The NBA playoffs are on the horizon. In arguably the greatest regular season in the history of the League Western Conference, die-hard basketball fans get to watch amazing basketball through all four rounds. There are storylines everywhere: can the upstart Hornets continue their run? Can Tracy McGrady get out of the first round; as well as 'Melo & AI? Will Kobe win his first title sans-Shaq? Will the Suns finally beat the Spurs? Is Dallas finished? I don't do a lot of analysis; so I'll answer all most of these in one-word fashion: For one series, no, almost, no, probably...But this isn't about the sixteen teams that made it to the second season. This is about the one with the best record that didn't.
[Sniffs]
How could you do this to me, Golden State? How could you leave me like this? Without you in the postseason, there isn't that psychotic style that breathes fresh air into the monotony that tends to invade parts of the second season. I know that Denver's in, but no one believes in them like we did with you. Phoenix seems to have begun solving the Diesel's Rubix's Cube, but they're—they're just not the same. You've supplanted them in the chaos dimension that is my heart. Your style is a symbol of my generation: and I don't mean Stephen Jackson's obvious current former gang affiliations. I mean the rebelliousness that comes with each generation. You play without many set plays, ignore conventional hoops wisdom, and survive on your own talents and abilities. Without you—though the Western Conference playoffs will be exciting—feels incomplete to me without you there.
[Sniffs again]
It's not the fact that you missed the playoffs in a tough West. It's the way it happened. The Mad Scientist benches his best two players—Captain Jack in the second quarter, and The Baron for the whole second half—in the biggest game of the year. Yes, Baron was struggling in the first half; but as much as he can shoot you out of a game, he can shoot you back in one. He can even make a game-winner or two. So, why do it? Whatever in-house animosity there was should have been settled after the game; after you made the playoffs. And now, now you're home watching the playoffs with me.
[A tear rolls down, sniff]
You know who I blame? I don't blame you, Nellie. Or you, Baron Davis. You know who I blame? Chris Webber. That's right, I blame you, C-Webb. You brought your curse of losing to the Bay Area and kept my Warriors from a playoff run. Not to mention that you didn't even play in half of the games after you were signed. In fact, I hold you responsible for hindering the entire NBA. How dare you stop the momentum of the fast break movement era overtaking the NBA? If the Warriors had made a decent run; then in no more than five years there would be uptempo teams all over the league. Now, basketball fans have to sit through hours of so-called analysts saying how much, "defense wins championships," and such. It's true, but scoring differential is more important than overall defense. The fact still remains that points wins games. We could've been on the verge of the basketball of old—where 120-point games were easily attainable. But you and your knees and invisible defense have cost Golden State, as well as the rest of the league. Thanks a lot, C-Webb. At least you now have time to produce beats for Nas...
[Another tear surfaces]
It'll take time for me to heal the pieces of my basketball heart. I should recover by...around 12:30 Eastern Time on Saturday. See you next year, Golden State. Even if your team may have a totally different look to it.
If you were paying attention to my last post—and were in between watching things like this in your spare time—you will remember that I stated I would do the, "Things I Love" post after the, "Things I Hate" post. Since the NBA's motto applies to me, it would be easy for me to pick the obvious elements that makes hoops so appealing. This includes: dunks, Kobe, Lebron, game-winners, etc. However, I like to be unconventional, so I'll go a little off the board and select some things that you may like but haven't openly expressed so. To the list...
1. Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA This venue is the home of the, "We Believe" Golden State Warriors. Last year, the Warriors ended their 14-year playoff drought and won a postseason series against the 67-win Dallas Mavericks.
I also loved how the Oak-Town crowd went absolutely nuts with every made basket. Oracle is the closest thing to a college atmosphere in the NBA, and the team responds accordingly. While waving massive "We Believe" flags after one series win is a bit over the top, Oracle Arena has easily replaced the 2001 version of Arco Arena in Sacramento as the loudest venue in professional basketball. At least they didn't break out "Round 2" hats and t-shirts after their series win like my hometown team did. Bad idea, Abe...
