The Informer’s 50 NBA Blogs in 50 Nights Day 39: A Conference Finals Mailbag

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“Hey Informer, when are you going to write a NBA Conference Finals Mailbag?”

Well . . . How about right now? Would that satisfy the figment of my imagination?

As always, please keep in mind that these are actual questions from the fake people The Informer made up in his head to feel more popular.

“That settles it Informer; LeBron James is not CLUTCH!!! Did you see him pass the ball with his team down by two points in the final seconds of a playoff game? There is no way Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant would have ever passed the ball in that situation. Once again to everyone who thinks LeBron is the greatest –you were proven wrong.”

John Paxson, Steve Kerr, Robert Horry, Derek Fisher, Tony Kukoc, Shaquille O’Neal; off the top of my head all six of those guy hit game winning shots off of passes from either Jordan or Kobe.

Seriously guys, we all need to stop with this LeBron is not clutch garbage. He made the right basketball play setting up a 9x NBA All-Star with a wide open 3-pointer that would have won the game for the Miami Heat. There was nothing “unclutch” about the play.

Listen, The Informer loves “hero ball” as much as the next guy. In fact, The Informer definitely would have preferred LeBron shoot the ball, but the reality of the situation is LeBron made the smart basketball play. And there is no way The Informer is going to beat the guy up for making the right play. I mean we can’t continuously applaud the Spurs and Tim Duncan for always making the extra pass and then throw LeBron under the bus when he does the exact same thing.

We can’t have it both ways!

Besides; 4x MVP, 2x Finals MVP, about to play in his fourth straight NBA Finals, 2x NBA Champion and NBA record holder for most playoff games with at least 25-5-5. There is nothing “unclutch” about LeBron James.

LeBron haters need to get over the fact that the dude is a really good basketball player, who routinely makes the smart basketball play. Just because he doesn’t force up a fade away jumper over three guys does not make him unclutch –it makes him unselfish; big difference.

“Come on Informer, are you really going to defend LeBron after last night? The dude only scored seven points. How can anyone say he is the greatest when he only scored seven freaking points in a playoff game?”

Did you know that LeBron James has scored 10+ points in 570 straight regular season NBA games? Only Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (twice), Moses Malone and Karl Malone have ever scored 10+ points in at least 500 straight games. Hell, the dude has not been held under 10 points since January of 2007.

So the fact that LeBron was held under 10 points in a playoff game is unbelievable. It is almost as if there was something or someone keeping LeBron from scoring (the refs?).

With that said, the thing we should be focusing on is the fact that the Pacers barely even though James only scored seven points while playing half the game. Just saying, if you are a Pacers fan you have to be pretty disheartened by the fact that your team could barely beat a LeBron-less Heat squad.

“Informer you do known the f****** Heat lost right? For ‘Tebow-sakes’ you are about as bad as ESPN. Can’t you please just acknowledge that the Pacers won fair and square and that Paul George is a beast?”

The Informer is not taking anything away from what the Pacers accomplished. They were able to further the series to a Game 6 which was the goal. Also, their superstar – Paul George – played one of the best games of the 2014 NBA Playoffs (George became the first player since 1997 to score 20+ points in the fourth quarter of an elimination game).

The best part if you are a Pacers fan is your team finally got a little help from the officials.

So yea, it was a great all around win for Pacer nation.

“Really Informer? You’re going to try and blame this loss on the refs? You are such a freaking Heat homer. Why don’t you go **** yourself?”

And we have officially hit an all-time low here at The Informer’s 50 NBA Blogs in 50 Nights.

For those of you that were never taught how to read letters turned into stars, the figment of my imagination would like The Informer to do things of a biblical nature to himself for suggesting that the officials may have called the game in favor of the Pacers.

In The Informer’s defense, James did only play 24 minutes due to constant foul trouble. And considering LeBron went five full years without fouling anyone (he actually went five years without fouling out of a game) to see him get into foul trouble because of some tick-tack calls was, for lack of a better word, suspicious.

But hey, maybe The Informer is overreacting. Maybe the Pacers still would have won the game even if LeBron had played more than two quarters.

(FYI – They would not have.)

“The Informer when are you going to man up and write an article claiming Russell Westbrook is the best player in the NBA not named Durant or LeBron? This postseason alone the dude has taken care of Mike Conley Jr., he made Chris Paul look foolish and I am pretty sure the other night he made Tony Parker cry. It is time to shut up all the Westbrook haters and give ‘Mini-Mamba’ his proper respect.”

Very soon . . . The answer to this question is very soon #LetRussBeRuss.

