Kobe Bryant

Editor's Note: In the spirit of the From Baltimore to Beijing blog, Rick and Kevin dialogued about their Olympic experiences: Rick Maese: Until a few years ago, tradition called for the Olympics to close with a grandiose and dramatic pronouncement. The top boss would proclaim for all of the gathered nations and athletes that these particular Games were undoubtedly the best ever. As these Beijing Games draw to a close today, there's no need to jump into the deep end of the hyperbole pool.

BEIJING - As "cheesy" as Nike's nickname for this team might be - as Nike spokesman Kobe Bryant keeps noting - the United States has more to redeem than its primacy in basketball. If sometimes you win and you really lose, as Gloria says in White Men Can't Jump, the United States was losing more than games long before it started losing games. Opposing teams bristled at the U.S. players' attitude. It would be 10 years before the pros representing the United States lost their first international game, but almost from the moment the Dream Team left Barcelona in 1992, opposing players had stopped asking to pose with them for pictures.

After that debacle in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Kobe Bryant might maintain his well-publicized stance of trusting his teammates tonight. But don't hold your breath. As the Lakers face elimination, it bears repeating: I wonder how things would be if Bryant had decided to trust his teammates when Shaquille O'Neal was one of them instead of Pau Gasol. It's the nature of the game, but after all the reminders of the greatness of Jonathan Ogden, consider this about this year's Ravens: Is who starts at quarterback really a bigger deal than who starts at left tackle?

Spurs@Lakers 9 p.m. [TNT] The Lakers - leading the Western Conference finals 3-1 - will try to finish off the defending NBA champions at home tonight. The Spurs' grind-it-out style and Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have been unable to keep up with the league's Most Valuable Player, Kobe Bryant.

Because of Magic Johnson, my all-time favorite athlete, my basketball allegiances have always been simple: Lakers purple and gold. This made for an uncomfortable partnership after Magic retired. Cheering for Anthony Peeler, Cedric Ceballos and Nick Van Exel during the lean years was not particularly uplifting and required a lot of feigned enthusiasm with little or no payoff. But when Kobe Bryant arrived, I felt like I had finally found a Laker I could embrace again. We were similar in age, we were both hungry to prove ourselves, and I loved Kobe's mini-afro and the ice water in his veins.

The last time I saw Kobe Bryant play in person, he was still in high school. Lower Merion High in the Philadelphia suburbs. And like many fans who watched him back then, I wondered how well he would do against tougher competition when the guy guarding him wasn't some poor glassy-eyed kid being hypnotized by the dribbles and feints and the blur to the basket. And like many fans, I've seen him scores of times on TV, maybe hundreds, since he jumped to the NBA as an 18-year-old. And when he was paired with Shaquille O'Neal on those championship Los Angeles Lakers teams, I wondered how much of Bryant's productivity was because of the star cast assembled around him. And like many fans, after Shaq moved on to the Miami Heat and Bryant managed to be even more prolific offensively, winning back-to-back scoring titles even as his team's fortunes sagged, I wondered how much of that was directed toward self-aggrandizement rather than winning.

NBA Lakers@Suns 9 P.M. [ESPN] Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal on the same court is always good theater, but the subplots make this one even better. O'Neal is expected to make his first start for Phoenix since being traded from the Miami Heat. The Suns lead the Lakers by a 1 1/2 games in the Pacific Division.

Five story lines to watch 1. Will the Lakers trade Kobe Bryant (right)? 2. Will Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen vault the Celtics back to Eastern Conference pre-eminence? 3. Will fans regain trust in officials after the Tim Donaghy betting scandal? 4. Will Kevin Durant emerge as the league's next multiskilled superstar? 5. Will any team challenge the Spurs-Mavericks-Suns troika in the West? Rookies worth watching Kevin Durant, SuperSonics: Second pick in draft will score right away, but efficient shooting and solid defense might have to wait.

It's easy to forget with so many of you sharing in our national fantasy football obsession, but the NBA season starts next week. And that means fantasy basketball. I know those words induce a huge yawn from many fantasy enthusiasts. Aside from the Kobe Bryant saga in Los Angeles, pro basketball can't complete for headlines with the NFL and the World Series. And many general sports fans seem to view the NBA's regular season as a real slog. But I love fantasy basketball. With more games and statistical categories, it's a more intricate game than fantasy football.