2013 NBA Swan Song

Always best to leave commentary on a 7 game back and forth NBA Finals until a few days (in this case nearly 2 weeks) have passed to let the dust settle. Begrudgingly, congratulations to the Miami Heat. They really earned that one and by having the current best player in the world on their roster they were able to push over the top. Let's start with him as we run down some of the key players and people of the NBA Finals:

LeBron James - Well we can now put to rest any questions of his "legacy" in terms of championships. He's got multiple titles and was the best player on his team for those titles. Not like Juwan Howard wearing a suit to get a ring. This is justified, he never deserved some of the flack he received, but again, he invited it with the way he joined the Heat. Also, it is clear after talking with some people that my LBJ comments weren't well received. It's not a popular theory to question the best player in the world in his prime, but I stand by my comments. I'm still not sure he can  be the best player on his team at age 33, 34, 35 like Michael and Kobe. I will grant that his shooting barrage in Game 7 was impressive to an extent, since he did make nearly everything he put up, but he was also as wide open as you can get in the NBA for many of those shots. When he's less physically imposing 4-5 years down the road it becomes easier to get up on LeBron the way Paul George did in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. I'm glad it took him 10 years to learn how to hit an open jumper, if it takes him 10 more years to figure out how to hit a contested jumper, LeBron certainly won't win any more titles as the best player on his team. But for now, the King reigns supreme.

Tim Duncan - What a shame for Timmy. He threw down a classic closeout game in Game 6:  30 pts, 17 reb only to watch his team piss it away in the last 30 seconds. With a chance to take matters into his own hands in Game 7 he missed a point blank runner over Shane Battier he has probably made 1,538,204,302 times before in games and practice. That was all she wrote for the Spurs at that point. No one will question Tim Duncan's legacy. Not after a decade and a half of keeping his head down, working hard, and being so consistently good night in and night out even into his Age 37 season. Seriously, you want the model of consistency? Check out his Per 36 Minute numbers for his entire career here. It's incredible. He's like a robot. People think this was Tim Duncan's last hurrah, that once Westbrook gets back, that once Doc Rivers and Chris Paul are finalized as Clippers, that once Memphis grows up for good, the Spurs will be relegated to the middle tier in the West. I find that to be more questionable than those who were attacking LeBron's legacy at age 28. Tim Duncan is certainly older, and missing that runner shows his age, but he was throwing down 40+ minutes in 3 games in 5 nights and didn't miss a beat. Picking against Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan is like picking against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Yes they both haven't won a title in years, but they are always as good of a bet to get one as anybody. As a Mavericks fan, I won't feel safe until Tim Duncan retires for good.

Dwyane Wade - Man, he looks ragged. Remember the days when Dwyane Wade would explode to the basket throw up some crazy layup attempt, have it go in, get fouled, and crash to the floor? Those days are gone. G-O-N-E. There are two people whose "epitaphs" I'm ready to write after that series and Wade is one of them. What we are talking about here isn't that Wade won't be valuable in some capacity, it's that he is simply Dwyane Wade 2.0 now and not in a good way. Sure, he got in the way back machine Game 7 and started hitting everything from the same spot on the floor, but when you watch him, it seems like he's so easy to guard now. He's become a slash and kick player the same way Steve Nash is. He's no threat to go to the basket and that's where you saw so many 14 point games from him. We do have to take into account that he is actually 31 years old unlike LeBron at 28 and we also have to take into account that Wade absorbed as much contact in his career as LeBron has, only he doesn't have the body to take it the way LeBron does. Wade had a great run, but he's a sixth man at this point in his career. Can't argue with 3 rings though.

