POSTED 2-13-08

There are rotisserie heroes and fantasy goats. But some performances are so ugly, egregious or plain perplexing that it begs the refrain: What the F--k! Here is Update's seriously twisted moment this week.

Take a quick peek into the annals of NBA lore: the Michael Jordan dynasties of the nineties, the San Antonio Spurs current championship dominance or even the Dallas Mavericks amazing regular-season run last season. Parity in the NBA is a rare thing. By the time the All Star break rolls around, you can pretty much narrow done who you'll be watching come June to three or maybe four teams. Sure, there are surprises sometimes. Remember the New York Knicks trailblazing their way to the NBA Finals from the eighth seed in 1999? But for the most part, parity in the NBA has been non-existent. Now, things are changing in the NBA, at least in the West. And not just because some guy name Shaquille O'Neal is headed to Phoenix or because Kobe Bryant has a new playmate. The Western Conference owns a bevy of natural championship contenders. You need evidence? Look at the standings. The sixth seed in the West (the Spurs) sits just 2.5 games behind the No. 1 Phoenix Suns. The Houston Rockets are just five games out of first place in the ninth seed! They've won seven in a row and nine of their last 10 to challenge for the final playoff spot. Even the bad teams aren't that bad. Put the Portland Trail Blazers (tenth in the West) and their 28-23 record in the Eastern Conference and they're the fourth seed. Critics of the NBA can stop citing a lack of competition as their No. 1 gripe. They only need to look to the Western Conference to see some terrific basketball on a nightly basis. C'mon, who really thought the New Orleans Hornets would be a half game behind the No. 1 seed heading into the All Star break.