2. Dwight Howard's other Dunks > Superman Dunk Look, I get the aesthetically impressiveness of seeing a guy jump as high as he can and literally throw the ball through the hoop; but let's be real—most people that can dunk can do that to a degree. Let's see those same world-class athletes try a windmill from behind the backboard. Better yet, try tapping the ball off the glass with one hand; then, in mid-air, dunk it with your other hand. Now I know a high school player kinda duplicated it, but that's still better than the creativity D-12 put into his costume. Even his "Sticker Dunk" from the '07 contest was better than that. With that said, I do have that as my desktop wallpaper (with Jason Kidd's large-craniumed son leaping for joy).
3. DeShawn Stevenson's "You Can't See Me/I Can't Feel My Face" Celebration-Thing... I hate G-Unit; but Tony Yayo's contribution to basketball cannot go unnoticed. It's terrible as a club dance, but amazing during pick-up games. By waving his hand in front of his face after draining a couple jumpers, Stevenson signals that he's unconscious on the court. Most people that play basketball frequently know of this feeling. It feels as if you shoot without much thought, and you can hit from any distance. I know that most people haven't seen the movie, "Blow," so they don't know that, "I Can't Feel My Face" is a reference to doing a line of cocaine. I wonder how David Stern would react if Stevenson revealed what that really meant. All in favor for a "No Hand-Gestures" rule?
4. Rasheed Wallace's Interviews/Press Conferences/Wired On-Court Statements... Rasheed Wallace is awesome. Little known fact: Rasheed Wallace cannot be in the same room with Chuck Norris because no building can contain that highly concentrated a level of collective awesomeness. 'Sheed, now in his 13th season, is probably known more his temper than his talent. Few people forget how dominant he was in Portland; or just how different his game is. A seven-footer with range right and/or left-handed; with the desire to dominate the paint...
5. Dominant Players When They Take Over the Game... Have you ever seen a game in which the superstar player is scoring at will...and there's nothing the opposing team can do about it? Do you find yourself prophetically proclaiming, "Good," once a shot is released? Do you chuckle at the site of defenders most intense efforts being futile during an elite scorer's barrage? Then this part of the post is for you. I know the NBA's upper-echelon swingmen are the obvious choices for example—with the prime of these being Kobe's 81—but I'll focus on a newcomer to the rarified air of dominance: Stephen Curry. If any good comes out of the MASN network, it's that I got to see most of Davidson's conference games. So I was witness to Mr. Curry's runs as if the basketball became engulfed with trailing flames when he touched it. The nation followed suit in amazement during this year's tournament. What amazes me is that a guy that looks 12 can sink a jumper at will. How's your recruitment, ACC? I'm looking at you, Gary Williams...
I'm in a good mood. I'm legal; and a lot of things are starting to come together for me. So what better way to celebrate such a warm feeling than to talk about the things I hate. There will be a new sport posted every...whenever I feel like it; and I will do the positive version after the negative. Today I will start with my favorite sport, basketball. Please note that I don't really, "hate" these people/things; but "Things I'm Not Too Fond Of" doesn't have the same ring to it. This is not an attack on anyone's personal character. It's merely related to the game they get paid to play and the one I love the most. And for those of you that know me and have an idea of what will be first on the list; there's a last-minute shocker at the #1 spot.
#1: Media Timeouts... Have you ever been upset because while watching a good game, there seems to be a random commercial break? Well you, sir/ma'am/alien chief, are victim of the media timeout. It's not random—I've watched thousands of college and NBA games to know. In the NBA, there's a media timeout after the first six minutes of the first and third quarters; and every three minutes after that. In college, there's a media timeout every four minutes—and that's regardless if a coach takes an actual timeout. That previous sentence is what bugs me about March Madness—in particular, CBS college basketball broadcasts. To me, there isn't that much ad revenue that there must be a commercial break for a 30-second timeout during the intentional foul stages of the game. Then, they try to come back to a camera shot of a team in the huddle like that's still good television. They do it because they know you won't turn away; so why not earn a couple hundred thousand bucks while you wait? That doesn't take away from the fact that the last 40 seconds of a close game takes somewhere around 10 minutes to finish....
