I could try to pick an old fight and tell you the Stanley Cup playoffs have been better theater than the NBA postseason, but I'd be blowing smoke up your shorts.

It's been genuine fun watching the evolution of Chris Paul in New Orleans, the coronation of Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles and the PGA Tour (Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen) in Boston.

While the success of home teams has created an air of predictability — they were 20-1 heading into the weekend — it also suggests how evenly matched some of these series have been.

True, given a choice between the two, I'll watch the NHL every time. There are a lot of good reasons for this, but let's start here: No superstar's mama will be jumping out onto the ice in the middle of a game, her index finger bobbing, talking trash with the guy that just whacked her son.

That actually happened in the NBA playoffs earlier this week, so much to the chagrin of Cavaliers forward LeBron James that he told his mother "to sit down with some language I shouldn't have used."

Gloria James catapulted out of her seat along the baseline at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland when Pierce denied her son a layup by giving him a bearhug that sent both men tumbling out of bounds.

LeBron can win 10 NBA titles, score 100 points in a game five times and marry Oprah and still never live that little episode down.

Between what Gloria James did and what Josh Howard said, the chase for Lord Stanley's Cup can't measure up to the NBA playoffs in terms of full-blown entertainment.

Prior to his Mavericks losing to New Orleans in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, Howard went on Michael Irvin's radio show and candidly admitted one of his offseason passions is breaking the law.

"Most of the players in the league use marijuana and I have and do partake in smoking weed in the offseason sometimes," Howard said.

Howard surely isn't alone in this pursuit among his peers, but the fact he would be so frank is pretty reckless.

The closest thing I've seen to a James-like family moment in the Stanley Cup playoffs came when Dallas winger Brad Winchester sent Detroit defenseman Brian Rafalski airborne with a thunderous check along the boards.

Winchester, a 6-foot-5,
215-pounder from Madison, and Rafalski, listed at 5-10 and 200 pounds, both played for the University of Wisconsin.

As for an unexpected development off-ice, all I've got is Sean Avery, an irritant/tough guy of the highest order with the Rangers, showing up for his offseason job Monday as an intern at Vogue magazine.

Speaking of former UW players, another reason I prefer to watch the NHL postseason is to marvel at Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios. He's 46 — the second-oldest player in league history — going on 30. He recently set a NHL record with his 23rd playoff appearance.

If the Red Wings meet Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup finals, the NHL playoffs have a chance of going to the top of the marquee.

But maybe LeBron's mom has something else up her sleeve.