Five years ago, the Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks where Dwayne Wade had a game for the ages. He put up numbers that put him in the conversation of Michael Jordan AKA G.O.A.T for a brief moment of time. D-Wade willed that team to victory as he constantly got to the line to save a fledgling Heat team that was less than six minutes away from being down 3-0. His will to win made him a superstar but for others (Dallas Maverick fans and NBA conspiracy theorists) was downright fishy. Yet, Miami won that series and championship that year.
As for Dirk, he was labeled as soft as a marshmallow whose team crumbled under the pressure like a link in a chain that broke from the intense pressure. He was then and still is considered by some as a soft European player who does not have the guts nor testicular fortitude. These thoughts would be confirmed as the Mavs led by Dirk would continue to experience playoff futility as evidenced by three 1st Round exits in the last five years. Most notably, the 2007 NBA Playoffs where they were upset by the 8th seeded Golden State Warriors.
Fast forward five years later, these two teams have now met again. Yet, the majority of the cast has changed as Lebron James and Chris Bosh have teamed up with Dwayne Wade to form a so-called "Superteam." This in thanks in part to a huge gamble made by GM Pat Riley who took a really risky bet (gutting the team to get low enough into the salary cap) and won big. Miami's Big three are complimented by complimentary role players such as Mike Miller, Mario Chalmers, Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony and James Jones.
Meanwhile, the Mavs tinkered over the years to find the right combination to contend in the NBA where youth, some experience and athleticism are valued as evidenced in this year's postseason during the first two rounds. This is by no means a young club but an aging club whose time is pretty much now just like it was for the Miami Heat in the 2005 and 2006 when they traded for Shaq. This incarnation features Jason Kidd albeit an aging point guard, castoffs such as Shawn Marion and Peja Stojakovick. In addition, players who came via trades just like Kidd such as Tyson Chandler and a Caron Butler as their cheerleader. They all were brought to Dallas to help complement Dirk Nowitzki in an effort to challenge for a championship.
Although, these teams were formed differently, they share some sort of similarities. Each team has had labels put upon them whether they were fair or unfair. The pressure for each side to win is extraordinary and will continue to grow as this series goes on. which have big repercussions should one of them not leave with the NBA Finals trophy. Oh yeah, did I also mention that there may not be any basketball for a long period of time because of the coming lockout.
For Dallas, it is a chance to shed the label of a team that just flat out chokes when the pressure builds at this time of the year. They have been criticized that their time has passed despite consistently putting up 50 win seasons since the 2000-01 season that played virtually no defense at all.
In addition, it's a chance for redemption for Dirk to exorcise another demon that has haunted him since the 2006 NBA Finals. Dirk has suffered so many cases of adversity such as his ex-fiancee episode, backpacking to Australia after the 2007 debacle, and the game plan of having lanky forwards just beat the living daylights out of him. He has already exorcised a couple of demons this year such as demolishing LaMarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol, and the entire OKC forwards thrown at him.
This playoff season, he put virtuoso performances such as the legendary 40 point game in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals where the Mavs came back from a 15 point deficit in Oklahoma City. Along with making a big three pointer from the top of the key to give Dallas the lead in the Game 5 clincher.
Dirk has a one last chance to do what Karl Malone and Charles Barkley could not do: Win an NBA Championship. This is Dirk's final chance to change his legacy that might forever define him as one of the 20 best players (if he wins) or one of the Top 10 players to never win a ring.
It's also a chance for this team of castoffs whose former teams were happy to get rid of from their hands. Most notably Shawn Marion whom many thought that his career was over just as they had said for Peja Stojakovic. Yet, both of them have played big roles for in their road to the NBA Finals this year. For example, Shawn Marion's suffocating defense on Kevin Durant during Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals and Peja draining threes against the Lakers in Games 3 and 4 to sweep the then Defending Champs.
Rick Carlisle has done an admirable job for this Mavericks team. This is the same man who was fired despite doing a decent job in Detroit and Indiana. Carlisle has helped make a once porous defensive team actually play decent defense for the first time in a long time. He has helped this team bond together to prove their critics wrong and form an unflappable belief in themselves.
