Stick a fork in Stern

Is the N.B.A. dying?

Now, before you say I’m being a hater, allow me to truly congratulate the San Antonio Spurs for enduring the tedious regular season and persevering through the Western Conference portion of the playoffs. With that being said, can we please put this ‘myth’ of Lebron to bed? I will acknowledge that Lebron is a SUPREME talent and may very well one day solidify his place alongside the basketball immortals of the last 25 years (Magic, Bird, and even Jordan), but right now lets be realistic. Since I can already hear the whining Cavs fans and Lebron apologists pointing out that his teammates were terrible, and how he fought to bring a undermanned team all the way to the finals. All of this is true, but I think it has more to do with the fact that the Leastern Conference is a total joke at this point.

Listen party people, I’m the biggest Laker and Kobe fan in the world, but Kobe (like a majority of today’s superstars) is suffering from the ‘Michael Jordan’ hang-over. The N.B.A. died the moment David Stern decided to place all of the focus on the ‘individual’ accomplishment rather than the ‘team’ achievement. The focus of an entire generation of kids was taken off the team effort and centered around the individual, which paved the way for SportsCenter to reign supreme. The popularity of the game multiplied 10 times over globally and David Stern couldn’t have been happier with the monetary results. Stern sacrificed the product inside the box for the bright and shiny bow that he wrapped outside the box., and we believed the hype.

For all of those that think I’ve committed blasphemy for daring to say that the ‘Jordan era’ ruined the game, take a moment to truly look at the product out there now. Players cannot dribble or shoot consistently, nor can they play consistent team defense. People call teams like the Spurs and Pistons boring and methodical (hell, I’m one of them), but the fact is they are a lot closer to playing true basketball than any of the other teams. Big Fundamentals is as close to a throw-back player as one can find at this time. Both teams play hard-nosed, team basketball without a plethora of superstar talent or prima donna attitudes…although Sheed may be somewhat certifiable. Is there any wonder why those two teams have won 4 of the last 5 titles?

As I yawned through that seemingly forced celebration I had to stop and truly ponder the issue that now 7-time champion Robert Horry brought up: Could these Spurs compete with the great teams of the 80’s? Not a chance in hell. Lets specifically look at a team he mentioned directly, as a team his Spurs would defeat. The 1985 Lakers would absolutely destroy this current Spurs team. The 85’ Lakers hold an advantage at nearly every position, the bench, and the coaching would probably be a tie. The biggest difference between today’s players and those of yesteryear, aside from the obvious discrepancy of all-around talent, would have to be the amount or level of ‘heart’ that the 80’s players possessed. Before players were anointed as the greatest of all time and ‘given’ tens of millions of undeserved dollars the players played with an intensity that simply cannot be matched or even understood in today’s day and age. Winning your 7th title is impressive, but get it together Big-Shot Bob. If you were actually able to stand across from those 85’ Lakers, (or any of the great 80’s teams) you probably would have ended your season the same way Lebron just did.