The world of basketball is filled with controversies, and this year gave us even more than we had hoped for.

January’s big news might not have been so big. Commissioner David Stern decided to throw away the newly introduced NBA balls and make way for the old leather ball that players have grown accustomed to. The real controversy here started in 2006 when the NBA decided the change without consulting the players.

February gave us all the trade deadline mega-deal that never happened. We had the Jason Kidd to LA rumors, the Pau Gasol to Chicago buzz and the unforgettable Mike Bibby to Cleveland idea. Jermaine O’Neil was to be moved and we were all waiting for that earth shattering mega trade that would blow our minds, and yet we somehow all knew it was never going to happen.

'The Bulls have gotten rid of their tough-as-nails coach and they seem to be headed nowhere'


March came with a bang as Isiah Thomas got his extension following a so-so season for the Knicks. Us Knicks fans, we were all waiting for Dolan to announce this was his April fools joke. He just couldn’t wait that long, but alas it turned out to be dead serious. We all know the rest of the story, following the extension New York bombed in its final 19 games.

April, oh sweet April… You gave us a race for the Eastern Conference’s 8th spot, a title nobody seemed to want. Every team seemed to lose deliberately just so they would not make the play-offs. In the West, the Golden State Warriors pulled off quite a finish to arrange for a date with Dallas in the first round, but over in the East that last spot was all they never wanted. In the end, both Orlando and New Jersey pulled off four-game win streaks to break away from the pack. And get the seventh and eighth seed secured.

May was the month of the big stories. You had Dallas being ousted out of the play-offs by eighth seeded Golden State. Call it the collapse of Nowitzki. And of course you had the Kobe Bryant 'trade me, trade me not' fiasco. The most important news was that Stephen A Smith’s radio show mattered once again and every fan was envisioning Kobe in their favorite team’s jersey.

June gave us the lowest rated NBA finals of modern times. Whilst a San Antonio – Cleveland final should have been electrifying, it was anything but. The biggest blow to Stern and his league was that the airing of the final episode of the hit series “The Sopranos” was aired during Game 2 of the series and the ratings plummeted. Spurs-Cavs lost one third of its viewers, mostly due to the show.

July had us with Greg Oden and Kevin Durant fever. Portland went with the big guy, Seattle went with the next heir apparent. This was vintage MJ Sam Bowie stuff according to journalists, except that these “experts” forgot the fact that a successful center was taken No. 1 before Bowie and Jordan, so the whole comparison thing is not clear here. Still all we know is Oden is injured and Durant is scoring as expected.

August (and the end of July) gave us the Donaghy referee betting scandal. We all know it is unethical for a referee to be involved with sports betting. We all know it is not OK (to say the least) to owe money to “bad” people. Yet we still have guys like him running around and calling games in a shady way. I love this game (yes indeed).

September had us thrilled with the FIBA Americas final. Team USA finally fielded a group that could be called a dream team, and they did not disappoint. In fact, Kobe sucked it up and played suffocating D and team ball, Carmelo Anthony was scoring almost at will, LeBron James left everyone in awe and Michael Redd sank those killer trifectas for the icing on the cake. In other words, Team USA finally lived up to the hype.

October went by with the verdict of Isiah Thomas’ sexual harassment trial. We had the exact opposite of the Bill Clinton confession (“I did not have sex with that woman”) from Stephon Marbury (“I did have sex with that intern”). We had Mr. Dolan backing his guy 24/7, and we had a guilty verdict in the end. What drama.

November gave us the fresh start of the new season. We finally got a chance to feast our eyes on Kevin Durant and a highly touted rookie class. We got to see just how much Shaquille O’Neal’s game had deteriorated. Plus, us Knicks fans had the privilege of seeing another “great” start from our fave team.

December has already given us so much, yet I have to pick the Scott Skiles sacking as the top story for the month. The Bulls made all the headlines last season when they marched into the play-offs following a bad start and they disposed of the Miami Heat in the first round. This season they had the bad start again, but management did not want to see Skiles pull off another miracle finish, so here we are now. The Bulls have gotten rid of their tough-as-nails coach and they seem to be headed nowhere.

So what then, will 2008 bring?

I predict that . . . Francisco Elson will emerge as the top player of the San Antonio Spurs . . . The Knicks will pull off a miraculous 25-game win streak and they will get home court in the play-offs . . . Kobe Bryant will get traded to Minnesota where he’ll restart the Minneapolis Lakers franchise . . . Memphis will unload Pau Gasol and start running like crazy. They’ll eventually get to the play-offs where they will become the first No. 8 seed to win the NBA title!

And If any of these happen, you'd better start to panic or pray, as the apocalypse is coming!