On the Mike and Mike morning show earlier this week, Greeny and Golic were discussing a question presented by one of their listeners through email. The listener asked, “Who would an NBA championship this year mean more to: Lebron or Dirk?”
While I don’t recall the reasons given by the hosts for their answers to that question, I do remember one of them saying that an NBA championship this year would mean more for Lebron James, hands down. Here is the problem with that answer:
It is based solely on the emotion and attention brought about by “The Decision” Lebron James made last year to team up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. This season, the entire NBA world has been completely focused on either prematurely critiquing whether or not James made the right choice, spitting venom at him for doing something that no “superstar athlete” should ever do, or simply falling into the trance of observing the birth of what could be the next great NBA dynasty. So focused on Lebron James and the Miami Heat in fact that we’ve almost missed what could very well be Dirk Nowitzki’s game reaching an all time high.
Granted, this transcendence by Dirk was very easy to miss. I mean, he is a former MVP. He has lead a team to the NBA finals. He has played in nearly 120 playoff games averaging 25.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while shooting 46% from the field and 89% from the free throw line all in about 41 minutes per game. He is a 10 time all-star and 3 time all NBA first team selection. He has lead the Dallas Mavericks to 50+ wins in 11 of his 13 NBA season. This season could have just been another season of Dirk being Dirk, too good to be completely forgotten but not quite clutch enough to be considered one of the greatest all time.
Dirk’s accolades, however, are not the reason why I disagree with those who think a championship this year would be more significant to Lebron. It’s the failures he’s experienced as a leader simultaneous to his individual successes that should make him more hungry for a title this year than anyone else.
After the complete meltdown by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA finals – losing four straight games after starting the series with a 2-0 lead –I was not ready to label Dirk as ‘choker’. I must admit, however, that I did start to wonder if Dirk could be the centerpiece of a championship team when his number 1 seeded, NBA best 67 game winning Mavericks were bounced out of the playoffs in the first round by the 8th seeded Golden State Warriors in the spring of ’07. Once Dirk lead the Mavericks to two more first-round losses and a second-round loss in the following three seasons, my mind was all but made up about Dirk and this Dallas Mavericks team; that this team probably did not having what it took to win a title.
The way I see it, this could very well be Dirk’s last shot at an NBA title.
At the moment, he doesn’t seem to be slowing down but he is going to be 33 years old in a few weeks. The Mavericks may be playing extremely poised, experienced, and veteran basketball right now but the team is composed of basketball senior citizens. Kidd, Marion, Terry and Stojakovic are all on the back end of their careers, past their primes.
The Mavericks need this title now.
I don’t want it to seem as if I’m not considering the significance of the load Lebron carried in Cleveland for the last 7 years, but with Wade and Bosh also being in the prime of their careers, “The Decision” has put him in the position to contend for at least the next 5 years. So, while some may think that because of “The Decision” Lebron needs the 2011 title more, I contest that it’s because of “The Decision” that Dirk needs a title this year more than Lebron does.
I feel Lebron has been criticized a bit too harshly at times for taking control of his own destiny and going to Miami. So in the long run, I’m rooting for him. However, this year, I hope Dirk wins.
Posted on May 28, 2011
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