Together, this Mavericks team share a belief in themselves that they can go through hell and back after going through so much adversity over the last couple of years. For example, Dirk's injury to his foot, Caron Butler's season ending injury, and coming from behind in every playoff series at their opponents home court no less. They have made many a doubter who wrote off this aging team look foolish even if this team flirted with disaster.
As for Miami, they too faced adversity from the Summer of 2010. It started with Lebron taking his talents to South Beach in a televised show on ESPN that forever tarnished his squeaky clean persona in the eyes of the public. Most notably, Cleveland fans who lit his jersey and effigy on fire. In addition, Lebron promising Heat fans that they will win not three, four or five soundbite the very next day and scathing articles exposing him as someone with absolute power over an organization.
Suddenly, this team of great players consisting of Lebron, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh was every NBA fan's Public Enemy No.1. They were hated and reviled much like the Bad Boy Piston teams of the late 80s and Early 90s. It was a team everyone was hoping would spectacularly fail.
They were the team NBA fans loved to hate, which was once reserved for the Kobe and Phil Jackson Lakers. I guess it was fitting for the torch to be passed.
Yet, a funny thing happened, the team bonded together as the season wore on. They soon took an Us against the World mentality much like what this Mavericks team did this season. They looked inward for strength as well as support despite constant drama, bad stretches (9-8 start and a 5 game losing streak) and enormous expectations (Remember the 70 win prediction?). It's identity is predicated on strong defense, rebounding and toughness, which were hallmarks of the Pat Riley led Lakers (1980s), Knicks (early 90s) and Heat teams (1996-02). While everyone expected this team to break, they came off the mat and kept chugging.
Like the Mavs and Dirk, the Heat have some things to prove. Most notably Lebron, Chris Bosh and Coach Spolestra. Chris Bosh and Coach Spol have gone through the fires of criticism where they were viewed as weak links to the Miami Heat. They were told they were not tough enough ( Bosh) or experienced (Spolestra).
In fact, you could say they were overwhelmed by the situation. Yet, they have both risen to the occasion. Coach Spolestra's making quiet adjustments following the Game 1 thrashing in Chicago, which allowed the Heat to win in five grueling games. This from a coach that was criticized for his gaffe about his players crying in the locker room and spar matches with Lebron early in the season. For now, He has done a good job when lesser coaches would have collapsed under the pressure and will not be recognized until he wins a ring.
Chris Bosh came up big against the Bulls and becoming the safety valve (easy points for the heat when the offense bogs down). In fact, he pretty much outplayed the entire Chicago big men with 23 points a game and making two big free throws in a Game 5 clincher in Chicago in front of 23,000 screaming Bulls fans. Soft you say? Maybe not. He has persevered from the jokes of 2 and a half men, Like A Bosh, and accusations that he cried after a game (In tweets by Amare and Carmelo who are gonna watch the game from their couches).
Finally, Lebron has a lot to prove and throughout the postseason has proven his doubters wrong since the Summer of 2010. They said he was not clutch and could not beat the Boston Celtics. This due to the fact that most people believed he disappeared, quit and fill in any word to describe his performance in Games 4-6 against Boston the year before as a Cleveland Cavalier. Yet, he was the guy who finished off his arch nemesis and carried the Miami Heat to victory. As this video evidence shows below:
As the season has wore on, Lebron has incrementally grown from the criticism that fuels him on the court. This was as evidenced above and when he just shut down MVP Derrick Rose every time he defended him. In fact, D-Rose only scored 6.3% against Lebron, which is amazing. He has also become better with his P.R. as well. Especially, when Scottie Pippen said that Lebron could be just as good as Jordan. Lebron was skillful in humbly saying that he was not better than Michael Jordan.
Despite all of those mentioned, there is only one thing missing: An NBA Ring. This is something he must win before he can get into a conversation with the Magics, Larry Birds, and Michael Jordans of the world. Until he wins, his critics will continue to say that he can't win the big one just like they said for Magic after the 1984 Finals and Michael Jordan (pre-1991 championship).
On Tuesday and for the next two weeks, we will all be witnesses to see which team will get vindication and reach the top of NBA Glory and which team will fall just short once again. The NBA it's Fantastic.
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