Top 5 NBA Stories of 2007

The year 2008 is approaching quickly and we've seen plenty of great highlights and surprises so. We've seen players shift teams, players emerge, rookie phenoms, gambling refs, and NBA champs who may be the latest dynasty in sports.

5 - Greg Oden #1 draft pick - The predicted pick was made into a reality when the Blazers took this franchise player at the 1st pick in the 07 draft. However, they got some bad news as well. During the offseason, Oden required surgery on his knee and it put him on the shelf, and not just for a few weeks, but for the entire season. Despite this, the Blazers have done pretty well without their young hopeful star. They've run up an 11 game win streak, thanks to last year's Rookie of the Year, Brandon Roy. So things should get even better when the big man can play.

4 -King James in the Finals - Lebron finally arrived at his preferred destination in 2007. Well not quite. Lebron would love to have an NBA ring right about now and perhaps an NBA Finals MVP award. But Lebron and his Cavs bowed to a superior team in the Spurs. However, the King showed just how great he is in knocking out the more likely contenders, the Detroit Pistons. Lebron is just one player, but a great one who keeps improving, and he should be back for his ring in the near future.

3 - Tim Donaghy Exposed - Referee Tim Donaghy likes to gamble. In fact a bit too much and in the wrong way. Donaghy was discovered during the summer as having possibly made calls to help shave points off the spread for games he called. The NBA of course is investigating and putting new policies into place, but this story was big when it came out. At the time baseball and NFL had their own big stories, perhaps eclipsing this one. Since then, the games have gone on and luckily fans have continued to embrace the game they love.

2 - KG to Boston, the Big 3 forms - The biggest news in personnel changes since MJ signed on to play with the Wizards years ago was the huge trade of KG to Boston. Kevin Garnett brings his intensity and drive to Boston and has teamed up with Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce to form one of the most dynamic and powerful trios around. There's a lot of expectations on this team. Some believe you can call them the champs. With only 3 losses as of now, you'd have to believe they will continue their outstanding play in 2008, and KG is at the front of the MVP chatter so far.

1 - Spurs win their fourth NBA title - Many have argued that the Spurs win every other year which makes them less of a dynasty. However you can't argue they deserve a place amongst the best teams in basketball history. Duncan, Parker and Ginobli made their dominance over King James' Cavs look like child's play. Will the Spurs repeat in 08, or will someone else defeat these juggernauts? The team has remained in tact so it would be tough to ignore them as favorites again. They epitomize team play and that's what wins championships almost always

So what will 2008 hold? New champions and new stars are on the horizon as the season continues