For the first time ever, they did it! The Dallas Mavericks won the 2011 NBA Championship, allowing them to take the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy back to the American Airlines arena to be showcased. Mav fans commemorate your victory over Lebron James and the Miami Heat. Official Dallas Mavericks champs gear is now available at Fanatics.

There has been a lot of talk about the missing LeBron James “dunked on video”. A couple of weeks ago at a Nike basketball camp, Xavier’s Jordan Crawford allegedly dunked on LeBron James… the video was allegedly confiscated. This stirred up a lot of talk in the blogosphere… everyone wanted to know what the dunk looked like and did it really happen.

Yesterday, the video was finally released. There are two versions out there, one from a cell phone camera and the other is a decent quality shot from behind the basket. I’ve seen both the videos, but I’m not going to link to them because quite frankly there’s nothing to see. James goes up for a block on the side of the rim while Crawford heads to the basket straight on. After all the hype, the actual dunk was very disappointing.

What’s not disappointing is this video of LeBron James’ Top 10 dunks. You can see plenty of players getting dunked on… including Tim Duncan.

All Hail King James! Reports are coming out the the NBA will name LeBron James as the 2008-2009 MVP. James averaged 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.2 assists during the regular season, in which the Cleveland Cavaliers won a team-record 66 games and earned the top overall seed in the playoffs. LeBron is in his 6th season (hard to imagine it’s been that long) and will become the third youngest MVP at the age of 24.

An agruement could be made for Kobe Bryant, last year’s NBA MVP… but the powers at be have determine LeBron is more worthy of the honor. LeBron leading the Cavs to a team-record 66 wins is a remarkable feat, especially when you look at their roster and don’t see it littered with superstars (cough… Boston… cough). I still think Kobe is the better pure shooter, but LeBron edges Kobe in his ability to explode to the basket with power.

In a dream NBA Playoff scenario, we will see the Lakers and Cavaliers battle for the NBA crown. Both teams won their first-round matchups and have favorable matchups in round-two.

Here’s a fun scenario to play with. Pretend the NBA disbanded and you were granted the position of GM for an NBA franchise. All the players were put into one big pool and you have to pick either LeBron James or Kobe Bryant for your team (and the future). Who do you choose, and why?

This is one of the toughest questions to answer. Each player is extremely accomplished and a case could be made for either one of them as the best player in the NBA right now. Kobe Bryant is guard for the Lakers and is a three-time NBA Champion. LeBron is a small forward, but can handle the ball like a guard and took his team to the finals a few years ago.

For his career; Kobe Bryant averages:
.455 FG% – .341 3P% – .840 FT% – 5.3 RPG – 4.6 APG – 2.92 TO – 25.1 PPG

For his career; LeBron James averages:
.469 FG% – .321 3P% – .734 FT% – 7.0 RPG – 6.6 APG – 3.29 TO – 27.5 PPG

The numbers are so close, it doesn’t really help sway a decision either way. You have to base it off of watching the players in action. Kobe is definitely a better outside shooter then LeBron. I’d wager to say that James’ FG% is only higher because he can drive to the hoop harder the Kobe. Kobe can take it to the hole, but he’s not going to force it, he’ll pull up a shot if he has to. The Cleveland Cavaliers also expect more out of James then the LA Lakers do of Kobe. The Lakers have a more balanced team and don’t have to rely on only Kobe to win the game.

As much as I think Kobe Bryant is the best player in the NBA right now, the question above asks who would you take for your team and the future. I would pick LeBron James. Kobe is already 30 years old, while LeBron is only 24. If I had to pick a player for one game only, it would definitely be Kobe.

While most of us are barely getting through the trying times of the recession, others particularly celebs, are banking in their millions.  2008 was one of the most economically challenging years since the Great Depression.  But not only were these Hollywood stars reported as the highest paid in 2008, they are all under 30!

Out of the 20, five are sports professionals.  Let us know which millionaire you would love to switch places with for a day.