For much of his career, Kobe Bryant has received criticism for being a “me” player, a guy who had little leadership abilities and even less of an interest in passing the ball. Fast forward a few years and Bryant is now the toast of the NBA. Sure, the haters will be there for as long as he plays. But lets face it. After another dominating display by his Lakers last night, many Kobe pundits are being forced to eat crow.

In a show of solidarity and unity we never thought possible in LA, Bryant’s teammates surrounded him to applaud as he gave his MVP acceptance speech last night. Yep, the same “uncoachable” superstar that wanted out of Los Angeles just a few months ago has finally ascended into the role of “team leader.” Sure, Kobe still scored 34 points last night. But it wasn’t one of his 35-shot specials from a few years back. Bryant’s efficiency (18 shots), 8 rebounds and 6 assists are why the Lakers are looking so tough to beat in the postseason.

The Lakers remain undefeated in this postseason with a 6-0 record, but should be ready for a hostile environment this weekend in Utah. Look for Bryant to get booed every time he touches the ball, not like that’s surprising. Kobe seemingly saves his best performances for Salt Lake City. The Jazz will probably snatch a win in Utah, but even with all their physicality inside, it doesn’t look like they’re capable of matching Los Angeles’ torrid outside shooting and depth.

Note: Yes, we’re still alive…barely. Final exams are currently owning the Sportable Staff. Please bear with us. With Rich’s graduation coming up and the rest of us busy with class, we’ve been struggling to find the time to devote to the site. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Over the last couple of months, we’ve focused much of our NBA attention on the three blockbuster trades that went down within a couple weeks of each other. We spoke highly of the Lakers’ trade theft of Pau Gasol, and expressed some doubts about the moves for Jason Kidd and Shaquille O’Neal. Well, it turns out those concerns were justified. Pau’s Lakers? Moving on. J-Kidd and the Big Cactus? Gone fishin’.

Remember when there were whispers about the Mavericks breaking the Chicago Bulls’ record for most wins in a season last year? All was well in Dallas; they had the MVP, a rising star in Josh Howard and the bitter taste of defeat from their loss in the 2006 NBA Finals. But after falling to the upstart Golden State Warriors, the Mavs’ earth has seemingly rotated off their axis.

A more experienced team like the Mavs should not have been ousted in five games by the Hornets. As good as New Orleans has been all year, you would expect Dallas to show up in the postseason because of what happened last year. Didn’t happen. And that trade for Kidd turned out to be a nightmare, as the future Hall of Famer was abused by Chris Paul in five straight games. After such a great 2006 season, the Mavs’ entire franchise now appears to be snake bitten. Where do they go from here? They have a guy in Dirk Nowitzki who still refuses to show up in big games. And now they’re without their future point guard in Devin Harris, now playing for the Nets. Mark Cuban has done some great things over the years, but he screwed the pooch this time.

The Suns knew that something had to change. They had found out that defense wins championships after getting shellacked by the Spurs in two of the last three postseasons. But even with two giants inside, the Suns had no answer for the Spurs, who still managed to fly under the radar before the series started. All of the focus was on Shaq’s Suns, but how about those Spurs? We know how good they are, we just always seem to forget it. With two aging players in Steve Nash and Shaq, the Suns’ window of opportunity appears to be closing. Hell, it already has for their head coach.

So much for that. The Mavs and Suns made these blockbuster deals looking towards glory in April, May and June. But all of that now appears to be thrown out the window. But hey, at least Pau worked out.

Something happened behind the scenes last night in Phoenix between Warriors head coach Don Nelson and Baron Davis. Golden State who needed a win to have any shot at making the playoffs played the entire second half without their best player in Davis. Baron Davis was not injured by any means, but he was shooting 2-13 in the first half. I don’t know about you, but something tells we didn’t get the full picture from Don Nelson last night as his team will now watch the playoffs from a sofa.

If you watch the Warriors play every night, it is easily visible who the hardest worker on the team is. Baron Davis literally plays every game of the season like it’s his last. Davis who was indeed struggling last night was apparently benched by Don Nelson because the coach said he was tired. “I gave Baron a much-needed rest the second half “, Nelson went on to say after game. Bullshit. Baron Davis doesn’t get “tired” when a playoff berth is on the line.

I’m starting to think something went down in the locker room at halftime last night in the U.S. Airways Arena in Phoenix. Nelson could have suggested to Davis to start playing better and maybe words were exchanged? It honestly puzzles me to think that someone would bench a team’s best player when such important things are on the line. If I was a Warriors fan I would be at Oracle Arena today demanding Nelson be fired!

This story isn’t a major headline today because the Warriors didn’t make it into the Western Conference playoffs, but you can bet this won’t be the last chapter in the Baron Davis-Don Nelson saga. My favorite quote of the game comes from Suns guard Leandro Barbosa who said, “When we saw Baron Davis wasn’t going to start the second half, we thought that the game was going to be easy.” Well Leandro was right.

All in all I feel there is just a tad bit of information missing here. Phil Jackson wouldn’t bench Kobe and Gregg Popovich wouldn’t bench Tim Duncan. I’m sure Nelson had to answer to the front office today with the decision he made at the start of the third quarter. If Baron Davis was in, you could have bet anything that he would have done everything in his power to secure a playoff berth for the Warriors.

Seen below is Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant doing his best to promote his new shoe…and ensure the Lakers have zero chance in the NBA Playoffs. We’re not experts on shadows and perspective, but this looks pretty damn real. I wonder what Phil Jackson has to say about this.

Update: Is that Ronny Turiaf with him?

Update 2: Lakers Blog over at the LA Times reports that the video is indeed fake.

From the article: Also, to address a question freaking out a few of our worry wart-ier readers… no, The New Jack Bauer is not really pulling off the stunt.  Kobe described the sequence as “Hollywood” after last night’s game (”If ‘Rambo Part XX’ can be a one-man militia, I can jump over an Aston Martin.”)

I honestly can’t believe what I just saw in Houston this afternoon. The Rockets just got done giving a beatdown on a Laker team without Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum and it was like Hakeem “The Dream” and Clyde won another championship! While I give them props on the victory and the 22 game win streak, I would like to question the ovation that was delivered inside the Compaq Center today.

First off, who gave the the go-ahead to drop streamers and confetti from the rafters? This was a regular season game, not game seven of the Western Conference Finals. Seriously people, this was unbelievable. Again, I would like to dish out some credit to the Rockets, but this streak doesn’t mean you should start turning your arena into a scene from Cirque De Soleil.

I am honestly puzzled. Did the Rockets watch what happened to the Patriots in the NFL Playoffs? Yes this winning streak is awesome, unreal for that matter. But until you bring home the hardware, keep your party gear inside the cupboard. Without Yao in the playoffs this Spring, I doubt the Rockets can get past the Lakers, Spurs, Suns and Mavs in a 7 game series.

Again, I’ll give Houston what it deserves, but don’t think this is going to be an easy road because you guys have won 22 in a row. The Western Conference gets its rep because it is so hard to play night in and night out against such elite teams. Enjoy the winning streak, Houston. But please, save the streamers for June.

Kobe’s 52 points yesterday versus the Mavericks was certainly an impressive performance.  Lost among the celebration of the overtime win, however, was an incident he had with a towel and a fan after an interview with Michelle Tafoya.  What was the motivation to whip the towel at the fan?  Certainly not frustration.  Maybe it was a celebratory pegging.  Regardless, it’s absolutely hilarious.