Illinois, U.S.A. — In celebration of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 50th anniversary, Allstate Insurance Company is giving fans the chance to vote and decide on whom they think makes up the All-Time Team.

Until October 19, fans will have the opportunity to select their personal All-Time Team of Hall of Famers by voting for 23 players at 11 positions and one coach. The coach and players with the most votes will be named to the Allstate Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Time Team in a televised broadcast on the NFL Network on February 2, 2013.

“With the All-Time Team vote, Allstate lets fans participate in the legacy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame during this 50th anniversary year,” said Lisa Cochrane, Allstate’s senior vice president of marketing. “Fans can go online to vote for who they want on this All-Time team and celebrate Hall of Fame greats with us.”

The voting website will also offer fans the chance to debate their favorite players, coaches and teams, and will feature weekly content to educate fans about the sport through the stories of its greatest legends. Fans will also have the chance to enter to win a grand prize Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend package, including a meet-and-greet with pro football legend Howie Long and passes to 2013 Enshrinement Weekend festivities for one winner and a guest, as well as weekly prizes.

“Fan passion for their favorite teams and players is a special part of football culture,” said George Veras, Pro Football Hall of Fame Enterprises president and CEO. “While all of the players in the Hall of Fame have achieved the highest honor in football, the All-Time Team vote gives fans the chance to participate in celebrating 50 years of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

The Allstate Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Time Team ballot is based on a traditional two-back offensive formation and a 4-3 defense. Fans will select one coach and 23 players at positions including quarterback, running back, tight end, wide receiver, offensive lineman, defensive lineman, defensive end, linebacker, cornerback, safety and placekicker.

Allstate and the Pro Football Hall of Fame also partnered to launch “Hometown Hall of Famers presented by the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Allstate” in 2011. The “Hometown Hall of Famers” program is the Hall of Fame’s first nationwide plaque program honoring the hometown roots of the sport’s greatest players with special ceremonies and plaque dedication events in local communities.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame works very closely with all facets of the pro football world – the National Football League, the 32 NFL clubs, and other entities to ensure the overall success of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In turn, the Hall strives to serve as the best possible historical showplace and repository for professional football.

The Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit educational institution that focuses on education, promoting, preserving and honoring the great individuals and moments that have shaped the sport’s history.

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The annual Hall of Fame game kicked off the beginning of preseason football, featuring the New Orleans Saints defeating the Arizona Cardinals, 17-10.

The Saints have been bashed with unpleasant publicity as a result of the bounty scandal. All playerms and staff members are still facing initial penalties and suspensions. One of the biggest questions entering play will be, how will the Saints respond?

As for the Arizona Cardinals, they are hoping to finish over .500 after last season’s 8-8 record and second place NFC West finish. However, their biggest off-season concern is their quarterback battle. Kevin Kolb was Arizona’s starter last season, but he only played in 9 games because of an injury. Kolb had an 81.1 passer rating, threw for 1,955 yards, and had 9 touchdowns. Arizona is concerned with Kolb’s health and very well should be after his short first performance. Kolb’s first intended pass was intercepted by Saints’ safety, Malcolm Jenkins, and it got worse from there. Kolb only completed 1-of-4 passes for 4 yards and exited the game after suffering rib contusion when he was knocked down by Saints’ defensive tackle, Sedrick Ellis.

John Skelton took over the Cardinals’ offense once Kolb went down. Skelton has been giving Kolb a run for his money for the starting job and was impressive under center. Skelton completed 4-of-6 passes for 32 yards against the Saints first team defense.

Drew Brees played one possession for the Saints, completing 4-of-5 passes for 41 yards. However, back-up, Chase Daniel, had a stellar performance. Daniel completed 15-of-20 passes for 203 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Although Daniel will not see the playing field come regular season, he has shown the potential to step in and play if Brees were to miss some time.

Saints’, Mark Ingram, rushed 4 times for 14 yards and punched in a goal-line touchdown. Also, rookie running back, Travaris Cadet from Appalachian State hands’ shined, catching 8 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. Although the Saints have deep running back depth, it should be intriguing to see if Cadet can make the roster.

Cardinal, Alfonso Smith, carried the load at running back for Arizona rushing 8 times for 46 yards and one touchdown. As for the Cardinals’ talented receiving core, rookie, Michael Floyd, caught one pass for 15 yards and veteran, Larry Fitzgerald, caught one pass for 10 yards.

