Super Teams: An Examination

With the lockout all but over and rumors flying like crazy that Chris Paul and Dwight Howard are about to have new homes, possibly together, likely in large media markets, it seems the NBA is ready to enter into the next era. The era seems to be one of a few super teams. The only silver lining that could have possibly emerged from the lockout, and the only real reason to go through that bullshit -- other than to deny Dirk Nowitzki his right as a descendant of the Germanic hordes to throw the first pitch of a World Series game -- was to stem the tide of players abandoning small market teams in droves to go play in a few well chosen cities, effectively reorienting the league as one in which more than 4 teams could compete for a championship, maybe even gaining the parity enjoyed by the NFL. If this was the metric by which to measure the lockout, then the lockout came up shorter than LeBron in game 6. It is now easier for players to abandon the teams that discover and train them for new deals elsewhere. I think the NBA probably did this by arguing from the mistaken premise that what happened in the last twelve months will also happen over the next decade. League management and owners noticed that the decision was a huge gain to the league. It increased revenue, ticket sales, and interest, not just in the Heat, but in the entire league. People started paying attention to basketball in a way they hadn't since Jordan. Great, everyone thought, let's replicate that.

Doing so will likely prove difficult, if not self-defeating. One reason the decision stood out was because it was novel. Not just LeBron's method of delivering his news, but also his choice of going to Miami. But as more and more players follow suit, America will lose interest in Basketball and follow other forms of entertainment. (Even if America would tune in again and again for LeBron to break their hearts and stumble over his prepared remarks, not every player is LeBron, when we get to Bynum's decision, we've started the steady descent to Kris Humphries'.) The dwindling attention the US will attach to hoops will likely be accelerated, not slowed by the fact that, with teams turning players over faster and faster, only the die hard basketball fans will even know who's on their teams. Long gone will be the days the casual fan can say, Tim Duncan, he's killing for us. And, when you lose that, enjoyment of the sport becomes a niche endeavor only attempted by true devotees who try to outflank each other with mastery of the most obscure references and microtrends. This is not the fate you wish on something you want to succeed financially, something you want to avoid the egos and wailing and finger pointing and blame shifting that leads to lockouts.

But it's whatever. Like it or not, we're in the era of super teams. It remains an open question whether the super team formula will succeed. Will Shane Batier sign with the Heat? Will Greg Oden? Will these teams be able to attract enough veteran cogs to build a working machine or will they surround their stars with rosters like that of the Heat? My gut says not really. There are, after all, so many talented veterans to go around and I think they, more than anything, want a sure thing. They're likely to still sign with San Antonio, Dallas, Boston, Los Angeles, and Miami. New York is going to have a hell of a time trying to attract them. And so is whoever else wants to get in on this super teams trend: New Jersey, the Clippers, and everyone else who will try to get several of the best players in the world to join their squads. It is telling that, in the first experiment of super teams (one in which they played a classic team made of a future hall of famer surrounded by a great cadre of role players and veterans who all had a position and played it well), the super team lost to the classic team. Clearly the jury is still out and clearly we're kidding ourselves if we think that the Heat aren't about to win several championships. But when they do, it will likely be because of Battier and Oden's complimentary skills and not just Dwyane Wade and LeBron carrying Bibby around on their backs.

Let's leave that question aside and get at the root cause of the super team phenomenon for a second. There are two basic theories that explain the rise of the super teams. One is that it is a result of a new outlook by a younger generation of Basketball stars. The other is that there are now new opportunities to franchise oneself in giant cities on a larger stage that didn't used to exist. Both of these theories attempt to explain why, in the past, players would, by and large, dance with the teams that brung 'em, and seem to be shifting away from that. The first theory says that Carmello signed in New York, because for him, in our increasingly disjointed world, he didn't really care about the Nuggets and felt little connection to Denver. The second theory says that, in the past, Mr. Anthony wouldn't have been able to sell that much more in Portland or in New York, but that now he can tap into a large and growing media market and really make some money (above and beyond the national commercials that Michael Jordan opened up for everyone). The first theory is unfalsifiable, at least in the immediate, non-mind reading term. The second theory, however, can be falsified by examining the evidence of other players, those also around today but of a slightly different basketball "generation" than the current crop of all stars. These are dudes like Nash, Duncan, and Nowitzki. By looking at these guys and their behavior, we might be able to see whether they are leaving their home cities in droves. What we see is the opposite. In the last couple years, these guys, plus Ginobili, Bryant, and Pierce (delegates of what now counts for the old NBA guard) have all agreed to contract extensions with their current team, despite the possibility (except in Bryant's case) of potentially making more money elsewhere. It would seem that, so far, the trend towards super teams really is one that is based in culture and not economics. That is good in a way because it means that it is reversible and can be undone without taking the drastic step of forcing New York to subsidize Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City mattress commercials. But if we see Steve Nash going to the Heat or the Knicks, it will be too late. The culture will then have totally permeated the NBA from top to bottom, and it will be very hard to remove or change it. This could be a death knell for the sport, leading to diminished public interest, frustration of all fans who happen to not live in a few key cities, and diminished revenue which will again lead to a cessation of basketball and even less interest in the sport.