Tony Parker - I never liked his game. Ever. He can't defend and for a decade he couldn't shoot either. He still can't shoot that well, but at least he can make a basket outside the paint now. He's like a poor man's Steve Nash to me at the same points in their career. Which bodes well for Tony, I think he still has years to go in this league, but I think his game is too static and if I was Popovich it'd give me a heart attack every time he starts weaving around defenders like its a dog agility course or something. People remember the ridiculous buzzer beater in Game 1 that sealed the deal for San Antonio, but many people don't remember how out of control he was. He single-handedly botched that entire play and really got lucky to get off the shot in time. Even looking at his stats for the series they were mediocre. I couldn't believe that prior to hurting himself in the regular season there was talks of him as 2nd or 3rd in the MVP race. Sure, he's better than Gary Neal and many other starting point guards in the league, but he went into this series overrated and got exposed some.
















Chris Bosh - Ha. Hahahaha. I'm tired of people defending him on various grounds like: 1) Oh he'd be the best player on almost any other team; 2) They don't use him right; 3) There's just not enough ball to go around. First, he wouldn't even be the best player on all of the lottery teams from this year. So stop. Please. He was a good player on a bad team who had NOBODY else. Someone has to score 22 points a game on the team when you have nobody else. Look at DeMarcus Cousins of the Kings. He's skilled and has some talent, maybe as much as Chris Bosh, but would you really say he could be the best player on almost every other team? No. They don't use him right is a bizarre argument. How else are they supposed to use him? A back to the basket post player? Do you see how badly he got abused trying to bang bodies with any good big man? Believe me if he could play like that now, Spoelstra would use him like that. Having a good low post player helps immensely in today's NBA offense. It forces teams to crash down low opening up the 2-3 shooters that Miami likes to have on the floor at the same time. It also gives LeBron and Dwyane a low post pass option as they drive and draw the low post defender. So if he could play that way, I'm betting he would be asked to play that way. Lastly, this was Bosh's best opportunity to get the ball. Dwyane was miserable the last two rounds of the postseason. He could have stepped up and made himself a force as the second banana to LeBron. He shrank from the moment. He was even worse than Dwyane for those same series. How many times did he see him miss a wide open shot followed by his Ostrich scream and being upset with himself. I wonder if being the 3rd or 4th option on the floor at times just stunted his offensive prime. It has to be hard to be motivated to work on your game if you've spent most of the last three years watching LeBron or Wade or Wide Open Shooter X run much of Miami's offense. It's not so much that Miami needs to trade him, because really he's a fresher body than Wade and if he put his big boy pants on hed should be the more valuable piece over the next 2-3 years. It's more that Bosh needs to get out of there if he wants to prove he's more than just a sidekick. Besides how can you trust a guy who celebrates championships with a sexual champagne shower photo one year, followed by confetti stuck to his face the next? The guy is just a tool.

Manu Ginobili - Yeah, not much to say about him. Those 8 turnovers in Game 6 were pretty embarrassing and he was marginalized for the first 4 games of the series. He had the huge Game 5 and a decent bounceback Game 7 but I think we forget that he's turning 36 this summer. It doesn't feel like he should be as old as Duncan, but he was stashed in Argentina for a few years before finally breaking in with the Spurs. Of any of the so-called "Big 3" (I hate that phrase, it should be reserved solely for a coalition of world leaders that put differences aside, came together to fight mutual enemies, and changed the history of the world. Not three great to semi-decent basketball players on one team. That's really lazy to use that phrase for them and inappropriate given where it came from) for either team, I think Manu is the most likely candidate to be dumped, retire, or have his role sharply reduced. It's just time. There no reason he can't be a Big Shot Rob for the next couple of years giving you 17 minutes a game of change of pace offense and lightning in a bottle. But the days of Manu getting 25 minutes a game should be done.

