Linden and Edison park their bikes in front of 'Hoboken Hobbies.'"See, nobody's gonna want a rookie card of J. R. Smith, when you can get Jeremy Lin. He's hot, or Kobe Bryant, or LeBron James. See what I'm saying?"
"How do you know which ones to buy?" says Linden.
"You want to get cards that you can sell later," says Edison. "Rasheed Wallace, very good player, but not as good as a Chris Paul right now. You have to be lucky. Pick a player that'll be hot in the future. You never know, some first draft picks, can't hack it in the pros. Like Paul Davis or somebody like Guillermo Diaz."
"You really know all about this," says Linden."
"I'm spending twenty buck," says Edison. "So I made a list."
They walk inside. Edison unfolds a piece of paper.
"Hey, guys," says the Man Behind the Counter, 'Clark,' on his shirt.
"We're looking for NBA cards. I made a list of the top NBA Players, ones I'm looking for." says Edison.
He hands the paper to Clark.
The list reads:
1. Dwight Howard
2.Carmelo
3.LeBron
4. Durant
5. Kobe
"And Chris Paul," says Edison. "If they go deep in the playoffs, he'll be valuable."
"Is this your order of best in the league? So you think Dwight Howard is the best? Better than Kobe, or LeBron even?"
"Yup. My top five. And maybe Derrick Rose too. Do you have any of these guys, rookie cards maybe?"
"He's got twenty dollars and I got about fifteen." says Linden.
"Shshsh-ush," says Edison. He elbows Linden. "Look, we just want to see what you got. Maybe we'll buy some."
A young lady wipes clay off her hands with a rag. "Heard somebody say NBA. Guys buying some cards?" Her shirt says 'Elizabeth.'
"Liz, take a look at this, you know Basketball."
"Hmmm," says Elizabeth. She looks at the boys, then at the list. "You sure about this? Usually LeBron's on top?"
"No," says Edison. "I don't have LeBron first on my list. I didn't think he is all that popular?"
"Well," says Elizabeth. "Everybody's heard of him. But I wouldn't put him on top either. He doesn't show up when it really matters, at the end of games. Probably be MVP, but he still doesn't have a ring yet."
"Come on," says Clark. "He's the complete player. He's like a power forward on offense, and a center on Dee."
"Gotta win Championships," says Elizabeth.
"What are you saying, Liz? How many rings you have's got nothing to do with how good a player you are."
"You got Dwight Howard on the top of your list?" says Elizabeth.
"I thought in the future he would be..." says Edison.
"Remember in Orlando," says Clark. "They said there'd never be another Shaq. Now they say there'll never be another Dwight Howard. I have some Dwight Howard cards."
Dwight Howard might be one of the best centers of the last 20 years." says Elizabeth.
"We just came in to see what you've..." says Edison.
"But what does he do, really?" says Clark. "With Howard, it's dunking and blocking, that's about it. No, no. He's no LeBron or a Kobe. He's a good player, but off the court? Too much controversy. Remember Dennis Rodman?"
"How about this." He pulls out a card from under the glass counter. "Here's an Andrew Bynum? With the Lakers. Once he starts getting touches like Dwight gets, Lakers'll get 2 or 3 more championships before he retires. Even though it's LA, if you're looking for a break out player."
"They don't want Bynum. Take a Dwight Howard," says Elizabeth.
She stops.
"No, you don't want a Dwight Howard. All he can do is flex his muscles and smile. Griffin's another, can't buy a free throw, like Shaq was." She looks at the paper. "No, this list? Where'd you get this?"
"I was on the internet..."
"No way," says Elizabeth. "Here's how I'd do this list, best in the NBA would be Kobe, he's got the rings, LeBron, even though I don't like him, Durant, Wade, Dirk, Carmelo, Rose, Paul, Stoudamire ....then maybe,...maybe, Dwight Howard."
"Okay, okay, maybe not Howard first... " says Edison.
"Pound for pound it's Dwyane Wade," says Clark.
"Come on," says Elizabeth. "Have you been watching these playoffs? Wade's a flopper. Never saw anything like it. He gets brushed, he flops back, guy goes crazy."
"Are we going to buy any of these?" says Linden. His voice low.
Edison shrugs, and scratches his head.
"There's no question. It's Kobe," says Elizabeth. "You gotta put Kobe higher on this list, come on. Game is on the line , who you want with the ball? Kobe's the guy."
"Really?" says Clark. "Kobe, he's your guy?" He grabs the paper, and holds it up. "Last three or four years, LeBron, Dwight Howard, and Chris Paul been the best players in the league.
"But, what about..." says Elizabeth.
"Let me finish." says Clark. "Carmelo plays no Dee, takes way too many shots and is not a leader. Same with Durant. One man shows."
"This list is way out of whack," says Elizabeth. "Guys, what were you thinking? No way in the world Chris Paul is better than Derek Rose. And where's Russell Westbrook? He's not even on your list." Her eyes are black.
Edison steps back. "We just came in to get some cards..." Then to Linden, "I'm sorry I brought you in here."
Linden looks at his iPhone. "I gotta go soon. My mom'll be waiting. Supposed to come right home from school."
"Yeah, me too." says Edison. "Maybe if we come back on Saturday?"
"Liz, Come on." Clark pokes at the paper. "Where's Nowitzki on this list? This is stupid. Didn't the Mavericks win it all. And wasn't he playing with the flu?"
"I'm not stupid, Clark." She takes a pen and scratches out names on the list, and draws arrows. "Here's how this should be." She shoves the piece of paper back toward Clark. "Toss up, LeBron, and Kobe, and Durrant, then I like Wade..."
"I think I'd like to buy a Chris..." says Edison.
She looks at Edison, glares, then back at the list. "Okay, okay," she says. "Who's got the most rings?"
"Forget rings," says Clark. "LeBron had no team in Cleveland. Best players want to play in LA, or Florida. Who wants to play in Cleveland. Too cold, and windy, and, trust me, there's absolutely nothing to do there."
"Ridiculous. You know, you're actually laughable. What's your mighty King James really accomplished -other than some scoring titles? Kobe Bryant is still the best player in the NBA. Crunch time, it's Kobe. Tell me I'm wrong. Go ahead." Flames are in her eyes.
Edison puts his wallet back in his pocket. He takes a deep breath.
"Clark, if you knew anything at all about the NBA, by the time Kobe was LeBron's age he already had 3 rings. Still averaging the second most points in the league a 33. You know I'm right. This list is a complete joke."
"Liz, are you feeling okay? How can you say that?"
Her voice is higher. "Doesn't matter, Kobe created a team that wins. Basketball is more than just one guy. Rings, rings, rings. That's what it's all about. Kobe's looking for one more, beat Michael Jordan."
"Ridiculous," says Clark. "It's the player. How can you be so ignorant?"
"Ignorant?" Her hands are fists. Her voice cracks. "Who're you calling ignorant?" Here eyes are black and hard.
"You, Liz. Even Carmelo is better than Kobe when it comes to..."
"What?"
"Come on," says Edison.
The two leave Hoboken Hobbies, jump on their bikes, and ride toward home. Neither looks back.
"I'm going online. Gotta be better than that place. We'll buy something. Those people, over basketball cards, come on. Like they were going crazy."
.........................
Help comes from:
sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=Roundtable-KobeLeBron
sportschump.net/2011/02/23
Google/Images, WikiPedia/LeBron James/Kobe/
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