Let's not get too negative though. Basketball is back. Even if it's top level will only exist in a few locations, at least it's free of the prison of college campuses. Watching the Cleveland Cavaliers will always beat watching the Big East. And, if the super teams attract attention abroad, maybe enterprising young Chinese and Nigerian men will eschew soccer for basketball, raising the quality of NBA players, filling the ranks of the other squads with quality bodies, and, potentially, eliminating the super team trend. Either way, I now have somewhere to go to watch dunks other than here.

Today's Reason To Laugh, Be Embarrassed

Nothing's Changed

Nothing too much to report on the lockup front. The owners are still locking players out because owners can't help themselves from paying players too much, you never know when one might be the next Rashard Lewis. The league has, allegedly, suffered a lot, but see this post and this one. It couldn't come at a worse time, after the LeBron collapse, the resurrection of Dirk, Mark Cuban made likable for a second, the highest rated season in NBA history, and so on. Everyone said what they had to say on that front back in June. There's not much for me to chew on, the carcass has already been heavily picked over. And for us non-Turkish TV getting basketball fans, life may be as dull as it can get for people who enjoy dunks. Not everything has gone wrong in this hot, malaise filled summer. Youtube is still working. Below is a little summer entertainment. Enjoy!








This Oscar Robertson mini-doc has a great subject but a really obnoxious tone. It takes the attitude of "Who can say what the past was like, there were angry white people and angry black people, but now we've all grown." This, it should go without saying, is highly ridiculous. The reason Oscar Robertson was "angry" was that he received death threats. The reason the white folks were angry and threatening his life was that he was good at basketball. That and the inspirational music would be enough for me to pass on it like Pistol Pete if it weren't a good story about a great player. It also gets a lot more gentle on the man in the end, but remains too judgmental. Definitely watch the video for the man, but be forewarned, whoever wrote the script, particularly the early part, majored in bullshit pseudo history.




If you're having trouble sleeping:



We can reminisce about his long and lustrous career, but he really stood out for moments like these:



Of course, if all else fails, we can sing like a girl, or like a frog.

Sweet Stench of Success

To answer your question, Alistair, what happened was the real King showed up.

Lebron James, global icon, was never designed to win gritty, team-driven, playoff basketball games. He was designed to sell shoes and make witty commercials where five versions of the King argue about who gets the last piece of honey-glazed ham at a family dinner. Lebron James made his Decision on national television because that's where Lebron James lives - on national television. In some ways, the grand project of James' life is just as well-served being the loser of the NBA finals as it would have been had he emerged victorious.

This series aside, James will always be compared unfavorably to Michael Jordan. When Jordan was growing up, playing college ball, even his first few years in the Association, basketball was very different than it is today. Jordan changed that with his shoe line, his Jumpman logo, and his ridiculous level of play that made being clutch in the Finals the final benchmark of all success. Until the Jordan era, a little kid in Akron (or Santa Claus, IN, or the Bronx) didn't practice layups on a rim with no net dreaming of becoming a "global icon". Maybe a comfortable life for them and their families. Maybe some small measure of local fame. But never an icon.

Lebron James has made every move from a young age - switching from football to basketball, a more star driven sport, playing out of his mind in the Olympics, televising the crucifixion of Cleveland - to extend the limits of his own hype. Dirk Nowitzki just became a first-ballot hall of famer, something we'll likely appreciate more in 20 years than we will for the next four, or as long as the volatile experiment in South Beach is hanging on the tips of everyone's tongues. Whether by his own doing or the media's creation, Lebron James is the center of the basketball universe, even in defeat. The fact is, Lebron James wasn't just afraid of the moment - he was terrified. Karl Malone did not play his best basketball in the 98 finals, and lost to one of the all-time great teams. Charles Barkely did play at his best in 1993, but was never going to beat MJ. Lebron James played like garbage against Dirk and a group of aging mid-level stars - he was outplayed by Jason Terry. The previous post discussed James' athleticism, his passing, his inhuman abilities to score the basketball - but he doesn't have the fierce will to win, the heart of a champion. And maybe he never wanted it.