#2: Kwame Brown... I guess Kwame can't be at the top of anything anymore. At the conception of this idea, he was cemented at the top spot. However, after watching this past college basketball season, the media timeouts beat Kwame by a Western Kentucky 3-pointer. He's not number one because nowadays, there's limited sight of him; whereas media timeouts are unavoidable. Anyway, the reasons I despise GM VP of Basketball Operations Michael Jordan's prized draft pick are obvious. He's blessed with immense talent (except Gifted Hands...word to Dr. Ben Carson); but yet he has no desire to be better. For his tenure here in Chocolate City, Wizards fans were begging for him to grasp it, and harness his ability. For some games, he would show flashes of it; then disappear like a cheap magic trick. These brief moments of brilliance bamboozled people into believing he'd be like Jermaine O'Neal. FAIL. Kwame has been reduced to being part of a garbage trade that sent Pau Gasol to the Lakers. Again, I hope he figures it out. He's only 25, and can still improve if he so chooses. But at the rate he's going, congrats on a wonderful career, Kwame...
#3: NBA All-Star Weekend (Minus the Dunk Contest)... If it weren't for Dwight Howard saving the dunk contest last February*, the entire weekend would be on this list. This is mainly devoted to the Skills Competition and the Shootaround—or whatever it's called when there are teams of an NBA player, a WNBA player, and a former NBA player taking turns shooting at different stations on the floor. These two competitions are tremendously boring. Who wants to sit there and watch David Robinson attempt half-court shots? Or watch Dwyane Wade weave between NBA-logo defenders? Not me. I'd rather watch someone play Super Mario Frustration until the dunk contest begins. Oh, and then there's the game(s). Aside from this, I didn't get great satisfaction watching either the Rookie-Sophomore or All-Star games. Figure something out, Commish. Preferably before you globalize the league.
#4: The High School/College Jersey Number Rule... We have another stunner here. A late entry makes the cut. I recently learned from one of my boys that high school and college players are not allowed to wear jerseys with the numbers six, seven, eight, and nine on them. Why you ask? Just in case one school has too many retired numbers? No. Because they don't want players with a sense of humor to wear #69? Nope. The reason why is because high school and college referees signal player numbers with one hand. So this means that either whomever is training them is too lazy to teach them to signal player numbers with both hands; the refs-in-training are too incompetent to learn (despite having skill to count with both hands based on elementary school); or they feel scorekeepers don't possess such knowledge of counting and can't hear the ref saying the number as well. This wouldn't really have applied to me because I wore either #2 or #45; but if Deron Williams preferred the number 8 over his number 5 at Illinois, then he'd just have to take that loss. This is ridiculously lame, and I wonder if there'll ever come a time when that rule has to be violated due to the growing number of jerseys hanging in campus rafters. NCAA...you're On Notice (NSFW).
#5: Culture loopholes in playing for national teams around the world... Let me explain. College basketball fans, do you remember a Pitt guard by the name of Karl Krauser? Well, if you do, then you know that at every big moment of the game, he throws up the "BX" sign. Did you also know that he was from the Virgin Islands? That's because he isn't; but his grandmother's aunt's best friend's sister is...or something like that. How else can he play for the U.S. Virgin Islands national basketball team? It seems that FIBA isn't too strict on their ethnicity policy. Fine. I have Jamaican and Native American roots, so does that mean I can be on the Jamaican bobsled team and collect my piece of reservation land somewhere in Montana? Doubt it. I'm not mad at the players for doing it; but it's the policy that's terrible. A word of advice to the Canadian national team: recruit the Toronto Raptors. I know Chris Bosh and TJ Ford have residence/citizenship there, I'd suggest you bolster your roster. And to the Italian and German national teams, I suggest you pony up the money for the Black Mamba; since he grew up in your countries and knows the language. Point is, pretty soon, countries will be bidding on NBA players and free agency will have gone global. Is this a part of David Stern's dream too? #6: Bonus As a bonus, I'm going to list the players I dislike (for basketball reasons) in professional hoops (aside from Kwame). Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Olowokandi, Eddy Curry/Zach Randolph (because these Fat Boys are a package deal), Erick Dampier, Chris Webber, Vince Carter, Reggie Miller (for obvious Knick-related reasons), and Stephon Marbury. I'll just stop now because I'll start reliving past Knick failures, and I'm not trying to spoil the rest of my 21st birthday.
