2013 NBA Finals: The (t5!) Cap Off

Pop an NBA game, and I’m sweating. Woo!

I know conspiracy theorists love to tell jokes about predetermined outcomes and Mafia involvement and Joey Crawford solipsism, but the NBA couldn’t have scripted a better season ending story than the one we just got. The Miami Heat versus the San Antonio Spurs: the two best teams, seven future Hall-of-Famers, four past Finals MVPs, leaving their hearts on the hard court for one coveted prize. In the middle of Game 7, I pleaded on Twitter for the NBA to just award co-champions, because as much as I wanted the Heat to silence denigrators for the second year in a row, I know that after watching the dedication and the drive of these two teams for seven memorable games, no one deserved to lose that night.

But someone had to. Many people have mistakenly dubbed the San Antonio Spurs a dynasty, but being able to remain competitive for sixteen seasons is beyond dynastic. That’s just a sign of an incredibly well-run franchise, which is so much better than being dominant for a short period of time. The Tim Duncan-Gregg Popovich era Spurs have won 50 or more games in fifteen of those sixteen seasons (would have been a perfect sixteen if it wasn’t for the strike-shortened 1998-1999 season, when they won 37 out of 50 games). They reached the Finals five times, winning four of them¹. And yet, 90% of the NBA fans outside of Texas were more rooting against the Heat than rooting for the Spurs. I have come to accept that the bandwagon fandom is a part of today’s sport culture. Having said that, bandwagonning for the Spurs is unacceptable. Their brand of fundamentally sound and efficient basketball have been misunderstood as boring for much of their prosperous reign, and they’re classified as old and washed up for the last five years because the face of the franchise, Duncan, is 37 years old. But these same obtuse pinheads were pledging their allegiance to them only because they are being cast as this year’s foil to LeBron’s new world order? They have been this masterful for sixteen years! SIXTEEN! What the fuck took you so long?

Well, let me pat myself in the back and tell you that I, me, this guy, have been a huge admirer of the San Antonio Spurs from the very start. I don’t think you can get your NBA nerdery registration card stamped if you don’t profess fondness for the way they play basketball. Sure, there have always been a ball-don’t-lie-yelling Pistons team, or a seven-seconds-or-less Suns team, or a grizzly Grizzlies team, or a nitrous-oxide-induced Thunder team, or a field-of-dreams Warriors team, or this juggernaut Heat team that made me temporarily set aside my love for them, but the respect has and will always be there. Seeing their players wither away to their locker room after Game 7, defeated and deflated, was agonizing.

Manu Ginobili has been my favorite Spurs player all of these years, due to his unorthodox way of seeing and approaching the game, and thus it was devastating for me to watch him turn the ball over repeatedly against Miami’s opportunistic defense. Manu has always played with reckless abandon, but in the past, his basketball instincts always bailed him out. But here, in his 18th professional season (11 in the NBA, 7 overseas), with his athleticism diminishing, the games against the Heat always seemed like they were too fast for him, and he and his instincts were unable to catch up. Don’t get me wrong, there were still flashes of brilliance throughout, particularly in Game 5 when he stunted riding a way-back machine. But it was heartbreaking to see him struggle the way he did.

I’m reserving the heaviest heartbreak though for Tim Duncan. He was solid the entire series, even putting his team on his back in Game 6, but, as the saying goes, father time will always have an undefeated record. Earlier in his career, that hook shot and that tip-in late in Game 7 is a gimme for him, regardless of who was guarding him, but fatigue may have caused him to miss both. His reaction after that unfruitful possession, screaming into his jersey, slapping the floor, is so distressing, especially after you watch him be stoic throughout his illustrious 16 seasons. If it’s any consolation, even if he lost this series, his prestige among NBA lifers hasn’t wavered at all. No one is taking the title of "best power forward of all time" from him and he will forever cement a place in the league's top 10 player of all time rankings.

These two haven’t given any indication that their retiring after this season, but they are in the twilight of their careers. If they do retire, you would sadly lose two-thirds of the Spurs’ original trifecta, but after watching the Finals, you know that at least the one-third that remains is a bona fide superstar in the NBA. Tony Parker has been one of the ten best players in the NBA for some time now, but because the Spurs are massively underappreciated by casual basketball fans, he was never discussed as such. Because Duncan’s getting up there in age, the Spurs the last few years have revolved their offensive strategy around Parker’s ability to get to the rim and run pick-and-rolls. These games demonstrated how unstoppable he can be from getting to the rim against defenders not named LeBron James, and how unafraid he is when the games’ fate is in his hands. That step-back three point shot he took against LeBron James took a lot of guts, especially since he never shot from there all season. Pair him with players like Kawhi Leonard, whose hustle and grit earned him the respect of the whole league, and Danny Green, whose hot shooting hand can form craters around arenas, and you still have a competitive bunch.