However, rookie wideout, LaRon Byrd, led all Cardinal receivers with 4 receptions and 54 yards. Byrd was an undrafted free agent from the University of Miami and signed with the Cardinals in early May. Concern regarding these wideouts is essentially not reaching their full potential because of the lack of a true quarterback presence to distribute the ball.

The Saints will be back in action Thursday, August 9 against the New England Patriots. As for the Cardinals, they will be playing in Kansas City Friday, August 10. Fortunately for both the Saints and Cardinals, they will play an extra preseason game to help prepare for the upcoming season.

Click here to view the rest of the NFL’s preseason schedule.

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There is perhaps no other pass rusher in the modern era of the NFL who has managed to become as revered across the league as DeMarcus Ware. His numbers speak for themselves, as he has led the league in sacks twice in his career, and is on pace to lead the league in sacks once again this season. In 2008, this included the first 20 sack season since the year that Michael Strahan broke Mark Gastineau’s sack record, yet Ware still fell short in the Defensive Player of the Year voting to his fellow speed rusher James Harrison.

Admittedly, this did not make DeMarcus Ware a huge snub by any means, since despite Ware clearly being the superior pass rusher, Harrison’s numbers seemed to suggest that he was simply the more complete player. Most would have argued that James Harrison was a better force against the run who also thrived in pass coverage allowing Dick LeBeau’s zone blitzing scheme to function well. However, it is not as if Ware has ever been any slouch against the run, or in pass coverage, especially this season. The debate over who deserved the DPOTY Award in 2008 can be laid to rest by now, but when evaluating how deserving DeMarcus Ware is of the award, one should let it sink in that the man has yet to win it a single time thus far.

This is actually quite remarkable when considering not only that most have accepted D-Ware as the premier pass rusher in the NFL, but also when considering what his potential legacy may be. Parallels can easily be drawn between Ware and Hall of Fame pass rush specialist Lawrence Taylor. Most fans who are savvy enough about football history know that LT was highly regarded as not only the NFL’s best pass rusher during his time, but also someone who would go down as the most feared defensive player that the NFL had ever seen.

Lawrence Taylor is an example of a player who had such an impact that he single-handedly changed the way the game was played. One notable example is the 2-point stance that offensive tackles often employ on pass plays. What many do not know is that this stance was originally intended to remedy the effect of having to block such a quick pass rusher with an amazing first step off the ball like Lawrence Taylor. The other example worth noting is the use of TEs to assist offensive tackles in protection. Joe Gibbs having his TEs motion to whichever side Taylor was on is perhaps the most famous example of this, but any instance of a TE aligning across from the defense’s best pass rusher is, in fact, a remnant of the LT era of the NFL. Given these innovations, even those who have never witnessed Lawrence Taylor firsthand can easily see how great he truly was.

The innovations that Lawrence Taylor was able to cause with his play allow him to lay claim to an impact that DeMarcus Ware will never have an opportunity to achieve. For this reason, Ware may have to settle for his career being considered inferior to Taylor’s no matter how many sacks he is able to rack up, but one should at least take into account the context of their respective eras. Obviously, Ware cannot be blamed for his inability to change the game as much as Taylor did since Ware did not have the opportunity induce the changes that were already made. What makes this especially significant is when one considers the effect that this may have had on Ware’s production in comparison to LT’s.

Since the aforementioned innovations were initiated as a direct response to Lawrence Taylor, he therefore had the luxury of not dealing with them at the beginning of his career. DeMarcus Ware, on the other hand, has had to deal with offensive tackles employing a two-point stance, as well as Tight Ends assisting these offensive tackles in pass protection since the beginning of his career. With this in mind, it can be speculated that had Ware played during Taylor’s era, his production could have easily matched that of Taylor, along with the possibility that the same exact pass protection innovations would have been made in response to him instead.

While it may seem utterly pointless to speculate about the careers of two players if they had played at different times, the fact that DeMarcus Ware is arguably this generation’s version of Lawrence Taylor is a scary thought. Most importantly, it makes it all the more perplexing that Ware has still yet to be crowned as Defensive Player of the Year. Given that he is the second coming of Lawrence Taylor, it would be a crime to not give him the award any time soon. If DeMarcus Ware is to be rightfully given his long overdue Defensive Player of the Year Award, it may as well be this season in which he leads the league in sacks once again, while also succeeding in all dimensions of the game.

