With a deceptive 4-2 series victory, the Dallas Avengers … err … Mavericks are NBA Champions. Forgive us if we're sad that the most compelling finals in recent memory is over but now we’re left to stare into the abyss of a summer of baseball and lockout (first NFL, then NBA) discussion. Beyond all the big names (LeBron, Dirk, Wade, Kidd, Bosh and, of course, Ilgauskas and Dampier), what made the series so interesting was the stark and absolute contrasts these teams represented. From the way the teams were built (Long term Design v. Team-in-a-Bag) to their cliche storylines (veterans triumphing over struggle v. young players seeking instant gratification) to core philosophy (depth v. stars) to their franchise players (The one who stayed v. The one who bolted), the off-court differences were plentiful.
On the court, it was a little more straightforward, boiling down to the age old battle between “Young Man Game” and “Old Man Game.” Don’t let the names deceive you, the difference depends more on style than age. Young Man’s Game puts a premium on athleticism and speed with a strong dose of ego. It's a brand of basketball that involes lots of one-on-one, running, jumping, and doing things that not everyone can do. The best of these guys play hard, in a frenzy even, but not always smart, turning down open jumpers to get to the hole (where they often absorb a hard foul) and suffering from mental lapses. In contrast to YMG’s brashness, OMG’s swagger is marked by a sense of calm and composure. These guys may play a step slower but without any wasted motion, going for the strip instead of the block and knocking down "their" shot instead of searching for a dunk. They're short on highlights but long on team play and rarely commit carless errors. So, what happens when the two contrasting styles meet? Exactly what happened in the finals. The young team runs and guns its way to an early lead but, because of their composure, the older guys slowly work their way back in until they suddenly have the lead then suffocate the kids.
So, if we knew this all along, why didn’t we bet heavily on the Mavs? Becuase there's always a middle ground. The scariest (and best) players are the ones who find a way to combine the athleticism and aggression of YMG with the savvy of OMG. Those guys NEVER lose and, through the first 3 rounds of the playoffs, the Heat looked like they might have found that elusive combination. They were calm and dominant, putting teams away with clinical precision and utilizing their physical advantages in all the right ways. The league was ready to be conquered and we, for one, were preparing to welcome our new, dancing, preening overlords. Fortunately (unless you’re someone who’s ALREADY tired of hearing about how LeBron hasn’t won a title) the Mavs saved the day. They weathered the Heat’s early storm, stuck to their game plan and forced the Heat to reverted to their comfort zone, playing YMG.
It’s tempting to draw conclusions about what’s good and bad about the NBA after a series like this. It’s easy to paint the Mavs victory as validation of the age-old American values that won us WWII; things like hard work, sacrifice and teamwork. In that same vein, it’s tempting to vilify the Heat for their precociousness and attempt at a “shortcut” and point to them as proof of what’s wrong with America these days. And while doing so would certainly spare many hands from a wringing, it misses one key point - The Heat should have won the series. And they would have, had the presumed best player in the world not …. had a bad series? gotten tired? been shut down by the Mavs defense? choked?
Your guess is as good as ours on how that sentence should end (now that “Lost” is off the air, LeBron’s summer swoon has become the biggest mystery on television) but, as much as we all want to try to give credit to the Mavs, tell the story of Dirk’s redemption and recalibrate the careers of guys like Kidd, Marion, Terry, Chandler and Barea, this series will always some back to LeBron. More specifically, the death of King James.
(We wonder how smart does Pippen feel no for saying that MJ was the best “scorer” ever but LeBron might be the best “player?” Not only is he wrong, but the thing about Pippen’s statements is that they weren’t really about LeBron and MJ, they were about him and his problem with not receiving enough credit during the Bulls' glorious run. Scottie likely sees a lot of himself in LeBron, so when he says is that while MJ got all the points and the credit, he, like LeBron, was just as good or better because of his all-around game.