If you were watching the last five minutes of the 6 p.m. SportsCenter on April 2nd, you saw and heard the interesting, informational, and somewhat awkward (at least to Brian Kenny) interview with Chad Johnson. As you football fans know, there's an ever-growing rift between Ocho-Cinco and the Cincinnati Bengals organization. As you also know, the Bengals have other, more significant in-house issues they need to deal with; and for some reason, Johnson gets roped in as a problem of the same magnitude. The Bengals are a mess, and Johnson decided to voice his displeasure on the situation. He has noisily subliminally asked to be traded, which is commonplace in today's sports. Now, because of his opinion, he's being criticized for being obnoxious.
It's in this that I find fault with the media (again). Granted, Chad Johnson is loud, flashy, and isn't doing a lot to help out his team by making radio show rounds saying that he'll play Arena Football before he plays for the Bengals. We all know that's false—he's just frustrated. Chad Johnson will show up for the first mandatory team meeting, run his routes, and embarrass opposing defensive backs like always. But Chad Johnson has nothing to do with how many of his teammates end up in handcuffs. He's not in the draft room with the GM selecting players despite them having character issues. Did they not know that Chris Henry was teammates with Pacman Jones at WVU? That alone should be a concern; or maybe they could've considered the fact that Henry had to sit out a season in college for criminal charges—just like Pacman did...
Anyway, back to Ocho Cinco (seriously, it's "ochenta y cinco"). Chad Johnson is the second-best player on the Bengals, and one of the, "veteran leaders" of the team. So shouldn't he have the authority to express frustration with the direction his team is headed? One could argue that three seasons ago, Cincinnati was one chop-block away from a serious playoff run; and since then, their team has underachieved each season. Johnson, however, hasn't. He's maintained his production on the field, and continues to remain among the top pass-catchers in the league; so I seriously doubt he's been any sort of the problem. Some may argue his end-zone celebrations are a bit arrogant and unnecessary; but I continue to maintain—in order to have a touchdown celebration, you must score a touchdown. This means that you must produce on the field and impact the result on the scoreboard in order to celebrate afterwards. I've yet to see a "five-yard completion," celebration dance. Heaven forbid the man enjoys playing a sport most of us play for free. Football, at its root, is a game. You play games, but once you become a professional at a game, you are no longer allowed to celebrate. So, by this logic, I can celebrate winning a meaningless game of Madden (who want it?); but Chad Johnson can't celebrate a touchdown in real life? Whatever...
It's in this ongoing tug-of-war that #85 is torn. On one hand, the Bengals and NFL exploit his personality for the power of a dollar; but blast him for having an opinion. And on the other hand, if he were the complete opposite—and didn't care what happened to the franchise—he'd be chastised for not caring enough about the game and acting lackadaisical towards his profession. Either way, he loses. I side with him and would rather be myself and receive flack for that, then be a "company man" and receive the same amount of criticism.
While it's probably over for him in the 'Nati, Chad Johnson's not the reason for the dysfunction of the Bengals. If anything, he's someone they should have supported from Day One. So, when the day comes that he's on another team (come on 'Niners), we'll see how Carson Palmer feels about it.
