It's nearly taboo to say that the basketball games of today are better than the times when Jordan was winning back-to-back championships, when Kobe was still just an expensive kind of beef, and when fouls and fights were seen as expected rather than frowned upon. But it's true. Basketball today is at its best, and it's all thanks to one man: Lebron James.
Lebron James has been a catalyst for some interesting conversation about who is the greatest basketball player of all time, including the obvious "Jordan vs. Lebron" debates. These conversations are a waste of time. First of all, it's impossible to compare players from different eras, because every 15 years or so in this league, the game seems to evolve. Maybe it's just the new wave of players coming in as older players retire, but every era seemed to have a superstar and a defining theme. The 50s and 60s and 70s showed the beginning of the league, with bland and Xs and Os basketball including names like Bob Cousey, Bill Russell, Jerry West, and Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt Chamberlain still holds the record for most points scored in a game with a mind-numbing 100 point game in a form of basketball before the three point line was even a concept. Bill Russell began his career around this time, but no one would know he would go on to win 11 championships (eight in a row). This era presented incredible championships and arguably some of the greatest moments in basketball history, from Mr. Clutch, the introduction of the three point line, the merger, KAREEM. However, even at that time when basketball was at its purest, it seemed to be more about the feats of one star than the efforts of a team. The trend seemed to be that the greatest players were winning, not the greatest teams. Don't get me wrong, basketball has always been and always will be a team sport, but even back then, it seemed that nobody knew how to stop a one or two man wrecking crew. Even in the early 80s, it was all about Magic Johnson versus Larry Bird, instead of the Celtics versus the Lakers.
It wasn’t until the Detroit Pistons of 1989, where even as they lost their All-Star point guard in Isiah Thomas to an ankle injury, the team stepped up and went on to win a championship, and then went on to back-to-back championships. That was the first rendition of a true basketball team without the need of one load-bearing superstar. It was incredible basketball to watch as a team shut down the one-man wrecking crew in Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls, but unfortunately it was short lived, as all great teams have been. The next truly great team didn’t come until the 1994 and 1995 Houston Rockets team. Again, there was a star at the center, Hakeem Olajuwan, but even with him, there were other pieces to that puzzle of a team that were necessary and made it a team.
Finally in the 2000s, there was obviously guys around the league like Kobe, Shaq, Dwayne Wade, and Lebron that just dominated the game, but it was the Spurs that would go on to win five championships with Tim Duncan at the center of it all. You began to see teams shut down superstars in the Finals with incredible gameplay and teamwork, rather than the incredible play-making ability of one star athlete. Of course every winning team has a leader, but that leader doesn’t always (and most often doesn’t) take the center of attention or the weight of the team on his back. This year was one of the first years to see that theme.
The 2015 NBA Finals
The NBA Finals have always separated the men from the boys, but the NBA Finals have had a history of favoring the team with the superstar on it, like Jordan, Kobe, Magic, and Bird. Most of the NBA Finals teams of the past have been won by teams where one player does as much as he can offensively and defensively while the rest of the team gets out of the way, and these “teams” have been unbelievably successful. Jordan went on to appear in six NBA Finals series, and win six. Kobe appeared in seven and has won five. Lebron? Has now been to six and has only won two. It is apparent that throughout the course of time, the NBA and its players have learned how to stop teams with one-man wrecking crews and how to beat them, and this year's Finals were a perfect marquee matchup to display this gameplay evolution.
Lebron James and his skeleton of a roster (missing two injured All-Stars) were up against a team unlike ever before. The 2014-2015 Golden State Warriors saw the heroics of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, and Draymond Green, but this time, together. Stephen Curry has definitely made a name for himself this year as a superstar with his unbelievably quick shot, dribble that looks like he’s playing basketball with an oversized orange yo-yo, and ability to drain even the deepest of 3s with confidence. This kind of shooting is something we haven’t seen since Kobe in his prime, but even Kobe relied on a turn-around shot and his athleticism, where Steph shoots so natural it seems like he was shooting 3s before he was taking his first baby steps. The Golden State Warriors went on to win the Finals in six games, and proved, for once, that it’s not about asking which team has the greatest player, but which players are on the best team.
Basketball is finally showing its true colors as a team sport, and it is a lesson to people everywhere, that no matter how great an individual is, it is the efforts of many, together, that make a difference. And that, my friends, is what makes for a great sport.
