It’s hard to argue that this hasn’t been one of the best NBA basketball seasons of all time. That’s why I’m hoping for one last gift from the basketball gods: Kobe vs. LeBron. It may not be the hottest story heading in to the playoffs, but it’s certainly one war of attrition that most basketball fans have wanted to see. This may be our last chance to see both stars in their prime, battling for the game’s biggest prize.

There’s a big difference between the Kobe vs. LeBron war that we asked for last year, and the one we might get this year if the Lakers and Heat make it that far. I’m not talking about the fact that LeBron doesn’t play in a Cleveland uniform anymore. The reason that the rivalry between Kobe and LeBron seems diluted to some degree is because of Dwyane Wade.

I know that Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom and the rest of the Lakers have big numbers and huge moments, but this is still Kobe’s team. It’s impossible to argue against that point and you know it. The Heat, however, are probably a fair mixture of LeBron’s team and Wade’s team. It’s a much more muddled identity at the end of it all.

Still, it’s a moot point. I ask that the basketball gods be kind to fans because we love big rivalries between players. There is time for Rondo-Rose. There will be years of Durant and Westbrook taking on LeBron and Wade. We’ve already had what’s felt like decades of Spurs and Celtics prosperity. 

We are simply running out of time for Kobe and LeBron to fight each other in the NBA Finals. Kobe has more mileage on his damn legs than any other 32-year old basketball player on the planet. Since coming to the league in 1996, he’s logged well over 40,000+ minutes. You can tell in the way that he moves, cringes and plays these days – all of those minutes are catching up to him in a pretty mean hurry.

Which means that the Kobe vs. Lebron thrillogy that we were all hoping for may never actually materialize on the grand stage of the NBA Finals, especially this year where monumental road blocks stand in the way of either team surviving their respective conferences.

This season has been one of the most competitive years in NBA history, and thusly it’s been appropriately compelling.The injury to Andrew Bynum, coupled with the obvious problems Miami has a team, means that the battle between two of the game’s best individual players doesn’t have the highest chance of materializing this season, which is disheartening when you begin to wonder just how much longer Kobe can keep going. There’s only so much anyone’s body can take.

Even after Kobe leaves the league, LeBron James will be chasing down his legacy whether he wants to admit it or not. In two games between the Heat and Lakers, there has been a violent collision of personality and ego on the floor. So sure, it’s been a fun duel whenever the two have faced each other. Unfortunately, for Kobe vs. LeBron to become a rivalry with any historical significance, the two need to have at least one championship series slugfest. Just one. That’s all I ask.

Something tells me it’s what the two of them want as well.

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