The internets went crazy when LeBron James and his Miami Heat finally lost the 2011 NBA Finals in six games against the Dallas Mavericks. It was the culmination of a season long campaign of hate against the seemingly "evil" Heat. 

Twitter in particular was the source of a treasure trove of jokes, memes, photoshops and general tomfoolery around the concepts of LeBron James crying, Scottie Pippen's crazy assertion that LeBron was the better player than Michael Jordan, the Mavs winning, Dirk Nowitzki being awesome, King James marrying Dwyane Wade in order to get a ring, LeBron's inability to win in the Finals, going missing in the fourth quarter and his seeming "choker" mentality.

Rather than let all of masterpieces (and not-so-masterful-pieces) fall into the nether regions of the internet, I've saved them all for posterity. Look on and enjoy... [you'll have to click the READ MORE link below for all of them -- there are heaps]. I should note, apart from the animated GIF above, none of this work is mine, but has been sourced from twitter/facebook/forums as an indication of what has been spreading through social media.

LeBron James has been just about the most popular person in sports this past year (yes, you can read sarcasm, can't you?). Anyway, you know about "The Decision", blah, blah... cutting to the chase, here is a comedy video featuring King James' New Decision:

(Thanks to The Hoop Doctors)

Much has been and will be written about these 2011 NBA Finals. Rather than write a great deal right now, I'd like to distill much of my sentiment down to one chart I put together with minimal data. 

This graph shows LeBron James' points per game production over the six games of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, with comparison to his regular season average of 26.7ppg. Scottie Pippen, draw your own conclusions.

[image] 

The sports media landscape has shifted significantly in recent years. No longer do we rely on Sports Illustrated for the majority of our sports literature. Anyone can give their two cents on the game, and some become famous doing so. Bill Simmons is the most recognizable of the new age. With over a million Twitter followers and his own website just launching (grantland.com), Simmons is the preeminent voice of sports to the average fan. He has his haters, but his success is truly remarkable.

Many of the sports writer celebrities started off, or have ended up at ESPN, and that might be the reason for a recent trend whereby they stop reporting the news and attempt to become the news. One of the first lessons of journalism is to not become the story. But we are entering an age of writers who are trying to brand themselves and create controversy rather than simply reporting on it.

This has bubbled to the surface during the NBA Finals on two occasions already. Gregg Doyel of CBS Sports was the centre of a bit of a storm when he called out LeBron James during the game 1 post-game press conference. Doyel has since taken the stance that LBJ is not a superstar, and he is relishing in the moment. Many have called him out, but his column on CBSsports.com has surely picked up huge page views in the past week.

Then last night, the one and only Jason Whitlock took a stab at asking questions during the Game 4 presser. He  was barely able to ask a coherent question without kissing Rick Carlisle's shoes, and he came off as nothing resembling a professional scribe. He will write and tweet extensively about it. Several references will be made to The Wire, and he too will generate huge views on his articles and content explaining his experience.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to be relevant in the sports media world today. You have to write, tweet, podcast and appear on TV to top it all off. If you are even an hour behind on a story, you are way out of the loop, and your followers will let you know that you missed it.

So is the cult of personality that many reporters are creating for themselves necessarily a bad thing? Well sports fans are consuming content in a way like never before. So it takes certain guys who rise to the top to feed them the all of this content. But at what cost?

[image: ESPN]

Skip Bayless recently accused Chris Broussard of 'selling his journalistic soul' to get close to LeBron and his entourage. While this may not have been entirely accurate, Brousssard surely sacrificed something in order to gain access to LBJ, Mav Carter and the rest of LRMR. But he had the scoop on several big stories during the first year of The Big Three in South Beach. So maybe it is worth it.

Everyone knows Bill Simmons is a homer for everything Boston. Everyone knows Whitlock will bring certain cards into the argument that he knows will polarize his readers. Doyel will pick and prod at people and issues, while maintaining a respectable level of professionalism. Maybe this is exactly what is required to be relevant today. If you don't have anything interesting to say, or you don't say it in a scandalous manner, who will listen?

