Here is a recent interview on BasketCases with WCCO radio in Minneapolis.

Interview (6.2MB MP3 file)

You can also listen to the interview directly on the WCCO website.

Please drag the playhead about a quarter of the way into the program for the beginning of the interview.

I got an e-mail from NBA Referee Kenny Mauer — who wrote the foreword to my book “BasketCases” — that he was assigned to work Game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday night in LA. This is the fourth consecutive year he has been assigned to work the NBA Finals, the pinnacle of officiating at the professional level.

Kenny worked Game 3 of the Mavs/Heat series in 2006, the one in which Dwayne Wade rallied the Heat from about 17 points down with six minutes left to win the game. The Heat went on to win the series in six games. Kenny worked Game 1 of San Antonio/Cleveland in 2007 and worked Games 2 and 5 last year between Boston and LA.

I admit that I thought Cleveland would roll to the Finals, but better teams tend to overshadow better individuals and the Cavs had no answers for Orlando’s inside-outside combination. I thought Mo Williams was a solid No. 2 scorer behind Lebron, but he didn’t come on until it was too late in the series. I will predict that LA will win in 6, but I probably will be wrong.