NBA Finals 2011: How the Mavericks Set the Script for LeBron James' Future
LeBron James has failed the Miami Heat. Dirk Nowitzki is a hero for the Dallas Mavericks. This was your NBA Finals.
There is no in-between on either statement. Nowitzki was brilliant as an aging star looking for one shot at redemption. He was a tried and true professional who understood that the opportunities to win are fleeting. They are never as abundant as they seem, and never as sure as you’d like to believe. He found himself in a position to take back his reputation and push himself into immortality as one of the greatest power forwards of all time and finally earn the title of a “winner.”
For LeBron James his series was one mired in disappointment and ultimately met with defeat. Gone was the brilliance James had shown in the Eastern Conference Finals and earlier against the Boston Celtics. Still present was the swagger fit for a king, but gone was the substance to back it up. Gone was the desire and determination, the ability to enforce his will like he had all along in the playoffs. What was left was a superstar out of gas, out of will and finally out of time.
The sting for LeBron James should last for weeks. If he cares about winning as much as he says; if his relocation to South Beach wasn’t about friendships but rather about legacy then winning is paramount and he’ll have trouble feeling good. But if LeBron James takes a moment to let his guard down, get past the posturing and ego to feel just how awful it is to be him right now, he’ll see the gift that was given to him in this series, and one that he can use and build upon.
This series, whether it will be written this way or not, wasn’t about the Heat’s failure. Yes, it’s the better story. It’s the drama that comes with expectations. It’s the compelling nature of watching ego in action and the sacrifices made to chase greatness, but this series isn’t about the Heat’s failure. The 2011 NBA Finals is about the triumph of the Dallas Mavericks.
What many have realized, and only those who are so blindly loyal to the Heat haven’t realized yet, is the Mavericks were better than the Heat. From the play of their bench, to the play of their superstars in big moments, the Mavericks didn’t win an NBA championship because of some gift from the basketball gods. They won a ring because they seized a moment, a moment met with urgency as their collection of players understood that winning is rare, and the chances to win are yet rarer.
Jason Kidd, a man whose journey has been overshadowed by Dirk Nowitzki, has been to the top of the mountain before. Twice his New Jersey Nets pushed themselves through the Eastern Conference, only to be smacked down and set back to Jersey by a more dominant team. Kidd was sharing a boat with the great guards that never won a title. A small boat that felt smaller as Kidd approached 37. When would his time come? His Mavericks were a lock to exit early against Portland, then get run over by the Lakers and run out of the building by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Kidd, just like the rest of the Mavericks, never panicked at the predictions of the naysayers. They never worried about the criticism. Granted they experienced the kind of criticism the Heat did, the kind soaked in hatred and served to them at every opportunity, but they never faltered nonetheless. The Mavericks continued to believe in themselves and realized no one would hand them over an NBA championship. In order to win a title you must play unselfishly and with one singular purpose.
The Heat played as selfishly as they could. They played as selfishly as they thought they needed to and it was their undoing. The Mavericks, except for moments in the fourth quarter when Dirk was called upon to make big shots, they never forced production. They never forced a pass and never let any one player attempt to take the game over. They played team basketball in its truest essence. They shot out of necessity and availability.
Perhaps it’s harsh to blame the Heat for their insistence on letting Wade or James take over. It was the danger of building a team with three great players and the rest filler. But Miami only has themselves to blame. Miami, if you can believe the rhetoric, is a team that is built on sacrifice. The Heat big three gave up money and reputation to be a part of something bigger, but now, looking at the Mavs the Heat can see what real sacrifice is all about.
It’s about a group of individuals coming together with one solid purpose. It’s about Kidd deferring to J.J Barea to run the offense. It’s about Dirk depending on Jason Terry to do the heavy lifting when his shot wasn’t falling. It’s about Jason Terry moving back to the bench for the greater good of the team. It’s about Shawn Marion willing to accept the fact that he was no longer a star and that his job was to fill a role. It’s about Brian Cardinal making the most of those minutes on the floor, and making every single one of them count. It’s about the Mavericks realizing in Game 6 that the very last thing they wanted to do was be back for Game 7 and, as a team, hitting big shot after big shot.
This team put every piece of ego aside in order to win. They stood toe to toe with the Heat and when push came to shove they outplayed them. They proved stronger from top to bottom and wouldn’t be denied an NBA title.
This is what the Miami Heat must look at in the offseason. They will need different pieces in place to win. The definition of insanity is bringing the exact same team back hoping for a different result. They must figure out how to be a team from top to bottom, even if that means sending Chris Bosh packing. Make no mistake, the Heat must look inside themselves now. That includes LeBron James.
For the King he must dig deep and find out just what he’s made of. The idea is a tired cliché but the point resonates loudly. There are no more excuses for LeBron. He must figure out how to be better, or simply to resign himself to never being good enough. And if LeBron James is looking for inspiration going forward, he can study the journey of the man who beat him: Dirk Nowitzki.
No one has endured more in the last five years than Dirk. 2006 has haunted him like a tragic event. The sting of losing on the grandest stage, in what can only be described as an epic collapse, had followed Dirk and sullied his reputation as much as anyone. Dirk had become an afterthought of greatness. He went from great to soft, from winner to choker. He went from hero to goat in one season and lived with it for five years. For LeBron James, greatness continued to be expected even after his first finals loss to San Antonio. For Dirk, his failure was expected.
Still, Dirk never attempted to silence his critics. He never let it bother him, at least not outwardly. He continued to play ball with the focus on winning. He waited patiently for his moment and when it happened he did what winners do: he delivered. LeBron can take a page from Dirk. Winning doesn’t come easy. It never has. The pain of defeat must fuel LeBron or it will cripple him. But that is only something LeBron can decide. Will he understand what Dirk has spent the last five years learning: that there are no guarantees no matter how good your team is, or how otherworldly your talents are?
LeBron can say that he understands it, but believing it is a completely different story. The path to glory is filled with pride, anger, sadness, grief, despair and disappointment. It’s these things that make winning so glorious. It’s about the journey. LeBron James’ journey continues. Maybe in defeat he learned something more important: winning takes more than one decision.
