With the NBA finals starting tonight, everyone is focused on whether Kobe can win a championship without Shaq or if the Magic can pull off the upset.

How about another storyline? Simply put, there’s no way around it: Adam Morrison or J.J. Redick is going to win a championship.

Both were among the best college players of the last decade, but neither have actually done much in the NBA.

Morrison, who failed to make it to the Final Four in his final year at Gonzaga, is also remembered for crying after the game. His range of emotions in the waning moments of his college career was chronicled memorably by losanjealous.com; impressively, Morrison made his moment of considerable infamy a marketable phenomenon (akin to Bill Bucker co-signing pictures of his error with Mookie Wilson), promising, “I’ll cry again.”

Perhaps, however, it was Michael Jordan and the Bobcats who were left to shed a few tears after selecting Morrison third overall (ahead of some guys you might have heard of, like Tyrus Thomas, Brandon Roy and Shelden Williams) in the 2006 NBA draft. He struggled in his first season and then tore his ACL and missed the entire 07-08 campaign.

This led to Morrison being traded to the Lakers before the start of this season. Now, after only averaging 4 points per game and not really playing a role at all, Morrison is looking to ride the Phil Jackson coattails to a championship.

On the other hand, J.J. Redick has spent all three of his seasons in the NBA with the Orlando Magic. He has never averaged more than 6 points per game and has never consistently been in the starting lineup.

Previously this postseason, the Orlando Magic Daily asked the simple question: What’s wrong with Redick?

No matter which team wins, it’s safe to say that neither player will ever have as good of a year as they did in 2006 when they were named co-players of the year. Even so, for a moment, at least, one of them will be able to shed NBA mediocrity for the moment by wearing a champsionship ring. And the other? Well, maybe the loser can get his revenge through a revival of the legendary Halo rivalry between the two (documented during their collegiate glory by Sports Illustrated).

One Comments for “The Biggest Loser: Morrison vs. Redick”

1. Ladel Says:
   June 29th, 2009 at 11:02 am

   wow thats a pretty REDICKulous coincidence. all in all, no matter how discpicable the lakers are, i guess we can all rest a little easier knowing that we were spared from seeing another 6′8 emotional breakdown

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