Kobe vs. LeBron? Maybe.

By Nathan Rush
All season long, a Kobe vs. LeBron match-up in the NBA Finals was taken for granted.

Vegas put their money on it, Nike (apparently inspired by Jim Henson) made a puppet-ly presumptuous ad campaign, SLAM magazine (apparently inspired by the A-Rod "man in the mirror" Details photo shoot) put the two face-to-face on its most recent cover and TNT-plus-ESPN (in conjunction with NBA.com) built the entire NBA Playoffs marketing campaign around the two most recent league MVPs’ “inevitable” meeting.

Now, the one-name icon (LeBron) with a biblical nickname (King James), a presidential monogram (LBJ) and the number of recent basketball royalty (His Airness’ 23) has to come through on the road in Orlando for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals in order to even have a chance at the dream scheme Finals scenario.

Following a decisive 119–92 Finals-clinching win by the Lakers in Denver on Friday night, three-time NBA champ Kobe Bryant has done his part, brushed his shoulders off and is already thinking about adding a fourth ring in his sixth trip to the final round of April-through-June Madness.

“Now we’re in a place where we didn’t get the job accomplished last year,” said Kobe, referring to last year’s 4–2 loss to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, following a statement win on the Nuggets homecourt.

“Hopefully we will this time.”

As for LeBron, his Cavaliers jumped out to a 35–18 first-quarter lead over the Magic in Game 5 before being outscored 61–43 in the second and third quarters combined, then righting the ship with a 34–23 edge in the fourth quarter and a 112–102 final margin in front of a star-studded crowd of New Yorkers such as Jay-Z, A-Rod, Mariano Rivera and CC Sabathia.

(Editor’s note: The Yankees were in-town to face the Indians, not persuade LeBron to play for the Knicks; Shawn Carter, however, is actively recruiting his most powerful fan to the Nets, a team slowly moving to Brooklyn and co-owned by Beyonce’s husband.)

In the end, James ruled Game 5 against Orlando, producing game-highs in points (37), rebounds (14) and assists (12). In the process, LeBron became the first player to record at least 37-14-12 in a playoff game since the “Big O” Oscar Robertson carried the Cincinnati Royals in 1963 as a 24-year-old — coincidentally, the same age as LBJ today.

“I was attacking anyone in the way, no matter who it was,” said LeBron, who is averaging 41.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game in the Conference Finals.

“There’s always a sense of urgency when you are on the brink of elimination. …

“It was win or go home.”

That will be the case once again, when King James takes on the Magic Kingdom in a pressure-packed Game 6 on the road at Orlando’s Amway Arena, where the Cavs are a winless 0–4 this season — with losses in Game 3 (99–89) and Game 4 (116–114) of this series, along with regular season defeats of 116–87 (April 3) and 99–89 (Jan. 29).

In a city that is full of Walt Disney World tourists at this time of the year, LeBron James will have to be the best show in town if the NBA Finals is going to feature the fairy tale ending — Kobe vs. LeBron — that Commissioner David Stern’s league has been wishing on stars for all season long.

Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals tips off on Saturday, May 30, at 8:30 p.m. ET on TNT. If necessary, Game 7 will be played on Monday, June 1, in Cleveland, where the Cavaliers are 6–1 in the playoffs after going 39–2 during the regular season.