Be honest. When Jason Richards of Davidson missed that desperation 30-footer at the end of the game, you died a little inside. The biggest star of March Madness is gone; and if history is correct, the Final Four and Championship Game will be anti-climatic. *Sigh* Well done, Mr. Curry. Well done.
But there's good news! While you're waiting for the Final Four to begin in nearly a week, you can watch Kevin Love throw outlet passes into the rim; watch the fan-made video for my current favorite song (despite it being a year old and a remake of an 80's Caucasian-loved song); or you can read my list of the top 10 sports commercials of all-time. The criteria is that they have to depict sports activity; and must have at least one professional athlete in it. So while it was tough, the Lebrons are not on the list. Although, this philosophical gem from Wise Lebron is a classic in itself. (And yes, I will be biased to basketball/His Airness)
#10: Allen Iverson Teaches the Crossover
This series only has two videos, but the first one (poor quality) diagrams the move that transformed the NBA forever. The hesitation crossover, still once frowned on by basketball stiffs, is now taught worldwide in basketball camps. If anything, no one can deny AI's contribution to dribbling; even though it was taught to him by a teammate at Georgetown. The evolution move in the above video was quickly banned by Mr. Stern and The Boys, but the initial ad is the manifestation of a basketball move now essential to perimeter success. While it may not be impressive to look at now, everyone went out attempting to perfect his or her crossover dribble so it was respectable when compared to The Answer's.
#9: The "Joga Bonito" (Play Beautiful) Series
I'm not a huge fan of soccer, but I know sick moves when I see them. The video above is a compliation of the commercials Nike aired about three years ago. To me, the one spotlighting Ronaldinho is the best. The home video of him that his commercial is based on is the foundation of his legend in the soccer world. Legend has it that he scored 26 goals as a kid in an indoor soccer game. With the moves I've seen in the brief moments I've watched soccer; I believe it.
#8: Kobe Adidas Commerical With Sick Practice Dunks
Whenever I see this commercial, it always begs the question: Why is Kobe no longer in dunk contests? Whatever. Anyway, the dunks he attempts and nails were pre-Jason Richardson and J.R. Smith. You can tell how old this is because Kobe still sports that hideous mini-fro. The different dunks (in terms of if he can actually do them on a regulation rim) are: doubt it, yes, yes, yes, yes, no way in the history of human beings elevating above the rim.
#7: Jordan vs. Jordan
This commercial shows the eternal battle between the young, shinobi with limitless potential; pitted against his older, wiser self. What catches my eye the most is the incredible perfection—at 39 years old—of MJ's turnaround fadeaway. The trash talk (which people overlook when discussing #23) is great. Much better than the commercial after next on this list.
#6: The Penny Hardaway & Li'l Penny Series
The reason why the Li'l Penny series makes the cut and the Lebrons series doesn't is because most Penny commercials had him doing something basketball-related. The Lebrons only have one dunk contest in their series. And while there hasn't been anything that good since "Sanford & Son," it's not enough to qualify for this top 10. This was Penny Hardaway at his best. Before the microfracture knee surgery, when his athleticism and talent met at an incredible apex. Chris Rock as Li'l Penny was the perfect compliment to Hardaway's easy-going demeanor. This was the Dwyane Wade commercials before Dwyane Wade became a superhero. I hope for his sake that he doesn't suffer the same fate.
#5: Nike Sparq Training Series
I know this series is only one two and a half commercials deep, but this has the makings of a classic collection of ads. Not because of the number of athletes; but because of the sheer confusion some of the athletes create with their trash talk. For example, What does being quick have to do with smelling like french toast? And in the latest ad, outfielder Matt Holliday says that, "[His] strong apologizes for making your strong look like cottage cheese." Is this someone sort of Nike Jedi Mind Trick? Am I suppose to be intimidated...or distracted? Either way, I got strong all day.
#4: "Be Like Mike"
"Sometimes I dream...that he is me..." While most of us don't know the lyrics beyond that first line, the commercial still resonates with all of us. It was the one that cemented his Nike commercial legacy. It was the embodiment of all our hoop dreams. It let us be free to acknowledge His Airness as an icon, regardless of age. If I could be like Mike...
