In a Battle of Two Teams That Need to Lose, Who Should Win?

Dirk Nowitzki’s career has been defined by early playoff exits and epic collapses.  Historically he has generally been a player who has come up lacking in big moments.  And now here he is, back in the Finals for the second time against the team he should have beaten in 2006 in what will likely be his final appearance with the league’s oldest team.  America looks at this kid with the goofy attitude and hip hop persona and they want to kiss his big German nose and tell him everything is going to be ok, for a championship is on the way.

It would be a great story, wouldn’t it?  The underdog struggles and struggles and finally overcomes his own faults to become a champion.  And even as one of Dirk’s harshest critics, overcoming his flaws is precisely what he has done, to the extent that pundits have openly wondered which team has the best player in this series.  There’s just one problem with Dirk winning a title:  it destroys the narrative.

Take a look at the Red Sox for a moment.  This was a team that went nearly a century without winning a title.  There was talk of a curse, there was a rich history of epic playoff collapses, and there was a long-suffering fanbase.  Their lack of winning made them uniquely interesting.  After 2004, the Red Sox became just another team twenty championships behind their rival.  The two Sox World Series wins didn’t erase their epic history of failure, it just made it less interesting.

Manny is less cool with a title

Dirk has a similar “problem”.  If he wins a single title this season, he is certainly no longer the player who was always unable to come up  big in big moments.  But all he becomes is the player who came up big once.  Since so many superstars don’t have titles, Dirk will be able to hold his head relatively high, but he’ll still be the guy who failed epically many times.  Giving Dirk a championship makes him boring.

And yet, what is the alternative?

It is halftime of game one of the NBA Finals, and ABC chose to fill it with an interview with Dwyane Wade in which they spend the majority of the time asking him what he thinks about everything that has happened to LeBron James.  This is what we’re in for with the Heat, folks.

Forget the decision.  Forget the Heat Index.  Forget the Heatles.  All of those things make the Heat annoying, certainly.  But they pass as soon as they come.  There is a deeper reason to root against the Heat, and we all know what it is.  When it comes down to it, this team is terrifying.

Stay Out of the Kitchen

It doesn’t really matter how they came together anymore.  Whatever you think of them, this team is probably going to win championships, plural.  And whatever America or the Mavericks can do to stop this freight train needs to happen now.  I dont think Dallas can win this series, and I dont like the idea of Dirk winning a title, but if we dont stop Miami now, if we don’t do something to limit the damage the careers of these three have on the rest of the league, we’ll soon be referring to the Heat as one of the greatest franchises in the NBA.  If you dont think that can happen, take a gander at where ESPN ranks Jordan’s otherwise irrelevant Chicago Bulls on their franchise list.  What’s at stake here is keeping LeBron’s name as the best player of all time out of your mouth, keeping comparisons between this team away from the Celtics of the 60s, Bulls of the 90s, and Lakers of the 80s and 00s.  Dirk, your time is now.