The actual sports that are reported on today have become secondary to the story behind the game. Relationships and affairs and scandals. Trades and free agents and rumours detailing every potential deal. Rules changes and collective bargaining agreements dominate the headlines. Fines and suspensions for breaking the rules are handed down daily. Investigations, brought forth by the highest level of government, are launched to determine why players are taking steroids. College athletes are so wrapped up in impermissible benefits that the games have become secondary to the scandals. Has the sports world seen a bigger story than Tiger and his mistresses?

So where does this leave us? Well, the world of sports, and the way they are reported on, has been changed irreparably. Writers are becoming more important than the stories they are reporting on. We are drowning in so much content without any context that we may soon drown.

But such is the evolution of the sports media landscape, and we are simply going along for the ride.

Editor's Note: Lawrence Dushenski is a Toronto Raptors fan. You can follow him on twitter @LD10. Read more of his articles by clicking here.

Kobe Bryant has had enough. And when he puts his foot down, you know he means it. Or as he says, "c'mon man, when I go after it, I go after it." 

Whilst you may assume that the Black Mamba would be in relaxation mode right now, with the NBA Finals in progress and his Los Angeles Lakers not being part of it, instead he has been busy. 

Yesterday we saw Bryant testing out a demo of NBA 2K12 at the E3 gaming convention, and today, along with his wife Vanessa, Kobe addresses a much more important issue: homelessness in Los Angeles, specifically the Hollywood area.

The Bryants have just founded the Kobe & Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation, "dedicated to improving the lives of youth and families in need." And one of their first projects has been to target the problem of homelessness in youth.

Watch video footage of Bryant's press conference to launch the initiative below. You have to admit, whether you like or dislike Bryant, he is as smooth and eloquent as they come amongst NBA players. In addition, he must be commended for his good work here, where he could instead be sitting back enjoying his offseason.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times blog.

With the release of the next iteration in 2K Sports' NBA franchise still about 5-6 months away, Sony showed off a preview of NBA 2K12 at the recent E3 gaming conference in Los Angeles. The game will feature new functionality with the PlayStation Move controller and it was tested out here by special guest Kobe Bryant.

Watch the video and listen for the huge (denote sarcasm) reception that Bryant gets by the gaming faithful. It's likely that most of them were too busy fixing their video cameras and smart phones on the Lakers star to be able to clap and cheer for their hometown hero.

Whether we see a return to the market by EA Sports' NBA Live/Elite franchise in 2012 will be interesting, after their infamous crash-launch in late 2010.

Video: flash back to January 23, 1998. The Chicago Bulls are visiting the New Jersey Nets and two of the ugliest faces in basketball in Sam Cassell and Scottie Pippen are doing their thing. And the game comes down to one last shot; in overtime. 

Amazingly, in a stroke of Phil Jackson genius, the shot is not taken by Michael Jordan (32 points), Pippen (19 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 blocks) or Toni Kukoc (16 points, 9 assists) -- but third-year bench power forward, Jason Caffey. 

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised -- 1995 Nike Commercial (video)

Back in 1995, Jason Kidd, Jimmy Jackson, Kevin Garnett, Joe Smith and Eddie Jones were the future. Smith did not go on to represent everything that a number one pick is generally expected to; although he did do well to have a long career as a locker-room stablising influence. Jackson started his career brilliantly in Dallas as part of the Triple J trio with Kidd and Jamal Mashburn, but sadly ended up a journeyman, playing for 12 teams in total. Jones took the middle ground, being a three time NBA All-Star, plaiyng quality seasons for the Lakers, Hornets and Heat. Meanwhile, it's almost hard to believe that Kidd and Garnett are still at close to the top of their games, both featuring as key players in the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

This Nike commercial shows them all as fresh, baby-faced youngsters in 1995.

Ah, the joys of live television. During today's intro piece for Game 3 of the 2011 Western Conference Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder (in progress), Doris Burke had a little trouble with her lines. Twice.

I think she thought that it was a pre-recorded number. Watch the video:

[UPDATE: I've since read one internet online commenting person who believes that this was actually the fault of someone at the studio who cued up a previous "mis-speak" by Doris, rather than one that was pre-recorded correctly (in other words, it wasn't live). Either way, it's a tough business, Doris.]

Take a look at the video and decide for yourself...