Barring a miracle, it looks like we are going to have an NBA Finals matchup pinning the Dallas Mavericks against the Miami Heat. While nothing is certain, the probability of this matchup happening is highly likely, so for the sake of this piece, I’m going to roll with it.
For the NBA’s sake, out of the four remaining teams left in the playoffs, this is their dream matchup. Both are large television markets which will drive up revenue; and both teams feature stars that the average NBA fan can “root” for. But with no vested interest in either team, who do you “root” for to win? It’s silly to just simply want to “root” for a good game or great series, and call it the night. You ultimately end up taking a side or tilt to one team to win. We sports junkies commonly uses terms as “I’m favoring…”, ”I would like to see…”, “I’m pulling for…”, “I’m leaning toward…”, “I wouldn’t mind…”, or my favorite, “I wouldn’t it hate if…” We use these as buffers so we don’t get too emotionally wrapped up in the pandemonium the true fans will incur in following their team, with the hopes of winning a championship. We aren’t pledging our allegiance or jumping on any bandwagon, yet still stating who we will be “rooting” for to win. And by no means is this meant to be taken as an act of treason, for we still have our loyalties to our teams, but it’s just merely a way for us to have some level of interest and excitement and keep the channel on the game without switching to the season finale of American Idol, and get lost in the captivating stare that comes from Scotty McCreery. Have you seen this kid??? He looks like Alfred E. Neuman (for those who need explaining, he’s the kid on the cover of Mad Magazine). Anyways, to bring this full circle, how do we determine our “rooting” interest, when we have none vested?
For the most part, it’s player driven. We pinpoint players who have teased and flirted with winning a championship, but never did. They have climbing the mountain, never reaching the peak. Our hearts go out to these players. They have worked hard and grinded through lean years to get to this moment; so we root for them. We should root for them. Dan Marino should have won a Super Bowl. Ted Williams should have won a World Series. Charles Barkley should have won an NBA Final. There are many more I could name, but those are some of the more notable names. All three had great, hall of fame careers, but never won a championship in their respective sport. That is just wrong. They needed to win one because if anything, it’s a validation of their great careers. And players need to be validated.
How great of a player would Mickey Mantle really be if he wasn’t a Yankee and won all those World Series rings? How much better of a player would Ted Williams be if he had won a World Series ring? And the prime example is Dan Marino. Statistically the best quarterback to ever play in the NFL, his career and legacy is never looked at in the way it should be because he never won a Super Bowl. This shouldn’t be the case. We should remember Dan Marino for his greatest and accomplishments, not the fact that he never made it to the peak. So with regards to the NBA Finals, my good friend and follow blogger, The Professor, he will be happy to know that for the next two to three weeks, I will be “rooting”, “favoring”, “would like to see”, “pulling for”, “leaning toward”, “wouldn’t mind”, and “wouldn’t hate it if”, the Dallas Mavericks win/won the NBA Finals. Because if anything, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd deserve to be validated.
Much has been said and debated recently about Dirk's place in NBA history. Is he one of the "greats" or just a really good player? Where do we slot Dirk among the NBA royalty? After recently looking at the 50 greatest players in NBA History list issued by the NBA in 1997, I can tell you that Dirk has differently displaced some of the players on that list. While I won't go as far as his own coach did and label Dirk as a top 10 greatest of all-time, I will say that Dirk is definitely in the top 50.
There isn't much I feel I need to say about Jason Kidd. J. Kidd is one of the all-time, greatest point guards to ever play in the NBA, and no one can tell me otherwise. He is a triple-double waiting to happen in any game and his court vision and ability to run a team is something you don't see in basketball anymore. It's Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, and Jason Kidd; Bar None. And like Dirk, J. Kidd is a top 50 all-time player.
But both players have been climbing the mountain their whole careers. Both have been to the NBA Finals before, both coming up short of a championship. Dirk and J.Kidd both happened to start their careers with the Dallas Mavericks, at times when the Mavericks were considered the basement of the NBA. They have put in their time, played through some lean years, and now with both of their careers (J.Kidd mainly) having reached their pinnacle, they deserve to see the peak of the mountain. D.Wade has his ring already and like I said in a previous post, we all know with some certainty that it's only a matter of when, not if, LeBron and the Heat win a championship. They can wait a year. So for the sake of validation, everyone without a vested interest in the NBA Finals should, for a span of two to three weeks, root for the Dallas Mavericks to win the NBA Finals.
Mr. Armchair Speaking
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