But honestly, if you bring back the entire roster for another run next year, they might be competitive but it might be ambitious to expect for the Spurs to go back in the Finals next year. I have a feeling the window may have just closed on their status as a championship contender in the West, especially if you factor in the Thunder getting Russell Westbrook back, the Clippers maybe getting stronger with the addition of Doc Rivers, the Rockets gaining a Dwight Howard, and the Grizzlies patching up their weak spots with shrewd roster moves. With that said, I guess if you have a strategist like Gregg Popovich leading the charge, you will always have a chance. If it was still disputable before this series that heis the best NBA coach of all time, it’s pretty difficult to deny now that you’ve watch him against the Heat. While most coaches attempted to play big against the Heat to counter (unsuccessfully) their small ball spread offense, Popovich was ballsy enough to say “if this is how you want to play, I’ll show you that we can play this style better than you can”. The way he packed the paint against LeBron James and Dwyane Wade was a remarkable strategy. The Miami Heat offense is heavily dependent on floor spacing, and Coach Pop realized that from the get-go, instructing his players to neglect LeBron, Wade, and Chris Bosh if they’re wandering around the perimeter. Look at all these Spurs bodies clogging the lane whenever LeBron and Wade drove to the basket. He also challenged LeBron and Wade to take jump shots, knowing that them hoisting up 20 footers had less of a chance to beat them than them aggressively attacking the basket. It’s true that his strategy sort of backfired in Game 7 when LeBron and Wade hit midrange shots after midrange shots. But all that Popovich can do was play the percentage, and he did that exceptionally well for the most part. I doubt this series would have seen Game 7 if he didn’t stick to his ingenious tactic.

But enough about this year’s admirable losers, full credit goes to the Miami Heat for surviving the Spurs’ unwillingness to be defeated. If last year’s story was LeBron James’ induction to the NBA pantheon, this year’s story is the Miami Heat’s ascension as a team. Erik Spoelstra should have been coach of the year this year, simply for revolutionizing the NBA offense, taking up-tempo small ball into PhD levels. He surrounded his best athletes with three-point shooters so that they have maximum room to operate. He turned up the pace to increase possessions, and ultimately gave his big 3 enough shots to go around. He employed players that can play any positions from 1 to 4, so that he can deploy lineups that are impossible to prepare against. Obviously, it's impossible to make this work if he didn’t have LeBron James at his disposal, a once-in-a-lifetime sport demigod that has the versatility to run the pick-and-roll on one end and then front the center posting up on the other. But still, props to Coach Spo for realizing the instruments that he had, and figuring out a radically effective way to use them.

The Heat, this season, became a well-oiled machine. Coach Spoelstra drew up offensive plays that are filled with misdirections and off-ball cutting, sets that the league hadn’t seen before. In 2010-2011, the first year of the big 3, the Heat’s offensive playbook consisted of elementary isolations and pick-and-rolls, which made them terribly predictable and caused teams to overload the strong side to easily thwart their attack. This season, they used a lot of fast-paced weak side motions to confuse defenses, and they impressively moved the ball constantly to exhaust rotating help defenses. You think Ray Allen, Shane Battier, and Mike Miller are deadly from the three-point line? Picture them shooting threes when they’re wide open in the corner because their man is trying to help on LeBron James rolling to the basket. They also learned how to pick their spots, shooting only the most efficient shots. The Heat improved from .481 FG% and .370 3P% in 2010-2011 to .496 FGS and .396 3P% in 2012-2013.

On defense, they are equally frightening. They can ruin an opposing offense’s every preferred option with their hyperactive speed and athleticism. They employed Bosh as their full-time center, Shane Battier as their full-time power forward, and upgraded Joel Anthony to “Birdman” Andersen. Having that speed and energy on the frontcourt allows them to brazenly blitz pick-and-roll ballhandlers on the perimeter and then quickly get back to cover the vacated screener. It also helps that LeBron can guard every single position on the court and Dwyane Wade is a demon help defender (when he wants to be). Both players are also tremendous rebounders and shot-blockers for their position, so they rarely lose anything by going small.

