No matter how much basketball proponents argue that it’s as much a team game as any, the NBA is still a star-driven league. And those stars make their name in the playoffs.

The 2011 NBA Playoffs haven’t really had any unexpected breakout stars, but a number of guys have taken their games to higher levels than ever before.

Without further ado, let’s put together a couple of NBA All-Playoffs Team.

1^st Team

Derrick Rose, PG, Bulls

The newly-crowned NBA MVP – the youngest in the league’s history – has somehow elevated his game after a regular season seemingly played at full-throttle from start to finish. He led a flawed Bulls team to the top of the NBA standings, and now he’s dragging them through a playoff run despite being the only player capable of finding his own shot. He was super-human in the Bulls’ first two games against the Pacers, averaging 37.5 points, 6.5 assists and 7 rebounds. He’s slowed down statistically as guys like Luol Deng and Joakim Noah step up, but he’s still playing out of his mind.

Dwyane Wade, SG, Heat

“Flash” has shared the spotlight in this post-season like he’s never been able to before – easily done when LeBron James is standing alongside you – but has still managed to put up one of his best playoff performances ever (Game 1 against the Celtics). The Heatles are at their best when Wade assumes alpha-dog status and James becomes the best second banana in history, and they seem to be figuring that out. After seven playoff games, six of them wins, D-Wade is averaging 25.3 ppg, 4.9 apg, and chipping in 7.3 rebounds for good measure.

Kevin Durant, SF, Thunder

Durant shared the offensive load with breakout PG Russell Westbrook throughout the regular season, but Westbrook’s erratic, aggressive play has hampered Oklahoma City at times in the playoffs (Game 4 against Denver, for example), while Durant has calmly led every player in the playoffs with 31.6 ppg. His 41-point outburst to close out the Nuggets was one for the ages, and his hanging, twisting scoop shot along the baseline in Game 1 will be on his highlight reel for years.

Zach Randolph, PF, Grizzlies

If there’s one true surprise star of the 2011 Playoffs, it’s Z-Bo. For years he was seen as a clueless malcontent, a defensive sieve and the kind of guy that would launch a 28-foot jumper down five points in a fourth quarter.

But in 2010 he cut down on the lunacy and became one of the most dangerous offensive post players in basketball. He put up scores in bunches against the Spurs, leading the upstart Grizzlies past a veteran San Antonio squad in six games.

Dwight Howard, C, Magic

It’s hard to blame Howard for the Magic’s early exit against the uninspiring Atlanta Hawks. He was surrounded by shooters that couldn’t shoot and playmakers who couldn’t make plays. He put up 46 and 19 in Game 1, one of the most dominant performances you’ll ever see on a losing team. The disparity between Superman and the rest of his squad was so striking that it might’ve spelled the end of Howard’s career in Orlando.

2^nd Team

Chris Paul, PG, Hornets

Kobe Bryant, SG, Lakers

LeBron James, SF, Heat

Dirk Nowitzki, PF, Mavs

Marc Gasol, C, Grizzlies

Despite making a WWE-style “heel” turn by taking his talents to South Beach, LeBron James’s star has only gotten brighter this year. Earlier this month, it was announced that sales of his No. 6 Miami Heat jersey surpassed even those of Kobe Bryant, who for years reigned supreme in the NBA’s merchandise wars.

So The King now reigns supreme at Foot Locker, but is he better on the court than future Hall-of-Famer and five-time NBA champion Bryant?

Let’s take a quick look at how they match up.

Shooting

For years, Kobe has been one of the best mid-range shooters in basketball. No wing player is better at creating his own shot and converting baskets with multiple defenders in his face. Watch his conference finals performance against the Suns last year to witness a dazzling array of step-backs, pull-ups, and turn-arounds. As age and injuries reduce his explosiveness, he’s come to rely more and more on that deft shooting touch to get his scores.

LeBron’s jumper, on the other hand, is only slightly better than it was when he entered the league. It’s good enough that he has to be guarded fairly closely out to the three-point line, but it’s not exactly a weapon.