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It is a shame to admit, but the Baseball Writers’ Association of America must revoke Ryan Braun’s MVP Award, following reports that he tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in October. The BBWAA’s awareness of that sentiment is exactly why they claimed just a few days later that they would not be taking such action. Voters are hoping that the situation will simply go away on its own – but this is not the case at all. Allowing Braun to maintain the award would first do a major disservice to Major League Baseball and the recent progression it has made in diminishing steroid use within the game.

A few years ago, when Commissioner Selig implemented extremely severe suspensions for policy violators, it was clearly a statement that cheating would not be tolerated even one bit. Well if it is that serious, then it would make no sense for the BBWAA to let Braun keep the game’s highest annual individual honor knowing that he was not 100 percent clean.

Even if Braun is being truthful and the synthetic testosterone found in his system did not come from an illegal performance enhancing drug, it should not make a difference. The fact would still remain that he took something that gave him an unfair competitive advantage. Doing so unknowingly really does not change much.

Another case to make against Braun involves the current struggles of former players like Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGuire. These two have obviously not been inducted into the Hall of Fame for the last few years because of their connections to steroid use. Now, the NL MVP may not be as prestigious as a spot in Cooperstown, but there is still one undeniable similarity between the honors. Just like getting into the Hall of Fame, winning the MVP of the league means that a player will always have their own special place in baseball history that will allow their name to live on forever.

That whole idea is very powerful when looked at closely. The circumstances may differ immensely when it comes to McGuire and Palmeiro, but the focal point is still the same. If they are being punished for cheating, then there should be no exception made for Braun. The baseball writers need to set a strict precedent so players will be more aware of both their actions and the consequences that will ensue.

We also definitely cannot forget about Matt Kemp. The Dodgers center fielder had the year of his life in 2011 and finished a close second behind Braun in the voting. He hit 0.324, stole 40 bases, scored 115 runs, had 195 hits, smacked 39 homers, and drove in 115 runs. Now, although Braun only beat him out in one of those categories with a 0.332 average, the award was still considered well-deserved. After all, he did play an intricate role in the Brewers winning 96 games and their first ever National League Central title.

Kemp’s Dodgers, on the other hand, only won 82 games. Suddenly, however, Kemp appears to be much more deserving. As far as we know, he was able to eclipse all of those numbers without the aid of a performance enhancer.

Meanwhile, the baseball writers should ask themselves a few interesting questions after news of Braun testing positive. Would Braun’s numbers have come close enough to Kemp’s without the synthetic testosterone? Would Milwaukee still have won the division? Would that even be a determining factor if Kemp’s numbers were substantially higher in comparison?

The BBWAA has to take all of these morals and possibilities into consideration and take the award back. Major League Baseball and its fans will be thankful in the long run.

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The 2011 NFL season may be only nine weeks old, but for some teams at the bottom of their division, the season is already over. And, some fan bases couldn’t be happier that their team is performing so poorly.

Every year the worse team in the league gets the first pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, and this year that pick is slightly more coveted than in recent years. The reason for this comes down to the junior starting quarterback for the Stanford Cardinal, Andrew Luck. Luck, barring any unforeseen injuries will enter his name in the draft next year, and without a shadow of doubt be selected by the team with the first pick.

Luck is regarded as the most NFL ready college quarterback by football analysts across the land. He was projected to go number one in the 2011 Draft, but elected to finish his degree at Stanford and play one more season. NFL teams have been salivating over Luck because his ability to play the quarterback position has franchise savior written all over it.

In 2010 Luck threw for over 3,000 yards, completed 70% of his passes, and had a dizzying touchdown to interception ratio of 32 to 8. Luck is also proving that last year was not a fluke; he is currently on track to outpace his phenomenal numbers from last year.

The image now becomes clear as to why some teams fan bases want their favorite team to stink it up for the rest of the season. What’s one bad year, when we can acquire Luck, and possibly have the next legendary quarterback on our team?

The current teams that are in line to win the Andrew Luck jackpot are the Miami Dolphins, St. Louis Rams, and the Indianapolis Colts. These teams are the bottom of the bottom and their combined record is an atrocious 2-23. As of Week 9 while all three teams look hapless, Indianapolis is the clear frontrunner at 0-9.