Because all of the pieces seemed to fit this year, there were times when winning games seemed incredibly easy for them. They won 27 games in a row in the regular season, an accomplishment that is second only to the 33 consecutive wins the Los Angeles Lakers posted in 1972. The last time they lost two in a row was January 8 and January 10. The unfortunate side effect of this dominance is that they developed an on/off switch, acquiring a bad habit of giving maximum effort only when they truly had to. No one was guiltier of this than Dwyane Wade. Wade is not the “fall 7 get up 8” player that he was once advertised. His knees have taken the toll of his years as the primary scorer for the LeBron-less Heat. Sharing the floor with the best basketball player in the world had afforded him the luxury of taking off games, allowing his worn-down body to recover during the more “meaningless” games. However, while it does give you comfort as a fan to know that whenever the Heat found themselves in a must-win situation, the World of Wade is there to provide the necessary boost, he probably made the Heat’s road to a second championship harder than it should have been. Everything’s forgiven now that they’ve won, but if they fell short because Wade’s engine isn’t at full throttle, the critics would have had a field day during this offseason.

And Chris Bosh, the proverbial Ringo Starr of this Big 3. He has been criticized throughout the playoffs for not being tenacious enough, transforming himself into a perimeter player as the challenges got harder. He was attempting 1.0 three point shots per game in the regular season and 1.6 three point shots per game in the playoffs, the highest averages of his career. In addition, he became more prominent for his post-game interview video bombs this season than for his production on the court. The Miami Heat fans were starting to disown him, fantasizing about trading him in the offseason to the Sacramento Kings for DeMarcus Cousins or to the Charlotte Bobcats for the 4th overall pick in this year’s draft. But during the last two games, he buckled down and rose to the occasion. He was being disparaged all season for not grabbing enough rebounds for his size, so it was sweet vindication that he grabbed one of the biggest offensive rebounds in the history of the NBA in the dying seconds of Game 6, giving Ray Allen a chance to send it to overtime. And during the overtime of that game, he was big on the court, both literally and figuratively, getting his fingertips on a Tony Parker jump shot and closing out and blocking Danny Green’s potential game-tying three. In Game 7, he didn’t score any points, only attempted five shots, but he knew that the best way he can help his team win is by rebounding, playing solid post defense on Duncan, rotating from the weak side, and setting quality picks. Despite of this inspired play from him, Miami’s best roster move going forward is still to trade his contract away, so that Miami can reap the benefits of being under the salary cap, but it’s a little harder to part ways with after his performance during the Finals’ elimination games.

The decision to trade or amnesty Bosh all hinges on whether or not LeBron, the NBA’s Finals MVP for the second straight season, wants to roll with him next season or not. Miami will have to do everything to appease the league’s best player because, undoubtedly, their success rests on his shoulders. This season, he silenced his critics for the second year in a row. What is there left to do? Name the one thing you like about your favorite basketball player, and LeBron possesses that quality as well. He is aggressive to the basket. He shoots threes. He posts up a mismatch. He passes out of a double team superbly. He doesn’t take midrange shots if he doesn’t have to (the most inefficient shot in basketball), but he’s great there nonetheless. He sets solid screens. He’s a terrific distributor. He hits corner three shooters effortlessly from anywhere on the court. He cuts intelligently without the ball. He rebounds. He is a DEFENSIVE WEAKSIDE PRESENCE. He is a tenacious ballhawk. He shuts down point guards, shooting guards, small forwards, power forwards, centers, guard/forwards, forward centers, combo guards, and stretch fours. He is big. He is strong. He is fast. He is smart. He is clutch. He is fundamentally sound. He is entertaining as fuck. The only flaw in his game now is that he can still be too unselfish at times! There were times when he would pass it to an open man instead of taking a contested shot. There were times when the Heat’s best offensive strategy is for him to just overpower whoever’s guarding him, but he would rather go through the sets out of respect to his coaching staff and his teammates. There were times when I wanted him to take over from the opening tip, but because Wade and Bosh needs to get eased in the game, he stands back and let them get comfortable. If benevolence on the court is your biggest problem, then it’s hard to validate the vilification. Magic Johnson² said it best during ESPN’s post-game show, “we gotta appreciate greatness when we see it instead of always trying bring it down. I don’t want anybody else to criticize LeBron James…because this guy is the real deal, and he’s great, not only for the Miami Heat, but he’s great for basketball.”