#3: Tiger Woods Amazing Golf Club Trick
For this 30 seconds, you see just how dominant Mr. Woods is at his sport. Granted, there are others that have done the same feat; but this was the first video of this to surface. And, well, it's Tiger.
#2: Nike Freestyle Basketball Commercial
This is the evolution that the AI crossover commercials had envisioned. Various NBA and streetball players showcasing there talents with the rock. From absurd handles of 6'10" guys (Lamar Odom), to the reason Jason Williams earned the name, "White Chocolate." The choreography of this commercial was so good, BET decided to frequent it on "Rap City: The Bassment." Insane handles.
#1: Air Jordan XVI Commercial featuring Mos Def, "Umi Says" as the theme.
This commercial didn't show much of His Airness; but the grace and swagger of MJ was on showcase nonetheless. At the end of the commercial, he enters the gym as if, like in professional reality, he's coming to save the day. It doesn't hurt that Mos's heavenly track (which, is about the uplifting of Black people) is the theme for this ad. "I ain't no perfect man. I'm tryna do the best that I can; with what it is I have..." just seems to be hypocritically correct. Most view Jordan as, "The perfect [basketball player]," and what it is he has is what those with hoop dreams aspire to attain.
So there you have it. Agree or agree to disagree—you decide. One thing that goes without denial is that whomever is in charge of Nike's commercial themes should be making more money than a pagan holiday.
I took a break from writing about sports to do a little ventilation about my concerns with the television network/puppet show/new Legion of Doom that is Black Embarrassment Entertainment Television (I’m not done with that yet).I have so many ideas swirling around in my brainstorm clouds that I’ll probably be posting more frequently in the coming days and weeks.It’ll give me something to do while procrastinating on doing my homework developing about my first non-basketball post; and it’ll give you something to read if you’re dealing with anal fissures.[…]<-- That’s the brief pause of me fighting back a little nausea.Or maybe something less disgusting; like sitting through 30 rounds of your baseball fantasy league's draft. To the note…
As a sports society, we’re constantly looking for the next superstar; specifically, the descendant of a previous celestial talent. For example, do I need to run down the list of NBA players that have been declared, “The Next MJ?” Let’s see:there’s Harold Miner, Jerry Stackhouse, Vince Carter, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and a host of others that fall short of His Airness’ greatness.While AI and Kobe are the only lock Hall-of-Famers on this list, the reason why/how they came to be so is the subject of this note. As I was checking the updated 2008 NBA mock draft, it reminded me of how fans/experts are looking to compare the up-and-coming prodigy to an established athletic shinobi that may be similar in technique (yes, I love the ninja/samurai culture).This brings me back to Kobe and AI.The reason why they were able to harness their transcendent talents is because each of them decided to find their own ways to compose melodies on the court.I’m sure that they, like most of us, watched that famous commercial in hopes of duplicating Jordan’s sound.But as they developed, they realized that they can take samples from His Airness and create wonderful basketball harmony.It’s similar to G.O.A.T. producer J Dilla taking this hit from the Isley Brothers; and creating this joint perfect for doing that romantic thing with that deserving someone. This brings me to Michael Beasley.I hope whomever is his future coach will not try to mold him after a former/current player that he, “reminds them of.”See him through impartial lenses, and develop him accordingly.I started to think of a list of former players that are, “1-of-1.”That means none before it, none to come (word to Shawn Carter).So far, I’ve only come up with two people that I know that will never have their music duplicated.*One, obviously, is Michael Jordan.The other, at least to me, should also be obvious. Oscar Robertson – Career:25.7 ppg; 7.5 rpg; 9.5 apg
I know he’s before any of our times; but as a basketball purist, I pay respect to those that paved the way.Some people may see the rebounding stats and think that Jason Kidd does that on the daily.That’s not as true as you think, because when Magic Johnson came up with the term, “triple-double,” he was thinking about the Big O.Maybe you know of his one-of-one season of averaging said triple-double; but few realize he averaged that over his first five seasons.J-Kidd couldn’t dream of being as good a scorer as Robertson—without a three-point line.Oh, and those numbers are sort of deflated by his last four seasons in which he played with a young big man named Lew Alcindor.
