Commencement. This is a time when all of us look forward to the future and try to find answers to questions like: will I get a job? Did I make the most of my time here? Was stealing all those cereal bowls from Dewick really worth it?
These are the questions that will shape our lives in the coming years.
The NBA has its own version of pomp and circumstance, but that won't commence until the Finals in June. And while their rings are a whole lot nicer than ours, they, too, will be left with pressing questions about the future:
What will happen to Kobe? I feel like we've seen it all from this guy - a performance worth eighty-one points, a season-long ball-hogging exhibition, and a brief personality transformation in the playoffs in which he shared the ball and almost knocked the Suns out of the first round. So it'll be really interesting to see which Mamba shows up next year. If he returns as the almost pass-first shooting guard we saw in the first round, will that propel the Lakers or hold them back?
What will happen to Kevin Garnett? There has been talk lately of a possible Marbury-Garnett reunion in Minnesota, which could potentially rescue KG from his playoff-less spell of the last two years. I really hope the Wolves do something, because this guy is too good to wallow away on a ninth- or 10th-place team.
This past season, Garnett was written off by practically everyone as a talented guy without enough competitive drive whose window of opportunity had closed. But somehow he still managed to lead the league in rebounding, lead his team in scoring, and win the league's prestigious Citizenship Award. He's too good to be stuck playing with so many bad players.
What will happen to the Magic? Orlando might be back on the rise. Not only could next year be the year that Dwight Howard averages around 15 rebounds a game, but he will have had a long offseason to play with fellow young talents Jameer Nelson and Darko Milicic. That's right, I wrote "Darko" and "talent" in the same sentence - I really think that being out of Detroit will be good for him. Expectations are lower in Orlando, and the guy did have over two seasons of practicing against Ben Wallace. That's got to be worth something.
What will happen to Miami? Wade is continuing to improve, seemingly by the day. Shaq is getting older and bigger by the minute. And Pat Riley has got to be feeling a lot of pressure to get his crazy lineup of veterans with attitude to bring home the hardware. Next year might be the last that all these guys are together; if they continue to hang around the bottom of the top, we might see the team totally reconstructed. Who would Riley pick to surround Wade as the young star rises to one of the best in the league?
What about LeBron? He had an MVP-caliber season, got some playoff experience under his belt, and bit his nails to shreds. But the question remains: does he truly have no ceiling, or did he just peak early? I'm still inclined towards the latter. But if he makes another leap in his abilities and crunch-time prowess next season, I might have to reevaluate that projection.
When will one of Detroit's starters get hurt? Its starting five has had a beyond-improbable three-year stretch of health. It seems like eventually dumb luck will have to kick in and someone's knee will blow out or Rip Hamilton will break his nose again.
What will Isiah Thomas's next terrible move be? This guy is the master of indefensible trades and irrational signings. I'm sure that no other GM in the league would have even considered trading for Steve Francis when he already had Stephon Marbury, Jalen Rose, and Jamal Crawford in his lineup, especially when his payroll was already sky-high. How bad can his moves get? Will he actually pay big bucks that he doesn't have under the salary cap for Kenyon Martin, the constantly injured attitude problem who was only good when he played with Jason Kidd? Sadly for New Yorkers, it's entirely possible.
Will Memphis ever win a playoff game? The Mavericks proved too much for them to handle in this year's first round, and as a result, the Grizzly organization set a league record for losing 12 consecutive playoff games before winning a single one. Keep the faith, Memphis fans.
Will it be fashionable to like the Clippers again? This season was their coming-out party in which they finally stole the Los Angeles limelight from the Lakers. So how will the city respond? Will the Clippers finally get their due? Will stars besides Frankie Muniz start showing up for their games? Will kids start wearing Elton Brand's jersey half as much as they don the purple-and-gold number eight?
How will Amare Stoudamire fit back in with the Suns? His brief stint in uniform this year was a disaster that sent Phoenix skidding into the playoffs. But he's young, he's big, and last season, he seemed to be on the fast track to being the next truly great big man in the league. Will Steve Nash's back hold out long enough for these guys' primes to overlap?
Leah Roffman is a junior majoring in philosophy and political science. E-mail her at leah.roffman@tufts.edu if you want to watch or talk basketball.