The Dolphins could easily be 4-4, if not for a miraculous 4^th quarter comeback by Tim Tebow, and a couple of losses in close games, so it is doubtful that they will finish at the bottom. The Rams recently acquired Sam Bradford with the number one pick in 2010.Bradford was last year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, so it is likely that the Rams would trade the pick for more draft picks to fill other personnel holes.

Then there are the Indianapolis Colts who are going in the wrong direction, with each performance looking worse than the one before. What’s odd is that the Colts, for the last 11 years, have been stout at the quarterback position thanks to future Hall of Famer, Peyton Manning.

If Manning would’ve been healthy at the beginning of the season, the Colts would probably be in contention for a playoff spot and not the first draft pick. However  with Manning’s neck injury lingering and people close to the situation doubting if his production value will be anywhere close to the Manning of old, Luck is now a serious option.

The popular school of thought is that if Luck goes to the Colts one of two things will happen. The first is that after drafting Luck, if Manning can return next year, Luck will sit on the bench and learn from one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. In 3-5 years when Manning’s contract extension is up, Luck will take over and be the new heir to the Colt’s offense.

The second option is that if Manning can’t make his return the Colt’s would trade or cut Manning, and begin the Luck era in Indianapolis. A crude way to treat your former savior, but the NFL is a business where tough decisions need to be made.

With 8 weeks left in the season it’s anybody guess as to who will wind up with the first pick in the draft.  What is certain is that one NFL team is going to win by losing.

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Yao Ming retired last week after nine seasons with the Houston Rockets. Yao was a force both on and off the court, revolutionizing the game of basketball, and yet many hall of fame voters are merely on the fence about him getting in.

Yao came into the league as the tallest player ever to grace an NBA court, standing an uncanny 7-foot-6. This alone was going to make opposing teams create a specific game-plan to guard him, but it didn’t stop there.

He influenced an entire country to become fans of such an American-driven sport. Chinese culture had never been strongly tied to basketball, but now we see more and more Chinese players growing up playing, and trying to get into the NBA to follow in Yao’s gigantic footsteps. He is a true ambassador.

Though these two facets of his game indeed made him an incredibly popular player, and very important to the Houston Rockets for having so much economic value, his on the court game was nothing to ignore.

When he first came into the league, he was somewhat feared because of his height, and yet wasn’t expected to be as much of a force as other centers because of his scrawny build. The word soft was thrown around in his presence. But that was 2002, and this is 2011.

Yao was an incredibly intelligent player, knowing how to use his height to the best of his advantages. He had an extremely efficient post game, throwing up unblockable hook shots with both hands whenever he wanted. If somebody let him get position on the block, there wasn’t much they could do to protect the goal (unless you’re Nate Robinson).

He also had a great face-up game for his size. Yao’s mid-range jumper was up there with the best in the game, even out to 20 feet, not to mention the occasional thee point attempt. He also was known to put the ball on the floor from the elbow, and with his unmatched size, one dribble would get him right by a defender and to the rim for an easy bucket. It was never easy to guard Yao.

To be fair, every hall of fame player has to perform well on both sides of the ball. The same reasons that top teams were afraid to take Jimmer Fredette too early were why Yao was often not respected as much as he should have been: defense.

Any player with his height should be able to block shots. No doubt about that, so let’s look at the stats.

As far as blocks per game went over his career, Yao landed at a respectable 1.9. For comparison, one of the greatest centers of all time, Shaquille O’ Neal, had a career average of only 2.3. Granted, Yao had 5 inches on Shaq, but the difference in jumping ability surely made up for that. Maybe people just expected too much, but that doesn’t mean his game lacked a defensive element.

Speaking of Shaq, the two gargantuan centers had countless Western Conference battles that were some of the most watched games of the time. These games were run through both giant men, each of which getting the ball in the post nearly every possession for isolation offense on one another. It will surely be a long time until fans get to see another match-up like those. Yao surely held his own, and though nobody is saying he is as good as “the diesel,” respect should surely be given.

Yao also averaged 9.2 rebounds for his career. Still think he should have grabbed more boards because of his height? Take a look at Shawn Bradley’s career numbers. He was 7-foot-5 and yet only grabbed 6.2 total rebounds per game over his twelve seasons. Too bad we never got to see those giants duke it out.

