Eins. Zwei. Drei Answer: No.
I’m about to be a big asshole right here, so hold on to your hats. Watching the post-game celebration last night I got sick to my stomach. In the gaggle of revelry there was Cuban, Jason Terry, J.J. Barea and others right up front, pointing to the crowd and whatnot.
I just thought to myself, “You’d be nowhere without Dirk Nowitzki.”
It sounds rude. Cuban, of course, signs the paychecks. Terry had a nice series against Los Angeles. Barea, I’m sure, brings something to the table. Off the court, of course.
Still, I saw them glowing in the spotlight meanwhile Nowitzki stood there awkwardly for a little bit, raised the trophy, looked happy and then slipped off to the locker room. The good German does not want to celebrate now. He does not want a parade route. He wants to win another four games and be done with the 2010-11 season.
That’s all. Right now, he doesn’t want to grin for the camera, point at the crowds of fans that he know would give a shit had they slipped in the first round. All he wants to do is win. For the past 16 games, he has done that almost by himself.
When a team finds success in the post-season, the contributions (or lack thereof) tend to get exaggerated. Case in point: Brendan Haywood in the Lakers series. Come on. You really want to call him a key to winning that series while playing 10 mistake-filled minutes? But, you sweep a team and those 10 minutes become “productive.” It’s the nature of the beast.
For my money, one guy has been game in and game out great, and that’s Nowitzki. Shawn Marion’s probably the only player in the second tier. Third tier includes Jason Kidd and Tyson Chandler. Most games you’ll find quality contributions; however, there are long stretches when you wonder where they’ve gone.
Then there’s the rest. Terry certainly had his stretch. Barea’s had his moments, but mostly he’s such a huge liability defensively that you just hope to break even (note any time the Thunder pulled away in this series – win or lose – and you’ll see Barea on the court, and that is not a coincidence). I think Haywood’s been, generally, awful. Stevenson’s had his moments. Too many
“I need my shots!” moments with him.
It’s about Nowitzki, which is my general point. Any thought of giving significant amounts of credit to any tandem or individual is offensive.
The age-old argument in sports still persists. Would you rather be the Atlanta Braves and go to the playoffs a billion times and win one World Series, or the Florida Marlins who go to the playoffs twice and win World Series both times?
Would you want to be the Buffalo Bills and go to four straight Super Bowls and never win, or go to one Super Bowl and win?
I still have no hard-and-fast answer. As of this minute, it feels extremely nice going to the NBA Finals for a second time in five years. This, despite the fact that the Mavericks have won nothing as of yet.
It feels real good, and it’ll feel good in five years if they don’t go to another finals and they’re losing 55 games a year. Nothing beats winning and watching your favorite sports team make it to the pinnacle of that sport. Nothing.
We are so blessed to have Nowitzki on our team, in our city. Such a consummate professional, who wants to win more than anyone. We are lucky enough to have watched a legacy be built here with Nowitzki. He will one day be inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame as a Dallas Maverick. When that day comes, we will know these moments. That ball-breaking three pointer last night. The 48 he poured on the Thunder in game 1. The crazy one-legged fall away in game 4.
History, literally, is being written. Nowitzki – and, in turn, the Mavericks – from gone from being a national, leaguewide joke to being a salty character no one wants a part of and that everyone generally agrees is one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
It's all present tense, too. It's being written. There's one chapter left. If you want an epic, just watch these final seven games (if needed, of course).
