No, I did not lose a bet.
Yes, this is like root canal.
No, this is not a backhanded compliment (well, it probably will turn into that, but I’m going to do my best).
After careful review this morning, I’ve come to the conclusion that this Los Angeles Lakers team is, in fact, great. Not very good. Not very talented. Great.
Ugh. Let’s get this over with.
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I have maintained since 2008 that this was not a great team. That they were a very good team, the most talented team, a load of other superlatives, but never great. Because they never managed to really show any heart. Their version of “dealing with adversity” was when the Rockets without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady and Dikembe Mutumbo outworked them in a seven game series (they had Ming for three games). They always seemed to coast, and then do just enough to get by. They did not execute at an elite level. Their victory over the Magic last year was primed off of a weak playoff schedule (neither Utah nor Denver look very convincing as challengers at this point, do they?), and then a superior talent base with some karma from the Gods (read:Fisher) thrown in.
And when the Lakers cruised down the stretch, routinely getting offed by inferior teams, it was easy to bring that label back. I knew they’d make the Finals, because, again, the talent thing. And they struggled in OKC and it was easy to throw out the same labels at them about not being great and not responding to adversity.
Thing is, they have.
What started me down this path was thinking about how utterly sick I am of them in the Finals. And I am. Let’s not get confused. I would kill for literally any other team to be in the Finals, just to have something unfamiliar at this point. But then I realized “Holy hell, this team has been to the Finals three straight years.” That’s a remarkable feat in and of itself, particularly in a loaded Western Conference (well, besides Utah). They’ve been one of the final two teams for three straight seasons. And they’ve done it with Kobe as their best player, Lamar Odom as their third best, and Squeaky Wheel down there at center. That was the first piece.
Then I started to rationalize it. “Well, yeah, but they’re not a great team, still. I mean, look at the teams they struggled with!” And then I really started to think about it. Didn’t Oklahoma City actually play the best basketball in a losing series effort this year? Weren’t they the one team to really take it to LA, consistently? And for all their inexperience, that was a ridiculously good team. So them pushing LA shouldn’t be surprising. And losing by a gajillion in Game 4 would have sunk most teams. But LA not only battled back, but, and this is the important part, finished them in six games. They went into OKC and took down the Thunder because they’re better and the defending champs. They didn’t slack off and let it go seven. They didn’t mail it in and wait to go back to the comfy confines of Staples. They kicked in the door in OKC and took what was theirs, a series in six.
Utah I’m not giving them any credit for. That team might as well just be playoff cardboard cutouts. They should change their names to the Playoff Speed Bumps.
But Phoenix? That Phoenix team wasn’t just blessed with more talent than we gave them credit for all the way up until the second round. They were riding a streak of confidence. That team believed in itself. If ever there was a team primed to be a great story of a champion, it was the Suns, with Nash and that bench and Grant Hill all refusing to go down, battling their way back from an 0-2 series deficit and tying things up. They guaranteed a win in Game 6 and… LA smoked ‘em. They went into Phoenix, and crushed their hopes and dreams, took care of business. And that’s what great teams do. They don’t shrink from the moment, they steal the other team’s and then shove them down the stairs. And that’s what they did.
So now they’re back in the Finals. And I think they’ll win. I really do. I’ve doubted Boston in three straight consecutive series, what’s one more, really? I think Boston is an incredible team. I just think this Lakers team is better. Lamar Odom has become a great player… for the Lakers. Ron Artest has become a great complimentary player… for the Lakers. Pau Gasol has become a great player… for the Lakers. All of these players early in their careers represented the salvation of small market teams for me and I’ve watched them become death rays on the Death Star. But that’s the reality of the NBA and I’m doing a disservice to this blog and you who’s reading if I deny it.
The Lakers are a great team. They run a spectacular offense with options at every turn, are led by one of the top five players of all time, are coached by a man who may have 11 rings in two weeks, and are arguably the most recognizable basketball franchise on the planet (and they’re playing the only team you can argue about it with). They have battled back from adversity and closed out series like champions. They are, quite simply, a great team, and I expect them to win their 16th NBA championship, cementing this crew as having passed the very lowest threshold of being considered a dynasty.
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Go Celtics.
Wait, Glen Davis.
Go Lakers!
Wait, Phil Jackson!
Go Celtics!
Wait…
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Behold, the face of greatness:
Via Reds Army (I saw this guy behind the announcers a month ago and commented on it on Twitter. Now, he haunts my dreams. And probably smells like a BP vacation.)