I know my audience (literally, I know each and every person who visits this blog. All twelve, okay four, of you) and I know it is not an NBA crowd. I live in a city that puts the NBA behind college football, professional football, NASCAR, college basketball, MLB, professional wrestling, the PGA tour, and probably high school sports in terms of interest level. For that reason, I feel obligated to sell this year's NBA Finals to my skeptical audience.
Here are five good reasons to tune in to Game 1 tonight:
1) Good vs. Evil - The Mavericks aren't good as much as Miami is evil. There are few villains in the world like the Miami Heat. They represent what is wrong with professional sports. Everyone remembers the horribly self-important "Decision" where LeBron broke an entire state's heart by taking his talents to South Beach (it hasn't been a good year for Ohio, huh?). The collusion of Wade, Bosh and LeBron rubbed everyone outside of Miami wrong. Instead of battling against one another, they decided to take the easy way out and join forces. They had a victory celebration for sighing together. And who was Chris Bosh to be hanging with these two? He is a thinner Horace Grant. Every bit of it was lame, insulting and the opposite of what we want from our athletic heroes.
Which is what is going to make pulling against them so much fun. Pulling against the Yankees is fun, but there are plenty of reasons to like them. Jeter, Rivera, Posada are all good guys who came up through the system. Pulling against the Lakers is fun, but there is no getting around Kobe & Phil's greatness and the Laker lore. Pulling against the Patriots is fun, but Tom Brady is a machine and their ability to get something out of guys discarded by other teams makes it hard to hate them.
The Heat are hate-able. LeBron turned his back on his hometown...on national television. Bosh is an overrated wannabe. Wade is a warrior, but it is hard to forget how he pinballed himself into Maverick defenders in 2006 to get free throw attempt after free throw attempt in a pitiful display of basketball savvy. The rest of the team are opportunists hoping to get a ring on the Big 2 + Bosh's back. Mike Miller? Eddie House? Mike Bibby? Juwon Howard? These guys weren't in Miami last year. The only guy I have a hard time disliking is Udonis Haslem, but he is a Florida Gator. They are all hate-able. To swipe Bill Simmons's idea, they are the NWO of the NBA. If Pat Riley pulled Dirk's leg out from under him on an inbounds play, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised.
2) Dirk - In the last month, Dirk Nowitzki has gone from a choker, a fraud, an overrated European jump shooter into a Top 10 all-time professional basketball player. It is not because of his play in the last month that he is earning such accolades, but his play in the last month is validating a career that has been overlooked because of two colossal failures (the 2006 Finals and the first-round upset to Golden State in 2007).
Here is what Dirk has done in these playoffs: 28.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 52% FG%, 93% FT%, 52% 3P%.
He is having one of the greatest post-seasons in NBA history. And it isn't just statistics-driven: he led the Mavs to a win over the Blazers when everyone was picking Portland in an upset (and remember the monumental Dallas collapse in Game 4 of that series that is now a forgotten bit of playoff history). Dirk then orchestrated a sweep of the two-time defending champion Lakers by making big shot after big shot before burying the Thunder in the conference finals.
When you look at this Mavericks roster, it isn't easy to figure out how they are in the finals. Jason Kidd is past his prime. Same for Shawn Marion. Tyson Chandler has been terrific this year, but there is no history of greatness there. Jason Terry is a good player, but not a superstar. They are missing their second best offensive option in the injured Caron Butler. How are they doing this?
Simple: Dirk.
3) 2006 Rematch - The 2006 NBA Finals featured these same two organizations. It was Dirk vs. Shaq & D-Wade. The Mavericks seemed to have a hammerlock on the series, up 2-0 and ahead in Game 3. Then it all fell apart. Dirk missed a free throw to clinch it, the Heat got phantom call after phantom call and the series ended in six games with a Miami banner. It felt a little like robbery to most of the nation; it felt a whole lot like robbery to Mark Cuban, Avery Johnson and the city of Dallas, TX. So the Mavericks get a second chance not only at the NBA title, but also the Miami Heat. That makes for an interesting storyline.
4) Jason Kidd - the 38-year old point guard is clearly at the end of a great NBA career and this is probably his last shot at a championship. After taking New Jersey to the finals multiple times but losing to the superior Spurs and Lakers, J-Kidd has looked like his young self in these playoffs. If he adds a championship to his resume, he enters into the "second greatest point guard of all-time behind Magic Johnson" conversation with guys like Isiah Thomas, John Stockton, Oscar Robertson and Steve Nash. Kidd is one of the greatest rebounding point guards to ever play the game, runs a crisp fast-break even today and makes 2-3 heady plays per game to help his team. This series could cement his legacy if he can help lead the Mavericks to a victory.
5) LeBron vs. Dirk - LeBron won't guard Dirk for most of the series, but he definitely will in crunch time - the same way he guarded Derrick Rose of the Bulls. When he does, will he be able to lock down Dirk the same way he locked down Rose? LeBron is an amazing defensive player - big enough to block shots, but quick enough to guard the perimeter. You cannot back him down because he is too strong. And, yet, Dirk has been unguardable in these playoffs. He gets off his one-legged fade-away whenever he wants (it helps to be seven feet tall). What will happen when there are three minutes left in a tight game and LeBron gets the Dirk assignment (which he will)?
Prediction: My heart says Dallas, but my head cannot picture LeBron & Wade losing four times in seven games. Miami in six.
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