in july of 1989, michael jordan, after getting knocked out of the playoffs by the detroit pistons for the 2nd year in a row, called magic johnson and asked if he'd be interested in having him (michael) on the lakers. he said he couldn't win by himself in chicago and just wanted the chance to win titles by playing alongside another hall of famer. of course magic welcomed the idea of adding jordan, and so they got a deal done and dominated the nba the next two seasons, winning back to back titles before magic had to retire in late 1991 due to HIV.
but that never happened. and that never would have happened. a truly great player like jordan would never in a million years admit that he couldn't get it done.
the nba finals came to a rather satisfying end last night. i would be willing to bet that outside of miami and lebron james's immediate family, the entire nba watching world was pulling for dallas (or more accurately against miami). it was a case of one humble superstar outplaying, out-closing, and outclassing a duo (sorry bosh, you're not on that level) of megalomaniacal and entitled superstars.
i know i lead the post with a shot at lebron making his move to miami, but i actually don't have that much of a problem with what he did. my problem was with how he did it. lebron defenders are quick to point out that the proceeds of "the decision" went to charity, but give me a break; that's like saying you went out and lost $5K on a stock just to get the tax benefits. it's a nice side effect, but that ain't why you did it.
lebron has an ego the size of jupiter. i can't blame him for it either. this is a guy who is the most physically gifted athlete possibly of all time. he's been getting his ass kissed since he was 12 years old, by the heaviest hitters in his profession. it would be a miracle for someone in that position to remain grounded. but from the moment he told us all he was taking his talents to south beach, he became almost impossible to like.
bigger than my dislike of the circus around his free agency choice was my disgust at what followed. these three guys had a smoke machine, fireworks, dance party pep rally before they even practiced together one time. then the self-named "king james" (nicknames don't really work when you give them to yourself - i'm looking at you too "black mamba") sat on a stool in front of everybody and said they were going to win at least seven titles. again, before they had practiced one time. also, when they were introduced at that public fellating, the PA guy called them "your miami heat". there were three guys there. what do you think the other 10 or so guys on the roster felt about that? guys who had played more than zero games in heat uniforms over the years. think they enjoyed that?
in my 30 or so years of watching sports, i have never, ever, seen a sporting event where karma was so heavily on one side vs. the other. i have a white hot burning hatred of the yankees, but i've never heard a-rod or jeter tell a crowd that they were going to win 7 championships. all year long, whenever the heat weren't playing well, they'd tell reporters that america was probably happy that the heat were losing. they played their sad violin about the mean ole world being against them without one ounce of awareness or acknowledgement of their own role in bringing that on.
in game 4 of these finals, dirk played with a fever. he never brought it up and the media didn't know anything about it until someone let it slip during halftime. when asked about it in the post game press conference, dirk said he was "a little under the weather". that's it. dwyane wade was then asked about it in his press conference and basically discounted the whole thing and said that dirk was a great player without "all the dramatics". are you fucking kidding me? this is a guy who had to leave the court in a wheelchair for a shoulder injury. this is a guy who flops around and makes every little bump and bruise look like a career ending injury. even paul pierce and soccer players look at his antics and think "um, that's a bit much, dude".
and of course, true to form, the next game wade was almost killed when he banged his hip into brian cardinal. at least that's what he'd have you believe. he went off the court and came back almost immediately. when that didn't translate into willis reed level attention, he made sure to stay back in the locker room in the 3rd quarter in a second attempt at fake heroism.
then there's the matter of wade and james mocking dirk with their fake cough and suggestion that they must be sick. we all saw the clip. it was just another stunning lack of awareness of how they were being perceived nationally and how they were shooting their own reputations in the foot. and it was classless. dirk said it best when he said the whole thing was "childish and ignorant". a few other mavs wanted to respond to the heat on cough-gate, but dirk asked them not to. dirk is the least dramatic of any superstar i've ever seen. a few years ago at an all-star game, the western conference starters came up with a little dance routine they did while being introduced. you could see the whole thing embarrassed dirk. that's not his style. the thing that was most laughable about the fake coughing thing was the source. the same guy that had to be wheeled off in a wheelchair over a shoulder injury suggested that someone else was playing up a sickness to get attention. and even after the deed was done, caught on camera and discussed, they had the audacity to claim that it was not about dirk, as he's not the only player to ever play with a cold. if you're going to rip somebody, at least own it. don't pretend like that's not exactly what you were implying.
the mavs are a basketball team. they play like a team. they have one transcendant player surrounded by some very good role players. last summer when dirk signed with dallas, he did not throw a party at the american airlines center, complete with gloria estefan and the miami sound machine. he probably had a german beer and watched das boot. the heat are a collection of individuals and they play as such. just so happens that two of the individuals are two of the best five players in the league. they're young and very, very good. it would not surprise me in the least if they won a title as soon as next season. once (if?) they learn to play off each other, instead of just taking turns on offense like an all-star game, they will probably get to the promised land.
but not this year. not on dirk's watch. and that is why everything feels right in the world today.