Thank you Scottie, that will be $350 and you can see the receptionist about your next appointment)
Yeah that’s right. Yell it from the rooftops. Shout it in the streets. The King is dead. Ding, dong bitches. No matter what happens after this, the LeBron James we thought (or is it wanted) to know is gone and the era in which we blindly proclaimed him to be the best player in the league is over. It’s not a stretch to say that in 15 years when we try to put him in historical perspective, his career is now going to be broken down into two distinct time periods – Before Meltdown and After Meltdown.
If you look back you can see the circumstances of his demise being set in motion a little over a year ago. As he walked off the court in his last game as a Cavalier and tore off his jersey before he even got to the locker room, perhaps we should have seen that as the first symbolic crack in his armor. Then with “The Decision” he gave us our first inkling that maybe despite his otherworldly talent, he might not want to be the best. And after the farcical “Welcoming Party” any remaining public’s affection was set on fire. He was now the villain. And while some hoped he might embrace the role, to be the Black Swan, he never seemed comfortable.
Still, none of this prepared us for what we saw in the past few weeks. After virtuoso performances against his nemesis, the Celtics, and the newest challenger to his throne, Derrick Rose and the Bulls, LeBron seemed to have regained his stature. The questions about him became only a rumor - suddenly, he was clutch, had the killer instinct and stood out even when paired with another elite talent like Dwayne Wade. He was finally the guy we wanted him to be – a potent scorer, efficient distributor and disruptive defender all rolled into one, he was Magic Jordan. Then something went horribly wrong and in the span of 5 games he destroyed it all. Not just the goodwill regained in the past few weeks but the benefit of the doubt he’d earned during his eight years in the league.
It wasn’t just that he played poorly. It was the way he played without aggression. Without engagement. Without want. The contrast was never more apparent then when viewed against the other two stars in the series. For every head-long foray by Wade or head-fake by Dirk, LeBron answered with a head-scratching jumper or passed-up opportunity to abuse an overmatched defender. Maybe, as we pointed out with Shaq, we’re burdening LeBron with our expectations. And maybe that’s not fair. But it’s reality and The Chosen One, The King, The Bringer of Talents to Places Far and Wide, can never be the same in our eyes again. This isn’t baseball, a sport so accustomed to slumps that the “best player”, A-Rod, can spend a large portion of his career never getting a big hit and maintain his spot. This is basketball a game in which the best player can exert almost complete control. If his shot isn’t falling, he can attack the basket or crash the boards. If that doesn’t work, he can do something else, try a little harder. And if none of those things work, his team loses. But at least he tried.
Still, LeBron still has a choice. The second part of his career (LeBron-AM) is like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book (or for those of us who live in the modern age, an open world video game – “Grand Theft LeBron”):
You’re standing at a cross-roads. Your left your hometown team, a place where you were beloved like no other to join your friends in pursuit of a championship. In your first year with your friends, you reached the finals, however, in large part due to your inability/unwillingness to assert yourself, your team fell a precious two games short of its stated goal. Now, you stand as a crossroads. You can:
1. Keep doing what you’re doing and telling yourself it’s not your fault. Spend the summer shooting commercials and attempting to become a global icon. Change nothing, improve incrementally and continue to attempt to be “The Man.” To choose this path turn to page 47 and become the NBA’s version of A-Rod.
2. Sublimate your ego and adjust your game to make your Franchise-level teammate better by focusing more on defending, playing off the ball and getting others involved to the detriment of your own statistics. To choose this path turn to page 56 and win multiple titles while pursuing your destiny as the evolutionary love-child of Magic Johnson and Scottie Pippen.
3. Forget your friends, family, business interests and the rest of the outside world and disappear for 3 months. Lock yourself in a gym and work. Hard. Develop a low-post game with a fade-away, jump hook and whatever else you need and find the confidence to make your jump shot a weapon when you need it, not just when it’s falling. Above all else, develop a go-to move that you use in times of high-stress. Return only when your skills are fully honed. To choose this path turn to page 67 and decimate the league for the next decade becoming the player everyone thought you could be and go down as greatest basketball player to ever walk the planet.
The choice is yours, LeBron.
(Yes, we think he’s totally going to read this and, at his HOF induction, thank The Persnickety Project for being his inspiration. Just you wait and see!!)
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