Edge: Kobe

Athleticism

This one’s not close, which isn’t meant as a dig on Kobe. LeBron is simply a once-in-a-lifetime athlete, built like a defensive end with the speed of a cornerback. He can alternately overpower, run past, or jump over just about any defender. In his prime, Kobe was as explosive as any wing player in the league, but these days he relies on his incredible skill set and finesse to get his points.

Edge: LeBron

Passing/Ballhandling

Like Magic Johnson 20 years ago, LeBron is a point guard in a forward’s body. With remarkable court vision and great hands, he’s capable of highlight-reel passes both in transition and in half-court sets. He’s not going to cross up too many defenders, but doesn’t really need to. His first step is so quick he’s past his man and inches from a dunk before they can even react.

Kobe, on the other hand, is a bit more of a ballhog, preferring to break down his defender and find his own shot. He handles the ball well, and can certainly pass when he needs to, but it isn’t the main focus of his game.

Edge: LeBron

Defense

As his eight first-team All-Defense selections would attest, Kobe is a ferocious on-the-ball defender capable of shutting down a team’s best wing player, even switching on to quicker point guards when need be. He’s also a willing team defender, drifting over to offer weak-side help when required.

LeBron isn’t quite the man-to-man defender Kobe is from game-to-game, but has a tendency to step up his intensity on that end in bigger games and when matched up against other star players. He has the size and athleticism to guard just about anybody, making him extremely useful in managing match-ups. His greatest strength on D is his shot-blocking, particularly his knack for flying in to block shots when his opponents are running in transition.

Edge: Kobe (though it’s getting closer)

Intangibles

Kobe isn’t exactly the most likable guy, with his habits of calling out teammates, demanding the ball, and generally acting surly on and off the court. But the fact remains that he’s as fiery a competitor as the sport has seen since Jordan, a maniacal hard worker with an undying will to win.

LeBron, on the other hand, wants to be a “Global Icon”, and seems to consider hanging with his pals at South Beach to be just as important as working on his game. Kobe seems to add a new element to his game every year; LeBron still has no post game and his jumper still kind of sucks.

Edge: Kobe

Overall

A couple of years ago, before a decade of playoff runs, grueling regular seasons, and international ball robbed him of his elite athleticism, Kobe was still the best wing player in basketball. But at this stage of his career he’s more of a crafty veteran scorer than a dominant offensive player – and he’s still prone to stopping the ball and taking questionable shots.

LeBron is the best athlete in the world and has translated that into absolute dominance at both ends of the floor, and at 26 is just entering his prime. The King has the crown.

Edge: LeBron

Kobe Bryant

Basketball pundits expected a severe drop-off in Kobe’s production this year following summer knee surgery and the debilitating effects of age. However, Bryant is having himself a career year, averaging right around 25 points, five assists, and six boards per game. If the Lakers keep up their torrid pace throughout the regular season, Bryant has to be considered the leading candidate for MVP. While the Lakers are arguably the deepest and most balanced team in the league, their current position near the top of the NBA standings is due primarily to the work of Bryant.

New Orleans has been the biggest surprise team of the young season, but Paul’s role in catalyzing that success could have been predicted from miles away. The fifth-year point guard is averaging a double-double with just under 17 points and just over ten dimes a contest. He is the quintessential

floor general, and is showing no signs of discontentment with the Hornets right now. Paul is unique in his ability to shut down opposing guards despite being only six feet tall, and he is without doubt the most complete point guard in the NBA.

If Paul is the most complete point guard in the league, Rondo might be the most incomplete, but also possibly the best. The man who was once the “other guy” to Boston’s Big Three is now the most valuable player on the best team in the Eastern Conference, and is leading the league with a ridiculous 14.3 assists per game. Rondo still can’t shoot free throws, but he’s connecting on a third of his three point attempts this season, which is a huge relief for Head Coach Doc Rivers. Without Rondo, the Celtics are good-with their point guard, they’re one of the best.

• Derrick Rose

Rose has joined the fantasy elite, and his name is everywhere in the NBA scores. He is averaging career highs in points and assists, and the offseason work that he put in on his jump shot is paying huge dividends for Chicago, as Rose is now a long range threat as well as a nightmare to contain off the dribble. John Wall is pretty quick, but Rose might have the fastest first step in the game, and no team has quite figured out how to stop him yet.

