The NBA is exciting, I swear. I know so many basketball lovers that don’t even consider liking the NBA for the mere fact that it’s boring.

I admit watching college basketball is fun, but the NBA is exciting in different ways.

These guys are pros, and they are damn good at what they do; so when they do it, it doesn’t look spectacular because they make it look so easy. Especially someone like Allen Iverson, who is 6-feet tall and scores more points than anyone else in the league – most of the time.

I will acknowledge the fact that the NBA doesn’t run and gun the way college basketball does, but this can be attributed to longer games, older players and the fact that NBA players play 82 games a season compared to 25-35 for college teams.

The professional game is all about pace, and games are won more in the third and fourth quarters as opposed to college games being won in the final minutes – much of the time.

But this isn’t a column about which is better, that is an argument much like who is hotter, Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera. There will never be agreement or compromise.

Instead I want to expose an interesting fact about the NBA this season – the Los Angeles Lakers will not win the championship for the third year in a row.

Ever since the “Jerrys,” (Jerry Reinsdorf and Jerry Krause), tore apart the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty a few years back, the NBA has been in a state of emergency.

Most knew it would only be a matter of time before Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal would learn to play well together, which they did. Since then, they have been the team to beat.

But the Lakers have made one major mistake that other teams, specifically the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings, have not. The Lakers don’t have any talent to back up their big two.

Two years ago Los Angeles had people like Glen Rice to pick up some scoring slack when the big two struggled. Last season the Lakers had the tightest unity of any team and were able to go through the entire playoffs losing only once – and that was in the Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers.

But this year the unity of the Lakers has struggled. The media frenzy has followed things like Shaq’s fight with Brad Miller and Kobe’s fight with Reggie Miller. Even Rick Fox cutting his hair off is getting more play than the talent of the team.

While Shaq and Kobe are trying to pick fights with people, the Mavericks pulled a hefty trade and beefed up an already beefy lineup, and the Kings have been busy adding wins to their record – the best in the league.

The Mavericks were having a great season with German Dirk Nowitzki leading the way and players like all-star Steve Nash and Michael Finley doing things nicely.

Nick Van Exel and Raef Lafrentz, two solid scorers and experienced players, have now joined Dallas, making them an even stronger force.

If the Kings’ top record holds up they will have home court advantage throughout the playoffs, which is good for them considering they have the best home record in the league.

The Lakers are saying things like they will be ready, which is similar to last year around this time. But this year is different; the Lakers can’t coast through the playoffs like they have the last two years.

The Eastern Conference still has a ways to go before the Western Conference finals won’t be considered as the series that decides the best team. So it will all come down to who plays better in the Western Conference playoffs.

The Lakers need their role players to step up for them to get that three-peat. For example, point guard Derrick Fisher was very instrumental from long range in last year’s championship run.

The Mavericks need to just keep going like they have been, and make sure that each player knows his role on the team. Too many good scorers can sometimes lead to dysfunction from within.

The Kings need to get better at winning on the road; that is the one area the Lakers are better at this year. If they can keep it together outside of their home court, they could very well be in their own parade come summer time.

Oh yeah, and the Bulls really need to get rid of the “Jerrys” if they have any plans of not being the worst team in the league for years to come.

Kyle Moss is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale.