Congratulations Boston, Thanks For Beating The Mavericks
Short but sweet
I am in agreement that this Finals was pretty boring and dull. The internet has settled on the lack of presentation by the ESPN crew, and they are probably right. The whole NBC package was a criticized at the time for being a little too self-serious while ESPN and TNT were more fun and “real.” After 20+ years of “fun and real” we all miss some of that gravitas.
ESPN+ABC are not that. The matchup didn’t do us any favors as Boston is juice-less for the most part. I have come around to the thinking that Boston is not really so important unless they are paired with the Lakers. Such is life. The Celtics have their 18th title, but only their fifth since 1979, when Magic and Bird came into the league. Los Angeles has eleven.
I still have sports hate for the Dallas Mavericks ever since 2006, and I will carry that with me for a long time. I sports hate the Lakers more, and that was proven in 2011 when I found myself rooting for the Mavs over the Lakers — but I wanted the Heat to beat Dirk in the finals. So it goes.
I have nothing against Boston, and really I wanted Derrick White to get a ring. He was a good Spur and I can’t begrudge the Celtics for recognizing his value and trading some of their stockpile of future picks for his services. Good on him. I mean, I rooted for Boston vs The Warriors when Ime was there. Too bad Ime messed it all up by getting a little too … amorous. So it goes.
One man’s mistake is another’s opportunity.
The Mavericks’ rehabilitation of Kyrie is interesting, however, and it gives strength to my then-argument that the Spurs should have tried to get Kyrie when he was agitating out of Cleveland. He went on a long road of hero-to-villain and there is no telling if he wouldn’t be the person he is today without that little journey but also I think the right kind of people around him maybe would have kept some of those other weirdnesses in check. Maybe. I don’t know. I know that the version of Kyrie was even better than this one and this one helped get Luka to the Finals.
As it is, the lesson is not “trade for current Kyrie” but “can we find the new Kyrie-like person?” That is to say, who is undervalued and available? Sure, it is draft time but one thing I can tell you is a team full of rookies will not win an NBA title let alone a playoff series. Your best player being a rookie can make you a playoff contender and a regular season winner, but it is tough to win the NBA Championship without a little veteran savvy. Jason Tatum won at 26-years old, and it is nigh scripture that Jordan won in year seven at 27. There are too many tricks and too many smart and talented players to get by on One Weird Trick the whole time.
Anthony Edwards looked like he would just dunk his way through the playoffs until the smart Dallas staff showed him his weaknesses. He doesn’t make decisions in traffic quick enough, and isn’t enough of a playmaker to unlock a sophisticated defense with rim protection. Back to Luka, he learned he needed to dedicated himself to fitness and some defense.
Boston vs the Warriors learned they needed more rim protection and more defense around the perimeter. They acquired Porzingis and Horford, Jrue and Derrick and now are champs. You have to adjust, and you have to keep adding.
The Spurs are a long way away from number six.