2011 NBA Finals: The (t5!) Cap Off

Thanks to massive amounts of subplots, an extremely deep talent pool, and LeBron James’ Decision forcing the rest of the league to reassess their battle plan, we witnessed one of the most compelling NBA seasons of all time. I'm certain that there have been more competitive years, as well as years that exhibited more athletic and prodigious highlights, but I doubt if you can remember a more talked about NBA season than 2010-2011. Because of that, I can confidently say that you won’t be able to find an NBA fan that didn’t enjoy this NBA season, even if their respective favorites did not end up as NBA champions in the end. If you are a GENUINE Dallas Mavericks fan though, you should be GENUINELY happier than everyone else after last Sunday's win.


The Mavs have been a perennial regular season juggernaut for more than a decade now, yet they never had a championship trophy to legitimize their success. Since they've been labeled as playoff chokers all of these years, and since many believed that this veteran team’s window to win a championship has been closed many seasons ago, no one gave them a chance in 2011. Many NBA experts thought that they would lose to a much rougher, much more athletic, sixth-seed Portland Trail Blazers, but they beat them in six games. Many NBA experts thought that they would lose to the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, but they swept them in an embarrassing fashion. Many NBA experts thought that they would lose to a younger, faster Oklahoma City Thunder, but they exposed the fact that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook weren't ready yet for the big stage. They proved every single naysayer wrong. So, if you are a GENUINE Dallas fan who has stuck with this team through thick and thin, I’m sure it feels sweet to be rewarded with a well-deserved championship win.

I’m emphasizing the word “GENUINE” here because the majority of people who are rejoicing when the Dallas Mavericks captured that elusive NBA title Sunday night weren’t supporters of them to begin with. Most of them have switched allegiance over to the Mavs to root against LeBron James and the Miami Heat. I know that bandwagon jumping and sports bigamy aren't criminal offences, especially in the NBA where the appeal of the individual transcends the boundaries of teams. It’s just unfortunate that the Mavericks didn't receive the fanfare they deserved. Rich Bucher reported that during Sunday’s post-game press conference, the press room was packed when LeBron and Dwyane Wade were answering questions from the media. However, when it was Dallas’ Jason Kidd and Jason Terry’s Q&A portion right after, half of the room was gone. Very few were interested with what the Dallas Mavericks achieved. Many only cared about what it felt like for LeBron and the Heat to taste defeat.

Right after the announcement last summer that he will “take his talents to South Beach”, LeBron James became the most polarizing athlete in sports today. NBA fans outside of Miami and Dallas became divided into two camps: pro-LeBron and anti-LeBron (*). The larger and more vocal Anti-LeBron coalition have been trashing King James and rooting for him to fail from day one, their hatred incomprehensibly evolving into something personal and unhealthy. Governor of Ohio, John Kasich, made the players of the Mavericks “honorary” Ohioans for beating LeBron James and the Miami Heat. My father, who is a very dedicated NBA fan, refused to watch the Finals this year because he didn’t want to see LeBron James’ ugly face (his words, not mine).

If only he handled his exit from his hometown of Cleveland a little classier, then there would be no justifiable reason to hate his decision to sign with the Heat. While playing for the Cavaliers, everyone insisted that he's going to need more help if he plans to win a championship. So he did that by joining Dwyane Wade (one of the five best players in the world) and Chris Bosh (one of the 25 best players in the world) in Miami, and yet he still gets scorched because it's apparently unethical for superstars to collude to conquer their sport. Everyone criticizes the arrogant way they promised they’ll win multiple championships in a row, but I think it would be more problematic if a player's personal goal wasn’t to win every year he’s active in the NBA. People do not like how they celebrated after every dunk? I got news for you people who are allergic to fun: NBA players have been posturing after every monumental play way before LeBron was born. My only problem with him playing with Wade and Bosh is that his legacy will always be tarnished now. LeBron is possibly the most athletically gifted player we’ve ever seen, but because he was unable win a ring on his own, he will never be ranked among the greatest legends of this game. But so what if his ceiling is to only become the 11th best player of all time? Am I going to enjoy his alley-oop dunks, bullet passes, and runaway drives to the basket any less? Probably not.

After watching the final six games of the NBA season though, it’s very difficult to be an apologist for LeBron. He was uncomfortably passive in every fourth quarter of these games, and considering that three of the six games came down to the final shot, his lack of contribution had a major impact. In crunch time this series (less than five minutes to go with point differential of five or less), LeBron had zero points, only seven shots, and never got to the foul line. That stat line looks even more ridiculous if it is compared to Dirk Nowitzki's 26 points, 8-for-13 shooting in the field, and 9-for-9 shooting in the foul line. As intelligent as the Dallas defense were for the double teams and zone coverages they threw at him, the way he disappeared in the fourth quarter is mind-boggling. And it’s not as if he’s terrified of the moment like what everyone is saying because LeBron had legendary fourth quarter performances before. As a matter of fact, they wouldn’t be in the finals if it wasn’t for his performances in the clutch against Boston and Chicago earlier in the playoffs. The people in the know have pointed out a rumor that LeBron’s fiancée slept with Washington Wizards’ Rashard Lewis, which might have served as a distraction during these games. But even so, these are the most important games of his career, and legends step up when they’re called upon to do so, no matter what’s going on off the court.

