Let me make this clear: I don't like Kobe Bryant.  And that's an understatement.  Ever since I watched that arrogant bastard stand in front of a podium in his high school gym, sunglasses perched atop his head, and announce, "I have decided to take my skills to the NBA," I have had an intense dislike for Kobe.  His extra-marital sexcapade with the young lady who worked at the front desk of a Denver hotel only added fuel to the fire.  (Please spare me any comments about the fact that the sexual assault charges were dropped.  Yes, they were dropped.  But does that change the fact that he was running around on his wife?  When your primary defense is, "Sure, I'm an adulterer, but I'm no criminal!", we're talking about degrees of pig.)  And finally, all his whining and moaning during the off-season about how he wanted a trade didn't do much to help restore any of his credibility. 

So, given my feelings toward Kobe, watching the Lakers lose their first home game in the playoffs to go down 3 - 1 in the NBA finals last night was extremely enjoyable.  But when you're The SportDork, and you witness an injustice in the world of sports, you can't sit by and remain silent.  I think you know what I'm talking about.  The Lakers are victims of one of the greatest injustices in all of professional sports.  No, not the distraction of having Justin Timberlake sitting courtside, waving a towel.  I'm talking about the absurd 2-3-2 finals format.  What genius came up with this idea?

Throughout the entire playoffs, the NBA uses the patented 2-2-1-1-1 format, and then for the finals, they switch to the 2-3-2.  I'm all for the top-seeded team having the advantage of an extra game at home in the finals, but the 2-3-2 format takes that advantage to a whole new level.  In any playoff series, the home team is expected to protect its home court and win its home games.  Everyone knows the chances of winning a series are slim if you can't even win the games on your own court.  Each team enters a series focused on first taking care of business at home, and then worries about stealing a game on the road.  Home court advantage means you don't have to concern yourself with stealing a game on the road.  As long as you win your four home games, you're going to emerge from the series victorious.  The lower-seeded team not only has to win their three home games, but they have to figure out a way to win one on the road if they want to win the series.  And that's fine, because the higher seeded team deserves an advantage.  Getting four home games, while the lower seed only gets three, is a great way to reward the higher seed for their performance throughout the year. 

With the old 2-2-1-1-1 Finals format, the lower seed knew that if they could simply win the second two games of the series at home, and then win Game 6 at home, they would get a shot to win the series with a Game 7 win on the road.  But when you go to the 2-3-2, you're now asking the lower-seeded team to win all three of their home games in a row.  Think about that for a second.  Yes, the lower-seeded team should face a disadvantage.  But isn't it enough that they only get three home games in the series, as opposed to the four home games that the higher seeded team gets?  Do we really need to heighten that disadvantage by making them play all three home games in a row? 

The 2-3-2 format was created in 1985.  Do you know, in the last twenty-three years, how many times the lower-seeded team has won all three games at home?  Twice.  The Detroit Pistons did it in 2004, and the Miami Heat persevered in 2006.  Twenty three years, and only twice has the lower-seeded team won three straight games at home.  One could always argue that the fact that only two teams have won all three home games in twenty-three years simply illustrates that the higher-seeded team was, well, better than the lower-seeded team, so they were more likely to win a head-to-head match up, regardless of the location, but I have trouble believing that's all there is to it.  Trying to win three straight games in the NBA is a tough proposition, never mind three straight in the NBA Finals.  The 2-3-2 format has put too much pressure on already disadvantaged lower-seeded teams, and the result is a system that exacerbates a reasonable, justifiable disadvantage into a disadvantage that is so severe that it has only been overcome by two teams in the last twenty-three years.  The NBA needs to recognize that they've got a format that's not equitable.  It's time to bring back the 2-2-1-1-1 Final!! 

Then again, if the 2-3-2 can keep Kobe from winning another championship, I'm all for it.