Ray Allen - Best shooter of all time. Period. Sorry Reggie. This shouldn't mean that he's a top 40 or 50 player of all time, because he's not. It took him teaming up with two better players in Boston and three better players in Miami to barely win two titles. Ray Allen also was the epitome of what this generation's NBA is like: "I'll go anywhere for a title shot. Even if I already won one." Jumping from the Celtics to the Heat was a good move for Ray Allen's jewelry collection but it still rubs me the wrong way that a guy could jump to a rival, especially one that they almost beat in a grueling Eastern Conference Finals in 2012, but that's professional sports in the age of free agency. The rivalries are only for the fans now, not the players. But Ray Allen cemented the best shooter ever legacy with that ultra-clutch game-tying three in Game 6.

Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, Gary Neal - Maybe it's unfair to lump Kawhi Leonard in with these two since he's a better, and more dynamic, player. But it's the new guard for the Spurs that provided electric moments for them in these Finals and may be poised to be even more effective in 2013-2014. By the end of the series, Kawhi was easily the second best player on the Spurs offering his best defense of LeBron (which was decent for the second-year player) and a new sense of confidence on offense. The Spurs remain in good hands.

Chris Andersen - All I can think about is whether he will decline the actual Finals ring and tattoo the ring on his finger. Every time I look at him I feel like his neck tattoos are strangling him. I will say this. He earned his ring. He worked hard in the ECF and the Finals to get some time on the floor and do his best to contribute.

Mike Miller/Shane Battier - Spoelstra nearly let Mike Miller's "Olé" defense beat him. I don't know how you can really find too much use for Mike Miller anymore. He gives up more points than he contributes.. Sure he's a better pure shooter than Battier, but Battier showed in Game 7 he's the better all around player. If Battier doesn't show up Game 7, the Spurs may have won. By all accounts, Battier is one of the nicest players around and a great diplomat for the sport, notwithstanding an interview he gave on Mike and Mike shortly after the Finals were over where he said he didn't join the others at the club but went to a secluded bar where he could just be himself and dance on the bar. I thought that was a great story.

Gregg Popovich - The Legend. Even without this win I seriously think he belongs on the Coaching Moutn Rushmore with Phil Jackson and Red Auerbach. Spoelstra gets credit for designing a small-ball offense that actually wins championships but the Spurs offense is simply beautiful to watch. Some will detract from him and say well he didn't have to go through a healthy Thunder team, but really, what he did in dismantling the Grizzlies who everyone thought was the best shot to beat Miami is more than enough to counter those claims that the Spurs didn't really earn it. I hate the Spurs, I hate Popovich, I hate Duncan, I hate Ginobili, I hate Parker, but I really respect them. The hate is probably boiled down to being division rivals and just pure jealousy of how the Spurs have conducted themselves as a franchise since Duncan and Popovich came on board.

Erik Spoelstra - This guy has the thankless job of coaching the best player in the world and the lack of respect that comes with it. If the Heat lose, it's his fault. If they win, it's LeBron's vicotry. I do give him that credit for coming out of the film room as a tech and designing a decent offense that focuses on the skills of his players (something D'Antoni should have learned by now). But really, everytime someone identifies keys to beating the Heat, it's limiting turnovers and keeping them out of transition. Their half-court offense is decent at best but often times bogs down horribly bad. I don't think he'll ever win coach of the year but it takes a lot to maintain control of a team with as many stars and perceived stars as there are on this roster.

The NBA Officials - No one talked about them once. That was the best officiated Finals I've ever seen or can ever remember. Good job refs for letting the players decide this one.

The NBA - I think we may have just watched the Swan Song for the Heat and the Spurs in their present forms as NBA Title contenders. I have a hard time believing the Heat can three-peat based on their lack of a killer instinct, Wade's aging knees, and just the sheer mileage put on their collective bodies going to 3 straight Finals. I think the Pacers (and possibly the Bulls) will finally get the Heat's number in the postseason. I also have a hard time believing a 38 year old Duncan and Company can lead the Spurs back after the gargantuan effort put forth to come up short. They will be professionals and they will still be a tough out but i think it's a tall task to ask that they get back. I think we may have just watched the best NBA Finals we are going to see in the next 10 years.