“Informer if they held a flopping contest who would win: Manu or Lance?”

You all did see Lance Stephenson put on a flopping clinic last night, right? But as much as The Informer would love to give Lance the nod here, there is only one proper way to answer this question.

“GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBILI!!!”

“Mr. Informer did you know that if the Heat and Thunder make the 2014 NBA Finals you will have picked 12 out of the 14 series correct?”

Let’s calm down a minute figment of my imagination; the Thunder still have a long ways to go in order to beat the Spurs. But, even if the Thunder do lose, going 11 for 14 is nothing to scoff at.

And yes, The Informer is marking the Heat down as a winner. To put it in other words; there is no way on “Tebow’s” green earth they are going to lose three straight games to the Pacers. Sorry to every one of LeBron’s haters – it is not going to happen.

In fact, The Informer is so confident that he swears to “Tebow” he will quit drinking Natty Light if the Heat do not become the first team since the 1984-87 Boston Celtics to make it to four straight NBA Finals.

“Informer aren’t you afraid that you will die from alcohol withdrawal if you stopped drinking Natty Light? I know you are confident in the Heat, but think about your health man?”

The Informer is not going to die from alcohol withdrawal, because he is not going to have to stop drinking the Natties. Miami is going to win this series on Friday night behind another great/clutch/remarkable LeBron game that will make everyone forget about Game 5.

The Informer note – if The Informer were the type of guy who liked to place fake illegal wagers with dudes named “Tommy Tough Nuts” (he is) he would definitely be betting the farm on Miami in Game 6. He would also be doubling down on LeBron’s over-under for points scored #HeIsGoingToGet40.

“What is The Informer’s response to the people who are saying Kevin Durant is the third most valuable player on his own team?”

Are you trying to troll The Informer, or are you just a freaking moron?

“No really . . . Last year once Westbrook got hurt the Thunder went down the tubes. This year, once Ibaka was injured the Thunder once again went down the tubes. I mean don’t get me wrong KD is great scorer and all, but he obviously can’t win unless Russ and Ibaka are playing great.”

Quick confession: On the way into work last night The Informer actually heard some idiot on the radio make this argument. The Informer was completely flabbergasted (is flabbergasted a word?) when the guy started talking. The worst part is I think the dude actually believed what he was saying. I mean are you freaking serious?

This is the problem with 24-7 media; everyone wants to be the next big thing and get the most views, clicks, likes, retweets, shares, stumbledupons, redditted, googled or noticed so they just start saying outrageous crap in the hopes of making headlines.

If you don’t believe The Informer turn on one of the sports channels right now, wait about ten minutes, and you will hear someone make a case as to why the Pacers are going to come back and beat the Heat in seven games.

Keep in mind they are not making this argument because they believe it (anyone who watches basketball knows Miami is winning this series) they are making the argument on the off chance that “Tebow” decides to prove to the world miracles happen by letting Indiana win, which would then lead to that analyst being able to rub his hat and say “look at how right I was”.

Of course when the Pacers end up losing, that same analyst will just cover his prediction tracks by saying, “we all knew Miami was going to win, so this is no surprise”.

Basically, he is getting his cake and then eating it to. No matter what happens he wins. But if he makes the boring Miami prediction no one is going to get upset, or call into his radio show and complain, so instead the guy argues for the Pacers because it gets a reaction.

That is exactly what is happening with this “KD is the third most valuable player on his own team” argument. Or why every year, after one bad game, people forget the 10+ years of greatness and claim LeBron is a choker/unclutch player.

Those are headlines that get clicks and retweets.

Anyways, to answer the question, anybody who thinks Kevin Durant is not the most valuable player on his own team is a moron. Anyone who makes an argument saying blah blah blah about KD not being great is a moron.

The fact is “Sniper Jones” is one of, if not the, best 25 year old basketball player the NBA has ever seen and he is only going to get better. And while Russ is great and Serge is a stud, they are both better because the defense is focusing on KD for 48 minutes a game. Don’t ever forget that.

“Informer, would you like some help getting off your high horse?”

No, The Informer can manage. But thank you for the offer.

“One last question Informer: Who is going to win Game 5 the Spurs or Thunder?”

The Informer predicted the Thunder would win this series in six games. In order for The Informer to be correct OKC has to win Game 5. Therefore, if we are using sound logic and reasoning, The Informer is obviously picking the Spurs.

Just kidding.

The Informer is taking KD, Russ, Ibaka and the Oklahoma City Thunder. These guys have answered every challenge throughout these playoffs and Thursday night will be no different #SniperJones #LetRussBeRuss #ThunderUP.

See you all in San Antonio.

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