What would you do if you were forced to choose between having to fund Charles Barkley's gambling or wash Jason Giambi's thong after an extended slump? For Suns fans that decision is easier than picking a team to root for in the western conference finals.

Kobe and the Lakers versus Duncan and the Spurs. It hurts just to read it, let alone watch it right? As a Suns fan who do you root for?

You have to weigh the options and look at each facet of these two evil powerhouse franchises to truly be able to make a decision (Yes it's tough to spend more than five seconds thinking about either team but come on we promise it will be OK).

Let's start with the Coaches:

Name: Phil Jackson
Alias: The Zen Master (Although we prefer Colonel Sanders)
NBA Titles: 10 (One as a player)
Biggest Offense Committed Against The Suns: Coached Michael Jordan and the Bulls past Barkley and the Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals (If only NBC could see into the future they could have hosted all 7 games in Vegas, had it sponsored by Steve Wynn and marketed it as the two greatest gamblers going head-to-head). Killing the best shot Phoenix has had at an NBA title in it's 40 years of existence.

Name: Gregg Popovich
Alias: Pop
NBA Titles: 4 (Although 1999's strike-shortened season shouldn't be counted. Our grandmother and 4 guys from our office could have beat the Knicks that year)
Biggest Offense Committed Against The Suns: Out-smarting (by out-smarting we mean valuing defense more than) Mike D'Antoni in the playoffs. Popovich playoff record against D'Antoni and the Suns was 12-4 the last three years eliminating the Suns each time.

The Verdict: Both coaches hurt the Suns over the years and while Phil Jackson's 1993 defeat of the Suns hurts more than Popovich's dominance of the Suns in the playoffs in an historical context right now the mental wound of the Spurs dominance wins out. Although it's like having to decide between which one of your sisters you'd rather make out with (For those of you wondering the answer would be neither, you sicko) it's probably better to root for the Zen Master than Coach Pop (at least Phil has a hot girlfriend right? )

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Ok so we've compared the overlords leaders of each team but what about the team's super star?

Name: Kobe Bryant
Alias: Black Mamba, KB24 (and a few other names people in Colorado like to call him)
NBA Titles: 3
Biggest Reason For Suns Fans To Dislike: First off he is Kobe Bryant, there really isn't much other reason needed. Also remember this gem of a quote from the Raja Bell, Kobe Bryant saga:

“Does he know me? Do I know this guy? I don’t know this guy,” Bryant said. “I might have said one word to this guy. I don’t know this kid. I think he overreacts to stuff. . . . I don’t know this kid. I don’t need to know this kid. I don’t want to. We go out there, we play the game and leave it at that. Maybe he wasn’t hugged enough as a kid. I look at him a little bit, he gets a little insecure or something. I don’t know.”

Name: Tim Duncan
Alias: The Big Fundamental
NBA Titles: 4
Biggest Reason For Suns Fans To Dislike: Outside of the fact that the Spurs led by Duncan have ousted the Suns the last three season in the playoffs there isn't an whole lot to dislike about Duncan. Oh except for the fact that he (in his mind) hasn't committed a foul in his entire NBA career (Check out his "It wasn't me I swear" faces here ).

The Verdict: You pretty much have to go with Tim Duncan on this one. While his antics are annoying he really does seem like a "nice guy" and his skills are straight out of a basketball instructional video (Your ad here, I'm talking to you Eddie Johnson). Kobe's attitude of entitlement and whining make it next to impossible to root for him (also Shaq is in Phoenix now so you have to have his back when it comes to Kobe).

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So that takes care of the Prima Donnas superstars of each teams but what about the guys that make it possible for the superstars to win? Supporting casts are important to judge both of these teams on.

Names: Pau Gasol,Lamar Odom
Alias': Power Gasol, The Goods (Those are weak, how about the Great Steal and that guy who is always injured?)
Combined NBA Titles: 0 (Are they sure they don't play for the Suns?)
Biggest Reason For Suns Fans To Dislike: The only reason to dislike these two is the fact that they play for the Lakers. That and their nicknames.

Names: Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker
Alias': Manu, TP (Real creative, how about the Flopper and Mr. Longoria?)
Combined NBA Titles: 6 (No we don't know what that is in either of their native languages)
Biggest Reason For Suns Fans To Dislike: Manu's flopping is annoying and has hurt players before (case and point Leandro Barbosa ). As for Tony Parker, well he took Eva Longoria off the market so you probably should dislike him just for that. Oh did we mention he also torches the Suns.

The Verdict: Obviously it is easier to root for Pau Gasol (to get a razor) and Lamar Odom. Ginobili and Parker have done nothing but annoy Suns fans for the better part of three years.

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That's coaches, superstars and supporting casts covered which brings us to the bench (Contrary to popular belief Suns fans this does exist in other cities. Hopefully it's a concept that the new coach will make a reality).

Names: Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton, Vladimir Radmanovic, Ronny Turiaf and a bunch of guys you've never heard of
Alias': They are Lakers bench players they don't have any
Combined NBA Titles: 0
Biggest Reason For Suns Fans To Dislike: See above for reasons to dislike Gasol and Odom.

Names: Kurt Thomas, Robert Horry, Bruce Bowen, Brent Barry and Michael Finley
Alias': Dirty (although all of the Spurs could share that nickname), Big Shot Bob (We forgot a cheap in there somewhere), (Bowen: refer to Kurt Thomas'), Bones (as in old?), Shooter
Combined NBA Titles: More Than Elizabeth Taylor has ex-husbands
Biggest Reason For Suns Fans To Dislike: This is quite the list of names for Suns fans. This looks more like a most wanted list for Suns fans than a roster of bench players. Horry and Bowen have provided some of the NBA's greatest cheap shots (Ask Steve Nash's shoulder and Amare Stoudemire's heel ). Kurt Thomas found a way to come back and haunt the Suns for trading him and Barry and Finley both snubbed the Suns in favor of the Spurs (Although you can't necessarily blame them, but you can still hold it against them).

The Verdict: This one goes without saying (but we'll say it anyway). It has to be easier to root for the Lakers' bench than the Spurs. The only knock on the Lakers' is they stink. As for the Spurs they have no redeeming qualities for a Suns fan.

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So after all of the on court factors are taken into consideration it's time to look at the cities:

Name: Los Angeles
Alias: The City of Angels
Combined NBA Titles: (By combined we do realize the Clippers have never won anything) 9
Biggest Reason For Suns Fans To Dislike: Fans show up late and leave early. Their court side seats are populated by celebrities like Jack Nicholson instead of a guy with a foam finger .

Name: San Antonio
Alias: Alamo City
NBA Titles: 4
Biggest Reason For Suns Fans To Dislike: Really no reason for Suns fans to dislike San Antonio, the city. It can't really compete with Phoenix seeing as the only has the Spurs, the Alamo and the River Walk . It is smaller than Phoenix and is only home to one professional team.

The Verdict:This one has to go to the Spurs (Only because we can't stand Laker fans). The glitz and glam of LA just rubs Suns fans the wrong way and the fact that they show up late and leave early is annoying (at least Suns fans stay for the whole game, even if they never get up from their seats or yell at the fans that do).

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So that's it that is everything broken down when it comes to the Lakers vs. the Spurs when it comes to a Suns fan’s perspective. So by our count, that puts the Lakers as the favorite for the Suns fans to root for 3-to-2. Honestly though when looking at all the facts there is only one thing a Suns fan can do…………Root like hell for the Eastern conference so neither the Spurs nor the Lakers can call the Larry O'Brien Trophy their own. As a Suns fan it's the right thing for you to do.

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