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Gone.

| 09:05 PM ET  06.02 | Before I talk about the obvious topic (the 2008 NBA Finals), let's flashback almost 30 years ago, to that classic 1979 NCAA Championship.

http://images.sportsline.com/u/photos/ncaa/img7219792.jpg

It pitted Earvin Johnson and the Michigan State Spartans faced Larry Bird and the Indiana State Sycamores in what is widely considered the greatest college basketball game in the history of the association.

http://cover6.cduniverse.com/MuzeVideoArt/45/231445.jpg

The Spartans won 75-64, and from there, Johnson and Bird formed a great rivalry. Those two would end up raising both the NBA and NCAA Men's Basketball to a high level.

http://a1259.g.akamai.net/f/1259/5586/5d/images.art.com/images/-/Larry-Bird-and-Magic-Johnson---Photofile--C10109192.jpeg

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2006/writers/pete_mcentegart/06/16/ten.spot/tx_magic.jpg

http://www.fansedge.com/Images/Product/33-66/33-66152-P.jpg

Both ended up retiring in the mid-1990's, and by then, another former college star had carried the league to an even higher level.

http://www.fbp.ru/bns/wallpapers/michael%20jordan16_3.jpg

After he retired in 1998, the league took a hit. Sure, MJ came back in 2002-2003. But by then, he was a far cry from his old self. (And besides, the Jordan Wizards jersey just looked terrible on him.)

Sure, they had the O'Neal's, the Duncan's, and the other stars of the game. But when you look at the time since the three aforementioned legends retired, the new "Big Three" of the NBA is probably Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Kevin Garnett.

http://www.nbaobsessed.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/kobe24-custom-custom.jpg

http://a1259.g.akamai.net/f/1259/5586/5d/images.art.com/images/-/LeBron-James--C10126004.jpeg

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/sp/getty/c5/fullj.4c207884d88c24755d35422e34b41dac/4c207884d88c24755d35422e34b41dac-getty-76075442_bb527_bos_min.jpg

Kobe Bryant has won three NBA Finals, but those are mainly credited to Shaq.

Last year, LeBron made it the the Finals, but was blown away by the Spurs.

Kevin Garnett never made the finals with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and he was traded this past offseason in the biggest trade of the decade, to join Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to form the Big Three.


This year, Bryant's Lakers and Garnett's Celtics face off in the most highly-anticipated Finals since Jordan retired. This series should put the NBA back to the level it was at in the 80's and 90's as the biggest sport in America.