In the 2007 NFL draft, the Oakland Raiders made one of the worst decisions in their franchise's checkered history by selecting Jamarcus Russell, the LSU quarterback, with the first overall selection. Russell had almost unmatched size and arm-strength. QB guru Tom Martinez, who has mentored everyone from Tom Brady to Dan Marino, called Russell the purest physical specimen he had ever coached. Sound familiar? After 3 years, and 40 million dollars, the Raiders cut loose Russell, who didn't have a competitive football bone in his body. No team has come calling at his door since. All Russell seemed to want was a fistful of dollars. All James wanted, and got, was his face on a thousand front pages. The expression on it, one of confusion and disgrace, was irrelevant.

Can Anyone Explain This To Me?

I'm at a total loss in explaining the LeBron James phenomenon. Look, let's be real, the guy is talented, seriously talented beyond belief. If we watch sports in general, and basketball in particular, to see athletes perform physically arduous tasks that challenge the limits of what the human frame can accomplish (and this is a large part of why we do watch sports), then LeBron James is the NBA's best player, possibly basketball's best player ever. As we have said over and over again on this blog: he is a point guard in Karl Malone's body. He has amazing dexterity and some of the most impressive and emphatic power of anyone who has ever left the ground. He dunks with impunity, getting to the basket as quickly and ferociously as a lion riding a freight train. It is impossible to write about him without resorting to these hoary cliches, because the words "amazing," "lion," "unbelievable," and "power" really describe him. And yet, impressive as his raw athleticism is, he is more than a jumping, running, dunking machine. He is a seriously good passer, finding his teammates in the right spots and at the right times with precision. He plays some of the best defense in the world (he completely shut down the league's MVP Derrick Rose in the last few minutes of game 5 against the Bulls). He has a high basketball IQ, is capable of getting himself different looks, running the pick and roll on both ends, and navigating everything, be it a fast break or a solid, Boston Celtics defense. He can also hit impossible big shots and put his team on his back (as he did in 2009 to pull one away from the Magic and in 2007 to heroically spark a comeback and take his ragtag group to the finals, respectively). He is capable of all this and more, and it is, in sum total, the most complete set of basketball skills anyone has ever possessed. It is why hard nosed folk like Larry Bird say that when all is said and done there will just be LeBron.

But you already know all that. And here we are. Even with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, homecourt advantage, and the pressure considerably lifted off of his shoulders, LeBron James has given us another inexplicable performance. The Dallas Mavericks are the champions and LeBron had a +/- of negative 24 points. If only they had played James Jones, maybe they could have won this thing.

I joke because I do not understand. How could someone with these talents play like LeBron did in this series? Is there something about LeBron's talents that precludes him from using them all at once? Is the pressure to hard for him to bear? That certainly doesn't seem to be the case. He is able to laugh and joke with Dwyane Wade, and dig himself deeper into a hole. But when game time comes, Wade focuses. He may turn unpleasant, angry, rude. But he pushes himself as hard as he can, straining until his body gives out and frustration sets in. LeBron seems not to notice the lights and cameras. He seems to be thinking of his elementary school classmates, or counting in the fibonacci sequence, or giggling at Dirk's accent. The attention makes him more absent-minded, more unaware that he is onstage in front of the world, more dreamily caught in his own head and far away from reality. And in his stupor he performs at a sub-All Star level.

This drives me crazy. It perplexes me and gives me no satisfaction. I wanted the Heat to loose this series. But I wanted them to be beaten. It is thoroughly disheartening that LeBron seems not so much demolished but distracted. I would far rather see him win than what we got. I like LeBron personally, and don't hold it against him as a man. But as a basketball player, this is totally unacceptable.

Don't get me wrong, Dallas winning was a great event. The series was really enjoyable and we got some great basketball and a pretty good narrative out of it. Overall, I'm glad the Heat lost. They deserved to for missing 13 free throws. But I hope that LeBron James gets a Ridlin prescription, or at least the means to explain himself. Until that happens, it seems more and more that the man Bird declared king, is frustratingly blank. The person who best exemplifies the godlike zeniths the human body can reach, he who makes Wade, Bryant, Paul, Rose, and Anthony look like so many kindergartners playing against a 12 year-old, seems more and more utterly inhuman in all the other ways that matter to us. And the other ways we have of being human -- defeat, victory, pain, suffering, anger, weakness, humor, and beneficence (all the things Shakespeare wrote about) -- is what we really watch sports for. I know that this is a bit overblown and unfair to LeBron who has already been goaded, perhaps against his better judgment and full understanding, into moving to Miami and declaring himself "serious" at every opportunity. He keeps saying that each game is the most important of his career and so on and so forth. But until he plays like that -- until he approaches the game like Dwyane Wade does -- his words are noises devoid of meaning. So are his skills; they might as well be the gestures of a man alone in a blizzard, performed subconsciously. They exist more in theory than in tangible reality. If LeBron can understand that (I'm not so sure that he can), then there's one thing he can do about it: win. Until then, I don't think anyone can answer this post's question: Who was that?

