Gold Standard

The Future

Excellence

"It's new, it's out of the ordinary, it's rather extraordinary..."

The Fresh Prince - Brand New Funk

The Eastern and Western Conference Finals are some of the best games of pro basketball that I've "witnessed" in a good while. The teams are so evenly matched, and I know the fact that the Fantastic 4...or should I say, leaders of this new school, competed last summer to win a gold medal...has everything to do with everything I see today.

World Renown

I don't find it interesting to see the four teams standing within the NBA Playoffs...bring out the best in each other night in and night out. I covered the association last season, and the biggest difference in Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwight Howard is their Olympic experience. They, as well as their respective teams have reaped the benefits, so I decided to test my theory...and made a few phone calls.

Below is the score on my Olympic conversations with LeBron, and Dwight...how convenient that I get these interviews just in time for the Orlando/Cleveland series...

Talk about August 24, 2008:

LeBron: "It was such a journey to get to the point that we got to on the 24th of August...it was an unbelievable feeling for me...to fulfill a dream and accomplish it the way that we did, and the fashion that we did...going out dominating the field, and then having a test at the end...and being able to win the game. It definitely was a dream come true, and a lot of people set out dreams and don't get an opportunity to conquer them, and I was one of the few...I mean including myself and the other 11 guys, and the coaching staff, did a great job of preparing ourselves. We brought back the number 1 prize, and it was big...really big!"

Talk about the Olympic experience:

Dwight: "All of us were always together everyday...going to the gym, and then to McDonald's...that was the biggest thing...that was the highlight of the day, after a hard day at practice we would go to McDonald's and chill. That whole experience just brought us closer...it was just all about basketball. It was about life and developing friendships that last forever. I think me and Carlos, and Chris Bosh really bonded...we talk a lot everyday, we're always emailing each other, and checking up on one another, and we need that. We have people going through the same stuff we're going through, and it makes it a lot better."