I hope Mr. Beasley’s basketball growth isn’t stunted by some coach that tries to shape him in the image of someone else.Let Mike tryout several instrument combinations, then develop the one that he identifies as, “his own sheet of music.” Peace.
*If you can make the case for a former player that qualifies, then leave it in the comments.
After reading this article on FreeDarko, I decided I'd settle the debate once and for all. Kobe versus Lebron: Who ya got?
WAIT. If you think I'm going to really present my reasoning for this comparison, you must've forgotten what this blog is really about. I don't do a lot of sports analysis here at Fundamentally UnSound. I like to delve deeper into the why's, how's, theories, and philosophies that lie underneath the sports realm. So I'll talk about the argument itself; and why there'll never be a conclusion to this or any debates of its kind.
To summarize one of Krolik1157's points, professional athletes are deified. They allow us to witness things and events beyond life’s normalcy. Even pros themselves give their peers the same rarified reverence; so it’s a given for the, “fan” to do the same. However, because these demigods are fully human, the idea that a single person can perfectly dominate his or her field to the point that he or she is the universal truth is a ridiculous notion to me. Most people would acknowledge that Muhammad Ali is the greatest boxer of all time; but that’s my point. “Most” is not “all”; and “consensus” does not mean “everyone.” So, even though I believe with total conviction that Michael Jordan is the best basketball player ever; there’s someone, somewhere that doesn’t concur—to the point where their substantiations could possibly sway me to their position; or at least force me to, “agree to disagree.”
Different types of professional athletes appeal to different types of people. Some people prefer Kevin Garnett’s flash, flare, and unbridled emotion to Tim Duncan’s, well, winning. Like I said—using the last two sentences to stall and regain my train of thought—I’m going to show why it’s impossible for this debate to ever be 100% settled.
While sports allow us to observe the near-supernatural, it also tends to limit the length of time individuals sit atop the throne. For example, Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal are the two most dominant basketball players since His Airness sank Utah in the 1998 Finals (man, I love that clip). Well, despite either Duncan or Shaq being in each NBA Finals (winning all but one title) since then—and being the main reason of their respective teams’ arrival there--they have three regular season MVPs between them. Dominance tends to become annoying, and everyone waits for the next revolution to come overthrow the ruler. This is why the Spurs continue to fly under that proverbial radar—and continue to accumulate the victories. This is why those who even remotely follow women’s college basketball forget how ridiculously impressive Courtney Paris’ record is. This disinterest with continuously great success comes with familiarity with the successful; but it also isn’t the only reason why Kobe versus Lebron will never be resolved…
In order for these kinds of debates to achieve timeless status, the two juxtaposed entities must either be radically similar; or radically different. The Kobe/Jordan debate is a product of the first qualification, while the Kobe/Lebron debate is product of the latter. On most occasions, the divisive line is drawn with racial ink/lead/chalk/paint/marker—which made it easy to compare Bird/Magic and Tiger/Nicklaus. With #24 versus #23, the debate is solely on their technique. It’s Kobe’s assassin-like precision against Lebron’s raw power. It’s Batman versus The Hulk. For you fans of third-person shooter video games, it’s Splinter Cell versus Grand Theft Auto. The reason for the intensity of the debaters is that we strive for finite answers—we want one of them to be universally number one. The reason it’ll never happen is that everyone’s math is different.
I’m not saying that there should be an understood, arithmetic truth. Intellectually sound debates are some of the best usages of social interaction. I’m saying that while you’re trying to convince that guy in the barbershop why Kobe’s better; there’s someone that can persuade you into becoming a true witness to Lebron.*
[Sniffs again]
[Another tear surfaces]
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