However, critics forget that LeBron James is only 26 years old and still has a long career ahead of him, and thus, his epitaph shouldn’t be written just yet. Critics also forget that almost every single person in NBA’s pantheon had their ability to win questioned. Michael Jordan was thought of as a ballhog and someone that will never be able to coexist with anyone to win a championship. Wilt Chamberlain can literally score 100 points, but he couldn't get pass the mighty Boston Celtics. Magic Johnson was so horrible when he was younger that the media started calling him “Tragic Johnson”. Larry Bird struggled in his first Finals appearance, needing the help of Cedric Maxwell to beat the Sixers. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wasn’t able to win without either Magic or Oscar Robinson by his side. Kobe Bryant struggled even with a dominant Shaquille O’Neal drawing all the attention. Shaq’s commitment was always questioned until Phil Jackson introduced him to the triangle offense. Even Dirk was declared “too soft” to win the whole thing once (more on this later). The point is that every superstar is considered a loser until they started winning (**). There’s still a chance that LeBron and the Heat are triumphant in the next seven years , and if that happens, all of the criticism directed towards him will be surely forgotten (or, at the very least, people will find new ways to criticize him).

Critics are also disregarding the fact that this is Year One of this Miami Big Three project, and they can only get better from here on out. The Big Three will ultimately gain a better understanding of how to play with each other, and they will also be blessed with a full year of Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller (whom were both injured for the majority of the year). Veteran free agents who want a last shot at a championship will gladly sign a one-year contract to take their own talents to South Beach (***), and they might get lucky with young players if they draft right. Worst case scenario is that they can trade Chris Bosh for a couple of specialists that would better satisfy their needs. One problem they have to fix is their coaching staff because Eric Spoelstera was out-coached throughout this series. Coach Spoelstera is a great offensive play designer, a good pre-game planner, and an adequate motivator—and I will always have an attachment to him because of his Filipino Heritage—but, he is incapable of making in-game strategic adjustments. On Dirk’s Flu game, Dallas went to a Jason Terry-Tyson Chandler pick-and-roll, using Dirk as a decoy in the corner, and the Heat couldn’t adjust to it. When JJ Barea was plugged in the starting lineup and started killing Mike Bibby, Spoelstera didn’t adjust until Game 6. Whenever Dallas went into a 2-3 zone, his offensive sets were invalidated. During crunch time, he should’ve designed a Wade-LeBron pick-and-roll, but it never happened. There are brilliant basketball minds who are just destined to become assistant coaches in the NBA; Eric Spoelstera might be one of those guys.

But like I said a million words ago, it’s unfortunate that the Mavericks aren’t getting the props and the coverage they deserve. LeBron James and the Heat didn’t choke away this series; they would’ve easily won against a less formidable opponent. The Mavericks played like champs and they plainly took it away from them. Dirk Nowitzki was Batman throughout the entire playoffs. He was putting on a shooting clinic, at times looking like he’s throwing the basketball into an ocean-sized rim and making that patented one-footed, 45° lean seem easy. As much as I wanted Miami to take it, I’m delighted that Dirk was able to finally shed the impression that he doesn’t have what it takes to win. Dirk’s unconventional finesse game was a prototype that everyone coveted early in the decade, but after Dallas’ disastrous first-round loss against the Golden State Warriors in 2007, all of the franchises that dedicated a scouting team to find the next Dirk in Europe decided that his type of game will forever be “too soft” for the NBA. I’m glad that he was able to get stronger physically and mentally to prove that he has the ability to lead a team.

Because of Dirk’s mythical performance, every NBA geek has been pondering about where he currently ranks among NBA’s greatest. It’s already been established that he’s the best European player to ever wear an NBA jersey. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though and start comparing him to Larry Bird. Dirk’s a beast, and he and Bird may be the best shooting forwards ever. However, Bird is also the best passing forward of all time (****), and he’s a better rebounder and defender than what people give him credit for. They don’t call him the Basketball Jesus for nothing. With that in mind, he surpasses Charles Barkley and Karl Malone in the list of greatest power forwards to ever play that game (*****). More importantly though, from this point on, he will be talked about as the heroic figure that denied the villainous LeBron James and the Miami Heat their first championship. Would he, or any other savior, be able to do it again next year?



(*) One of the reasons why I love the NBA is because the NBA finals have a tendency to divide the NBA universe into two camps, and your allegiance is commonly an extension of your personality. Last year’s finals between the Lakers and the Celtics were a conflict between the socialites and the common people. This year was a conflict between two groups: those who are anti-LeBron and those who are pro-LeBron. Anti-LeBron people stands for proper sportsmanship and good morals; pro-LeBron people are all about hedonism and outright dominance. Anti-Lebron people marry girls they can have a good conversation with; Pro-LeBron people marry the hottest girl that will be willing to sleep with them. Anti-LeBron people shut their computers down after work to save the environment; Pro-Lebron people don't because time is money. Pro-Lebron people have a grapefruit and a slice of whole-wheat toast for breakfast; Anti-LeBron people eat a Bacon McMuffin, or Pop-Tarts.

(**) One important key to note though is that all of these superstars made drastic improvements to their game to get to what they eventually became. If LeBron really wants to win, a major flaw that he has to address soon is his lack of post-up game. It is inexcusable that someone with this combination of strength and speed can’t figure out how to score with his back to the basket.

(***) My one NBA wish is for Steve Nash to sign the minimum to play for the Heat when his contract ends in 2012. Surely his role would be diminished into someone who just spots up on the corner (like Mike Bibby’s role this year), and a ring as a role player doesn’t mean as much to his legacy as if he led the Phoenix Suns to a championship. Having said that, it would be nice to see him win one time.

(****) There are two fabulous YouTube montage solely dedicated to Larry Bird's passing ability. I watch them whenever I'm feeling down. Watch them here and here

(*****) (5) Karl Malone, (4) Charles Barkley, (3) Dirk Nowitzki, (2) Kevin Garnett, (1) Tim Duncan