Your God is Dead. Long Live Your God.

"There's a curse that comes with limitless potential: Everyone judges you against only that limitless potential." -Bill Simmons   


Basketball is the only sport where history is written not only as it unfolds, but in a great many cases, before it has begun to unfold at all. Only on a lacquered floor could a superstar like Dirk Nowitski go comparatively unnoticed for the past five years. The only explanation is that the Teutonic Furor had lost his only chance to grab the ring in 2006, and that whole Golden State unpleasantness the year after. Now that Dirk is back in the spotlight, he's Larry Freaking Bird. Whether that's true or not, I don't care to say - but we can all agree Dirk has not gotten significantly better in the course of this 2010-2011 campaign. He's simply closer to the microphone. 


Gregg Doyel controversially asked Lebron James if he was shrinking in the 4th quarter, the place where "superstars become superstars". This loaded question and its meaningless response aside, is Lebron James a superstar? He has won MVP, that's true, he has played in the finals (although, when the best player on his own team, he has never won a finals game) and he has guided teams to 60 win seasons. Lebron has taken a backseat in these past two games, compiling a meager 25 points with a respectable 18 assists, letting the alpha dog Wade try to beat the Mavericks for the second time in his career. All the games have been close, and Miami currently has two home games left in this best-of-three tilt. They're in a position to win, and every article you read is about how James is "shrinking."


What is he shrinking from? Michael Jordan, the greatest competitor of all time. Michael Jordan was not the greatest athlete of all time, though he may have had the most accomplished career and may have dominated his sport more than anyone besides perhaps Tiger Woods has ever dominated a sport. Michael Jordan was a competitor. Lebron James is an athlete. Michael Jordan could take the pressure and the team on his back and beat you, flat out, no matter what, any night of his professional life. Scouts and sportswriters saw a 15-year-old Lebron James, already heavier and taller than Jordan had ever been, and said "what if...". In doing this, they pretty much guaranteed that James would never live up to their ridiculous expectations.


No one said after Albert Pujols rookie year "this guy is not only the greatest right-handed hitter of all time, he'll probably end up having a better career than Babe Ruth." If people thought Peyton Manning was the best quarterback they'd seen coming out of college since Elway, no one dared say aloud, on national television, they thought Manning would surpass #7's records. Sure, it was important that those two guys, tops in their sport, win titles, which they did (although Peyton's took a while), but no one was saying "just wait 'til he's won 6, then we can really start this debate!"


When James was draft in 2003, basketball was in something of a lull. Jordan was long gone, Shaq and Kobe were beginning to tussle, and the only real one-man show was Allen Iverson. The writers needed a savior, someone we could watch in our time and claim as the greatest and, not surprisingly, they chose the 6'8 kid out of Akron with wide receiver speed. And it wasn't just enough that he win all those titles, he had to do it with a smile on his face and a cloud of chalk above his head. There's a lot more of that mean, Hall-of-Fame-induction-speech side of Jordan in Kobe Bryant than there ever was or will be in Lebron James.  


They ground him down so much, made him crave a championship so much, that he ultimately realized his own limitations, and was forced to partner with Wade, rather than staying in Cleveland and living the unexamined life. No matter how this series ends up, we've all learned one thing: Lebron was never the man we thought he was. Or wanted him to be.

We're back!

Here at True Greatness, we were so downtrodden and defeated after Deron Williams and Kendrick Perkins were traded away that writing about basketball became an aversive and distasteful undertaking. We are officially back. Two very brief thoughts about NBA basketball as it stands today:

1. KOC- My biggest issue with him is not that he is a bad general manager overall. In fact, a lot of short term fixes that he has done are quite good (e.g. trading for Kyle Korver, stealing Boozer away from the Cavs, seeing talent in Wesley Matthews, snagging big Al out of thin air, etc.) My main complaint is that he appears to have no long-term vision. Are the Jazz rebuilding, or are the competing to be the 8th seed to lose to the Thunder in 5? Is Devin Harris a Jazz man for life, or a place holder until someone better shows up? My personal plan would be to trade up in the draft and get either Williams or Irving. Get rid of veterans who cannot turn us into contenders (sorry, CJ). Rebuild and give the new guys some playing time. And do it all with purpose and vision. You aren't the worst, KOC. You are far from it. But you need to learn to look to the future, not just react to the present.

2. I would also like to officially endorse the True Greatness pick for the finals: Go Mavs!

That's it for now. Hopefully we will be back with more soon.