is Orlando and Los Angeles. This doesn’t surprise anyone at this point and it will be interesting to see which teams are able to get deep into the playoffs. Every year there is at least one big surprise team. Usually it’s whichever team beats the Lakers, but sometimes there are other ones. It looked for a little while like Chicago might take out the defending champs, but that’s still to be determined. They are giving Boston a run for the money, having taken 1 of two in Boston.

As the Miami Heat prepare to square off with the Atlanta Hawks for a 4 and half day trip. They loaded up there chartered plane with luggage, uniforms, shoes, tape and everything else that would be needed when they start their Eastern Conference playoff series. Another opponent that the Heat must deal with besides the Hawks is the decision on whether or not to go out and party. Atlanta is one of the premier spots to go out and just ask any professional athlete and they will say the same thing. However, this decision has already been made for the team by Heat captions Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem both of them told the team that going out is forbidden on this road trip. This year’s postseason is really important for the captains and the team so they want to make sure they are focused all the time.

The NBA has a lot of different great players at any one time. Kobe is the obvious first choice, but one of the other best players is LeBron James. LeBron has led his team to be the top in the NBA this year and he’s right in the game now. James has kept his team atop the challenging Eastern Conference and it will be interesting to see if he will be able to bring the up to the Finals again. It takes a lot to get there and they have to get through the Celtics first. Kobe’s team is the second in the league and first in the Western Conference. This is also a good showing and will serve them well, most likely. We’ll see what happens in the playoffs this year!

Lakers coach Phil Jackson has said recently that his whole team needs to start playing better and with out “lackluster” play which has been prevalent in recent games. The Lakers who recently beet the Los Angles Clippers by only 3 points the other night go coach Jackson really upset. Since the Clippers are a team that the Lakers normally beat by ten or fifteen points each game. In the 2008-2009 seasons Coach Jackson is up for NBA’s Coach of the year again but when asked about it he dismissed any thoughts of winning it. Coach Jackson feels that the Lakers success is nothing that should come as a surprise that the award should go to a different coach. 

When the NBA Hall of Fame choices are announced, there are usually some very good players. This sounds obvious, but sometimes you have no idea who the “best” players are, even if they might’ve been one of the most famous at the time. This year, the highlight is the 6-time NBA champion, many-time MVP from the Chicago Bulls (and Washington Wizards), Michael Jordan. David Robinson was one of the best players back in the late 80s and the early 90s, who won two championships and also several MVP titles. And the third NBA winner is John Stockton, one of the icons of the Utah Jazz, who has perhaps the most assists ever in the NBA. Another winner was C Vivian Springer, who coached NCAA women’s teams to the Final Four several times.

Allen Iverson is upset because he’s a player with a back injury. He’s been stuck in a position of playing from the bench since he returned from his surgery several weeks ago. But he’s having trouble coming off the bench, because he’s not used to it at all. He also doesn’t like being unable to play off that position. He’s injured and he can only play for a certain number of minutes each game and that bothers him. He likes playing for most of the game and it bothers him sitting on the sidelines. We can’t blame him, can we? It’s a big shift for him and sitting on the bench must be tough when you know that you can do better. In any event, he says he would rather retire than sit in this position for the rest of the time.