No, really. Maybe nutty people shouting “The end is near!” on street corners downtown will be happy if/when they turn out to be right.

But I take no joy in predicting the Lakers’ struggles in the NBA Finals. Which you may review (and note the time stamps) lower down on this blog.

There is a school of thought that suggests that the generically pessimistic among us often will forecast doom and gloom so that when it happens we are at least vaguely prepared, psychologically. And if it does not, we’ll just shrug and say, “Oops!” and then revel in the good news.

I may do that, now and then, real life. But not in this case. I really did believe the Lakers were going to lose Game 1 by double digits, and for the reasons I outlined.

If you want proof that I take no pleasure in being right, consider this:

I was genuinely agitated watching what I already had predicted would happen. “Kobe, don’t go 1-on-3!” … “Guys, feel free to rebound!” … “You can’t leave Ray Allen all alone in the corner!”

Now and then, I would recall, “Oh, yeah, you predicted this” … but then I was back in the game. “Lamar, feel free to show up!”

Believe me, I would much rather be sitting at the keyboard, the morning after a Lakers romp, attempting to explain how I could have been so laughably wrong.