The Western Conference Finals begins tonight with the Los Angeles Lakers hosting the Denver Nuggets in a series that can be best described by employing the phrase - "much anticipated." Kobe will drive down the lane - "New Jack" Kenyon Martin, "City of Men" Nene and The Birdman will try to make a human pinata out of Bryant while NBA pundits will do their best to determine if that was a Flagrant 1 or a Flagrant 2 foul.

In an old school NBA playoff donnybrook, the Nuggets take the series, but this is the sanitized NBA of 2009 where David Stern has eradicated the entrepreneurial services of squeegee men and made the NBA less physical than a water polo match between Serbia and Montenegro and Croatia.

Denver will need to get past Kobe, who is looking for a championship without The Big Diesel's emissions. The Nuggets playoff stats are inflated based on the weak competition they faced in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Neither New Orleans or Dallas possessed the playoff pedigree of Miss California Carrie Prejean. 

Miss California Carrie Prejean's Playoff Pedigree 

This series will be decided on which team can keep the madness to a minimum. Los Angeles center Andrew Bynum needs to clog the lane, control the defensive boards and not punch  Kenyon Martin in the face. Bynum has the potential to be an angel or a demon and may face Catholic protesters before he enters the arena.

The Nuggets are the sexy pick. Carmelo and J.R. Smith are Ferraris waiting to lay some rubber when the light turns green. The Lakers run Tex Winter's Triangle Offense, as directed by the great shaman Phil Jackson, which has as much sex appeal as the Partridge Family's mom, Shirley Jones, appearing nude for Playboy in her 70s.

Sex sells. The courtside seats in Los Angeles will be filled with celebrities oozing sex appeal, but winning is sexier than potential. Winning is definite. Potential is promise and promise can be filled with a legacy of what ifs.

In the NBA, championships are earned by going through the fire of not one season but many. This Lakers squad is a battle-tested brigade that can withstand defeat and rally to victory. Do the Nuggets possess the same complex DNA strand that can handle the roller coaster ride of playoff basketball and withstand adversity on and off the court to achieve victory?

Before this series is over, the NBA League Headquarters in Gotham will make an impact. There shouldn't be a question whether a player will miss a game because of a league-mandated suspension, but what player or players will it be? The team that remains focused and avoids "Boyz n the Hood" retribution will win this series.

Prediction: Lakers in seven.