The NBA Finals is tonight and the biggest story is the fact that the league’s flagship franchises are meeting for the 12^th time.

We call it one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports, I would agree with that statement if greatest means one team winning 9 out of the 11 finals series.

This is the best scenerio for the NBA though, when a league is blessed by their most famous franchises making it to their biggest stage all they can do is reap the benefits and they will, unless LeBron and Larry King can ruin that, just kidding!

I find it interesting how conspiracy theorists come out of the woodwork with all their ideas about how the NBA front office rigged the playoffs so that these historic rivalries would meet, laughable.

This is definitely going to be a series of matchups. Kobe Bryant vs. Ray Allen, Paul Pierce vs. Ron Artest, Rajon Rondo vs. Derek Fisher, Andrew Bynum vs Kendrick Perkins but the biggest one of all those is Pau Gasol vs. Kevin Garnett.

Both these players are fantastic at what they do. Gasol has emerged as the best big man in the NBA with his low post moves, his patience in the post, his range with his back to the defender, his soft touch but I enjoy his passing the most. He can pass from the high post better then any player in the league.

But the one player that can stop Gasol is Garnett.  He is so strong and won’t give and inch. I love (not to be confused with any emotion towards Garnett because he bothers me) how brutal he is on defense by contesting every shot and his ability to get on the defensive boards.

Gasol isn’t too great on the defensive side of the ball but Garnett is equally horrible on offense. Garnett can get hot and you shouldn’t fall asleep on him but don’t look for him to be a huge factor on offense.