There is absolutely no reason left to hate LeBron James, and yet people still find a way. At this point, hating on LeBron says more about you than it does about him. I understand it if your allegiance belongs to another team, but to hate-watch him throughout the playoffs, to find satisfaction in his failures, is a little perverse. Even Cleveland fans are loosening up their hatred. Sure, part of the reason why is because they got two first overall picks as a result of James leaving, and there’s also a realistic chance of LeBron going back to the Cavaliers after his contract in Miami is up. But they are for sure in a way better place than the casual LeBron hater. Here are some of the reasons being thrown around by these illogical human beings hating on LeBron James:

• He flops!: Anyone who has played basketball with referees know how necessary flopping is, whether in the offensive or the defensive end. Especially if you’re a player of LeBron’s size; he is so strong that he can just shrug off hacks and bumps. He probably will never get a foul called if he doesn’t embellish the contact. Besides, is it fair to excoriate him for flopping if EVERYONE does it? The players that the Heat were against in the Finals all flop. Lance Stephenson flops. Dirk Nowitzki flopped in a charity soccer game just this week Frank Ramsey flopped as early as 1954 en route to seven championships. Kobe flops. Dennis Rodman flopped. Jordan flopped.
• He’s not Jordan!: And they’re probably correct for saying so but who is making these arguments anyway? Certainly, not LeBron. He has never said that he is better, or changed his number to reflect that he aims to be. LeBron haters have been attacking this straw man for so long that they’ve run out of ammunition
• He teamed up with his competition, instead of wanting to beat them!: Have you seen what Kevin Durant had to go through in the playoffs this year after Westbrook went down with an injury? He looked impotent and abandoned. And his supporting cast is much greater than what LeBron had in his seven years in Cleveland. Can you really blame him for leaving? Plus, he never got a coach fired, he never asked for a trade, he never pouted in the last year of his contract. He waited until he was a free agent (keyword there is “free”), assessed what the best situation is for him, and took a pay cut so that the franchise can make it work. Also, you have evidently just started watching the NBA recently since no one in the history of the league has ever won a championship without quality players around them.
• It wasn’t the fact that he left, it’s how he left!: Ok, I admit that the ESPN breaking news segment was a PR disaster, but the good intentions was there. “So many people are obsessed about where I’m signing. Well, why don’t we broadcast my decision primetime and donate all of the proceeds to charity?” Yes, it came off like a slap to the face of the scorned Cleveland fans, but he has apologized repeatedly for it. But you know what? “The Decision” doesn’t cause him to miss free throws with two minutes left. “The Decision” doesn’t cause him to abandon defensive rotation assignments. The fact that it happened has nothing to do with basketball. Move on, and enjoy the basketball.
• He still chokes!: You must have a brain incapable of holding one megabye worth of memory, because for two years now, he has answered his critics repeatedly regarding his clutch time performance. Granted, that his Game 6 turnovers could have caused the Heat the championship, but in the fourth quarter, he scored 16 points and made a crucial 3 to cut the lead to two late—without his headband. The story after the game? Ray Allen’s corner three saved LeBron’s choking ass. Imagine if LeBron was put in the unfortunate position of missing the two bunnies Tim Duncan failed to convert late in game 7, can you fathom the criticism he would have received during the offseason? Meanwhile, in spite of those clutch inadequacies, Duncan is still a leader who tried his hardest to win it for his team; it just wasn’t his time this year.
• He’s a cocky douchebag!: Is he really? If he is, so what? Is his basketball dominance making you feel inferior? Remember, if you were a LeBron hater, you were rooting for Tony Parker, a person who cheated on his wife Eva Longoria with his former teammate’s wife. Now, I love Parker, and his off-court actions are irrelevant to me, but surely, an adulterer is a bigger villain than someone who took his talents to South Beach, correct?
• He is too perfect!: Now you’re just trying to make up reasons.
• He’s ugly and balding!: C’mon.

Let’s say that this is the best basketball LeBron James will ever play. What he did in these last two calendar years has already placed him in the top five of the best NBA players of all time ³. But consider then the fact that he’s only 28, the age when Michael Jordan won his first championship. Hearing him in these interviews and seeing his game continually develop, you know that he’s highly motivated to get better. So it’s not entirely inconceivable to believe that we still haven’t seen the pinnacle of his prominence. Does he have it in him to step it up even further? And if he does, to what level? What is higher than what we saw from him the last couple of years? God, I can’t wait until next season to find out.

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1 And they should have won a couple more, if it wasn't for Derek Fisher's 0.4 second buzzer beater in 2004 and the silly Ginobili foul on Dirk Nowitzki in 2006^↩

2 I generally don't agree with whatever Magic Johnson is saying in ESPN's NBA Countdown, but he's right on the money with this proclamation.^↩

3 I'd say, right now, my top 10 is 1. Jordan, 2. Bill Russell, 3. Magic Johnson, 4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 5. LeBron, 6. Larry Bird, 7.Duncan, 8. Wilt Chamberlain, 9. Kobe, 10. Oscar Robertson^↩