Ellis is the primary reason the Warriors are off to a surprisingly good start in 2010-11. Plagued by trade rumors and chemistry issues all of last season, Monta has started this season looking like more of a leader and less of a ball-dominating cancer. He has shown the ability to score almost at will this year, and while he still struggles with shot selection at times, he’s averaging an impressive 25.5 points per game on almost 50 percent field goal shooting. Ellis recently went down with a bruised hip, but when he’s at full health, he’s one of the most dynamic and high-scoring guards in the NBA.

Houston’s NBA odds aren’t any better after their Game 2 loss to the Lakers on Wednesday night, but the best part of it all wasn’t even the confrontation between Ron Artest and Kobe Bryant, or even the tangle between Derek Fisher and Luis Scola, but it was Artest’s post-game interview.

Oh man, so classic. Dude’s talkin’ about people gettin’ stabbed in the chest with table legs. We (old-school sportsbook players) all know the NBA isn’t the game we grew up watching, the one with the “Bad Boys” and the heated Bulls-Knicks/Bulls-Pistons rivalries, but apparently they weren’t nothing compared to what Artest saw in Queensbridge, New York.

I was thinking that there should be some sort of NBA odds on how many, or how long, it would take for Bryant and Artest to get into it. Both are hard-nosed competitors, and Bryant DID elbow Artest in the throat. He shouldn’t have been ejected from the game, even Bryant said so himself, because I think Kobe likes the challenge as proven by his 40-point explosion. They didn’t even make it out of Los Angeles. The NBA odds for another Bryant/Artest square-off? EXCELLENT.

Many young players coming out of college (or high school) have been saddled with the tag, “The Next Jordan”, which is more than enough pressure, no matter how decorated they are. Here is a look at the top 5 players, and how they’ve managed. NBA betting should include an annual prop asking who will be this year’s “next Jordan”.

Kobe Bryant came out of high school, and showed quickly that he had all the tools to be “the next Jordan”. “Black Mamba” is easily the closest thing we have to Jordan right now, even down to Bryant copying the fadeaway jumper Jordan used late in his career. And with his intensity, if Bryant was in this weekend’s MMA event, UFC 95 odds were give him a fighting chance.

High flyer? Check. North Carolina Tar Heel? Check. Dominating dunk-contest performance? Check. Vince’s show in 2000 had the NBA on their feet, and while he still has big nights, Carter’s not as daring as he used to be, and he NEVER had the heart of Jordan.

Grant Hill never had the same type of game Jordan had, and he went to UNC rival Duke, but people still had the highest of hopes for the versatile forward. Injuries have hurt Hill’s career, but he’s still one of the most respected players in the league.

Jerry Stackhouse had the same burden as Carter, with his UNC bloodlines and leaping ability. He even got the chance to play with Jordan when he came back with Washington. However, Stackhouse was never a big factor in the playoffs. Still, he was probably the first to carry “the next Jordan” tag.

Harold Miner was called “Baby Jordan”, but it was obviously for his dunking ability, and not his all-around game, as he averaged only nine points a game in a short four-year career. However, he won a pair of dunk contest, and his above performance in 1995 was borderline classic.

Monday night, the NBA and online betting communities should be up in arms as Cleveland heads to Los Angeles for a meeting with the Lakers, but let’s be real: there are 24 players on both teams, yet there are only two to worry about. Reigning MVP Kobe Bryant tries to lift his team out of a two-game losing skid against the man most are picking to succeed Bryant, LeBron James. This is the first time these two megastars have been on the same court since leading the USA to a gold medal in Beijing last summer.

These two stars went head-to-head twice last year, with Cleveland winning both games to extend its streak to five victories in a row over the Lakers. Bryant had 27.0 points, 8.5 boards and 5.5 assists, while James was a beast, putting up 37.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in this all-world showdown.

With both of these teams favored by sportsbook odds to reach the NBA Finals, this monster matchup gets even bigger each time Bryant and James lead their teams into battle. NBA lines have the Lakers as 5-point favorites at home tonight.

PICK: Bean to end the Cavs’ strange and recent domination of the Lakers.