The first round of this year’s NBA Playoffs was one of the more entertaining opening rounds of recent memory. Game 6’s and Game 7’s were played, buzzer beaters were plentiful and although the teams expected to win came out on top in every series, the first round was the best showcase yet of the six individual superstars taking over the NBA.

Who are these gems finally filling the void left by Michael, Larry, Magic, Isaiah, Sir Charles and Dominique? Here are a few clues: Three of them went to college, two came straight out of the prep ranks and one made his way overseas from Europe. Their combined scoring average from this past season dwarfs their combined age (171.3 – 149). They play in cities stretching from So-Cal to the Garden state, sunny Florida to the cornfields of Nebraska, the Buckeye state on down to Texas, and they can all be identified by their first names?Still stumped?

Okay, here I’ll give you their names… The icons poised to dominate the game for the remainder of this decade are named Dirk, Kobe, Vince, LeBron, Dwyane and Carmelo.

These six players are all under 30 years of age, all lead their team to the playoffs this season and, with the exception of Kobe and Carmelo, all carried their team into the second round. The NBA has been trying to fill the holes left by the old dominant faces of yesteryear for more than ten years. Finally, the Jordanesque talents like Kobe and LeBron are coming into their own and guiding their mediocre teams into the playoffs and taking over games as individuals in ways only matched by Jordan.

Other players like Steve Nash, Elton Brand, Gilbert Arenas and Paul Pierce are all great, but they don’t have the tenacity and “take-over” mentality that these other players embody. Shoot 40 times or shoot 15 times, these six players know that their teams scoring and survival rests on their shoulders.

As this year’s MVP voting demonstrated, Most Valuable Player does not mean best player. So, while Nash hoists the trophy for the second year in a row, you can bet that these six players will each be hoisting plenty of hardware of their own in the future. Whether the hardware is the championship trophy or the Finals MVP, these individuals will be the face of this Golden Era of NBA basketball.

Josh Oates can be reached at [email protected]