The points barely need to be talked about, everybody knows that his offensive game is surely hall quality. Even though he landed at an average of 19.0 points per game, when you factor in some of the tragic injuries that plagued him, he surely would have been a career 20-10 guy.

Hey, we also can throw in 1.6 assists per game while we’re looking. His passing was probably the most underrated part of his game.

This might be one of the tougher decisions that the hall of fame committee will have to make in the coming years. In all probability, if he never had to deal with his injuries he should have been a lock to be there, but for that matter we may have been able to say the same thing about Sam Bowie (check out the 1984 draft if you’re not familiar).

Once you throw in his intangibles, and what he meant to the game both on and off the court, this gentle giant deserves to be given his due credit one way or another. It was definitely fun to watch him play.

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Judge Reggie Walton declared a mistrial in Roger Clemens federal perjury case on Thursday afternoon. A hearing will be held on September 2^nd to determine whether or not the case should be restarted or dropped altogether. For now, Roger Clemens is a free man, but should this case ever have gotten this far?

Perjury is indeed a punishable offense and shouldn’t be overlooked at all, however this case is about steroids. The topic of steroids in baseball is one that has caused a giant rift among fans of the sport. What do we do with the records from the “steroid era?” Should players that have used performance enhancing drugs be allowed into Cooperstown?

Questions like these certainly are ones that need to be answered, but is it really necessary to spend so much effort, time, and taxpayers money in order to bring these men up on charges? Will that really give us the answers we’re looking for? Do Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds really deserve to face jail time for breaking the rules? Maybe this whole situation has gone down the wrong road.

For arguments sake let’s assume Clemens will not be brought back into the courtroom. His legacy remains somewhat in tact, but these questions certainly remain.

Is the all time postseason wins leader, Andy Pettitte really not going to get into the hall of fame either? When Alex Rodriguez closes his iconic career, will he not be immortalized with a plaque in upstate New York? Is it feasible to have the all time home run king not in the hall? Maybe it is, seeing as how the all-time hits leader isn’t there either.

It’s a sad time for hall of fame nominations. Voters will constantly have to wrestle with the idea that some of the players did it “the wrong way.” Any good player from the 90′s through the 2000′s will have a giant question mark above their heads.

There is one day in the near future that will summarize everything that is hated about this era, the darkest example. Every fan should dread this day for what they will have to hear.

In a couple of years Ken Griffey Jr. will be put on his first ballot. It had been thought that “the kid” could be the first ever unanimous hall of fame choice in the games history. Everyone knew he had the talent and the charisma. He brought new meaning to fan favorite. Nobody hated Griffey the way they did Bonds. Everyone knew he did it the right way. Unfortunately the media will undoubtedly grab hold of the ugly question “did he do it too?”

Bud Selig has done a fine job in fixing the problem on the field. Regular tests are given, heavy suspensions and fines have struck fear into players that think about using PED’s these days, and yet fans are still forced to worry about how the past will effect the future.

A proposition for Cooperstown: treat this time as just another era. The “dead ball” era, the “live ball” era, the integration era, the free-agent era, the steroid era. Why should one of these be singled out?

There are countless players from all different times that are in the hall, and these players should not be victims of a calendar, punished merely for the time they played in and what happened during that time.

If fans are really so up in arms about it, put a little sign under Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds name that says “steroid era” on it. Heck, create a whole wing in Cooperstown just for these guys. What’s the difference?

The hall of fame is a place for fans of the game to go and relive times past. Learn about what happened in the game before their time. The greatest players can be enshrined forever in glory. It is of course a sacred place, but it is silly and naive to think that great players of the past weren’t using drugs or putting pine tar on their bats, yet they are not persecuted.

The point is, there is time to fix this flaw, the powers that be just need to admit that there is something wrong and that it should be addressed.

Nobody is forcing anyone else to like these players. If someone has a personal vendetta against Roger Clemens and the countless others for not playing the way they would have hoped, then so be it. That certainly does not mean that they were not fantastic baseball players.

The time is over, we can all move on, but we don’t have to forget. In 50 years, this will merely be a notch on the timeline of America’s greatest past time. Don’t let it be ruined by a silly needle.

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This years NBA Final is giving fans not only incredibly entertaining play on the court, but countless underlying stories that have kept everyone talking, even on the off days.

