An Intriguing Parallel

First I want to shout out some congratulations to both the Mavericks and the Bruins for winning their respective championships. Secondly, before I touch on the substance of this post, I am going to venture onto the topic of Lebron James. While the man is immensely talented, I don't think he is able to win a championship as the primary facet of his team (see how during the Finals Dwayne Wade took over as the Heat's go to guy). We want to see him reach new heights when the games matter most, and when he fails to live up to our expectations we make excuses for him (see West, Delonte and Lewis, Rashard). From my point of view, the factor that at the present contributes most to his inability to win is his level of maturity. Three examples stood out to me: Pregame coughing and poking fun at Dirk Nowitzki's playing through a fever, being one of the first into the fray during a do or die game 6, and his combative tone during the postgame press conference. I think the first and last examples are self explanatory (especially if you saw what he said). In terms of his behavior during the argument between Mario Chalmers and DeShawn Stevenson, it was incredibly reckless of him to rush headlong into a situation that was going to be broken up in a matter of moments anyways. At that point, he could have only gotten himself into trouble. I recognize the need to stick up for a teammate, but in that situation Chalmers is dispensible while Lebron, even the version that sleepwalked through the Finals and refused to go to the rim, is a valuable asset to the Heat. To jeopardize his role in the continuation of the season demonstrated that he was overwhelmed by the occasion and got carried away. You may have noticed that both Dirk Nowitzki and Dwayne Wade acted like hardened vet's and remained out of the fray. Now to business.

As I am still hungover from the Bruin's victory last night and as of yet unable to fully analyze it, we will save that post for another day. After a week of brooding the Mavericks' underdog NBA Finals victory, one angle has struck me as particularly intriguing. Dirk Nowitzki, long regarded as the best international player ever, has, in many people's eyes, upped his status as one of the best players ever, period. Why, you ask? Because he has a ring. A ring, though? Surely the former league MVP's stats speak for themselves? Stats aren't everything, particularly when they come during the regular season. If there is anything that we learned from last season's Celtics it is that the regular season is a glorified warm up for the playoffs. This is the time of year when the games really count and your legacy is largely determined by your successes and failures when the seasons change. Save the disappointing 2006 finals in which the Mav's lost to Wade's Heat, Dirk's teams have seen a large number of premature exits from the postseason. Does this ring salvage everything? Possibly. Let's consider Peyton Manning. The Colts star was knocked for much of his career for his inability to win on the biggest stage. Sure he had the stats and individual accolades befitting a legendary quarterback, but he was considered way behind the eight ball career wise because he had never hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. Sure enough, once he took his name off the "shit list" (Charles Barkley's term for the list of great players who have never won rings) his spot on the lists of the greats was assured. Dirk finds himself in a similar situation. And don't expect it to end here. Just as Peyton made his way back to the Super Bowl last year (even though the Saints dashed the opportunity) I would not be surprised to see Dirk make a return visit to the finals in the coming years. One last comparison: many praise Manning for his ability to win no matter who he is surrounded with. Look at Dirk's supporting cast. Tyson Chandler was practically given to the Mav's by Michael Jordan last summer. Jason Kidd is 40 years old and well past his prime. Jason Terry is as streaky as any player in the league. No super friends here, Dirk Nowitzki is much further down the path to multiple championships than Lebron James.