Everybody knows that superstars run the NBA, and because of that, commissioner David Stern must have had a grin as wide as the Grand Canyon when the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks reached the finals.

I want to start by saying that Dwyane Wade deserves every bit as much recognition as LeBron James for bringing Miami this far. I most definitely do not wish to ignore his accomplishments because he has a solid argument to be just as talented as any other player in the world. The thing about Wade is that he has already been to the promised land. He has hardware on his side, and that can never be taken away from him no matter how many times he may lose from here on in.

Now that I’ve said that, we can move on to who we all know who the big story really revolves around here.

LeBron James has been criticized more than any other player in the league for not having a championship ring on his finger at this point in his career. He has upped his game to the point where he is unquestionably the best player in the NBA, and probably the world. At this point, the only thing he has to worry about, is his legacy moving forward. If LeBron really wants to go down as one of the absolute best, he’s going to need the hardware.

Dirk Nowitzki is at this moment considered by many to be the greatest international player ever to grace the NBA, not to mention the best shooting big man of all time. He has brought a style of play that nobody has ever seen in the history of this game, and as of late has proved to be impossible to guard at virtually any spot on the court. Unfortunately he, like LeBron, is missing the same thing that they have been chasing their entire careers.

These two probably could not be more different people if they tried, aside from the arc of their careers to this point. Although Dirk has been around the block a few more times than LeBron, they find themselves at a similar point in the eyes of the rest of the world. Both men have been to the finals one time, been unimpressive to say the least, and gone home with disappointment rather than future hall of fame votes. This is their second chance.

The term “on fire” does not even begin to describe the way each of them have been playing to this point in the playoffs, not to mention the impressive performances that have kept fans on the edge of their seats thus far in the finals.

Even their stats are similar. To this point Dirk has 28.1 points per game in the playoffs to LeBron’s 25.5 (but when we factor in how much more help LeBron has on the floor, the numbers seem to even themselves out). Rebounds? Dirk has 7.8 per game to LeBron’s 8.8. Even their shooting has been incredible with both men raining down countless outside shots and going on uncanny made free-throw streaks to lead their teams to victory.

This will surely prove to be a battle between these stars, and nothing should be taken away from either of them no matter the outcome of the series. Unfortunately the key word there is should, and the fans, or the media for that matter, doesn’t exactly abide by the same rules of respect that I do.

Nobody knows what will happen in the remaining games in the finals. In 2006 most everybody believed that Dirk and the Mavericks had the series wrapped up halfway through game 3, but some teams lay eggs and we just can’t see it coming. One thing is for absolute certain, the remaining games in the coming days just may decide a lot about how these two players are remembered.

Should Dallas lose, Dirk’s chance at a ring may be gone for good. He will be remembered as a great scorer and shooter who just could never get over the hump. In the spectrum of all-time players, he will be considered really good, but not great, somewhere many players would appreciate being, but somewhere a true champion never wants to end up.

Should Dallas win, in my opinion, Nowitzki will be knocking on the door of the hall of fame. A complete career, an MVP award, a ring, and the honor of being not only the best player ever from Germany, but probably ever as an international player in the NBA. Not matter what would happen after this year, he would go out the way he wanted to.

On the other hand, if the Heat were to lose, the media would have a field day. Worse than the Brett Favre retirement fiasco, worse than Tiger Woods’ scandal, we would hear about LeBron’s uncanny ability to lose the big game for an entire year before the next season started again.

That would make two times that it seemed “King James” would finally reach the promised land and come up short. His career is already complete aside from the championships, and since everybody knows he wants to the the absolute best, the rings are what he needs.

He is still incredibly young and has plenty more time, but this one would have a real toll on him and maybe the rest of his career. He is focused and ready now, and everyone is sensing that this is the time, no more excuses.

If they win, all the talk goes away. He would have it all. The rings, the MVP’s, the scoring titles, everything. He would already be considered one of the greatest, no matter how hated he may be around the country. The only thing left to do would be to build a trophy room and wait for more championships to roll in after having the confidence of the first. Comparisons to the great one’s would be everywhere. His dream would be achieved.

I for one, can not wait to see what happens. These last few games of the season is going to have an incredibly impact on how people view these two outstanding basketball players. Most people don’t realize it quite yet, but LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki really are playing with their legacies on the line.

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