Expert’s Corner: Two Champions, One Trophy
Related Images
NBAE via Getty Images
After one of the greatest Finals in the history of the NBA, NBA India's Karan Madhok and Akshay Manwani got together to reflect on the paths that brought both of these teams -- each deserving of an NBA championship -- to the place where there can only be one. Read on below, and look back at the series on NBA LEAGUE PASS!
In most cases in life, the road to the summit can be excruciatingly difficult, but once a peak has been conquered, returning back on top becomes easier with every subsequent try.
Not in the NBA.
If we thought that Miami Heat winning a title for the first time of the ‘Big Three’ era (their second title in franchise history) last year had been a challenge, the return to the summit proved to be their toughest test yet. But, the challenge maketh the man. If the Heat looked like the world’s best basketball team back in 2012, winning the 2013 championship solidifies them as one of the most resilient champions in recent history.
Miami have to thank all the doubters who thought that they wouldn’t have the mettle to win a second consecutive championship in 2012-13.
They have to thank the critics who wondered if the rise of other powers around the league would upstage the reigning champions.
They should thank those who thought Dwayne Wade wasn’t going to be healthy enough, Chris Bosh assertive enough, and their version of small-ball effective enough to win again.
They have to thank the Chicago Bulls who ended their historical winning streak at 27 games and toughened them up for the challenge ahead.
They should thank Brandon Jennings for predicting that the Bucks would win the First Round series in six.
The Bulls for shocking them and stealing Game 1 on their home court.
For the surging Pacers, who used their size and toughness to force them to a grueling seven-game series in the Conference Finals.
And to the brilliant San Antonio Spurs – one of the greatest basketball teams of the past decade and a half – for giving the Heat the competition they deserved at the NBA’s biggest stage: the Finals. Against a weaker finals opponent, Miami’s victory would’ve seemed a little hollow. A good team needs another good team to make them great. Every legend needs legendary competition. Magic had Larry. Federal had Nadal. Barcelona have Real Madrid. And for the 2013 NBA Finals, the Heat had the Spurs.
When the confetti settled at the end of a memorable series, the Heat emerged as back-to-back NBA Champions, and winning their third championship in the last seven years. Dwyane Wade has been an integral part of all three championship teams and showed up at key moments in the Finals to rescue his team. Chris Bosh recovered after being bullied by bigger players in the Eastern Conference to standing up and delivering with strong defense and key plays in the Finals.
Ray Allen – a man who has made a career out of hitting big three-pointers – hit perhaps the biggest shot of his life to take Game 6 in OT and keep Miami’s aspirations alive. At different times, the likes of Mario Chalmers, Mike Miller, Shane Battier, and Chris Anderson proved their worth to the Heat.
And then there was LeBron James, the man who capped his fourth MVP season with his fourth trip the Finals and his second championship. LeBron joined Bill Russell and Michael Jordan as the only players to win back-to-back regular season MVP awards and championships. After struggling (by his very high standards) earlier in the Finals, LeBron stepped it up to do everything necessary on both ends of the floor to carry his team to the Promised Land once more. He averaged 25.3 points, 10.9 rebounds, 7 assists, and a bunch of big shots to seal his second consecutive Finals MVP award.
At the end of a season where they looked like a historic great team, it took a historically great Finals series to determine the champion. And by defending their championship, the Heat completed their second summit to the top.
Amidst the euphoria of the Miami Heat’s second consecutive championship, and the end of an epic NBA Finals, it’s hard not to feel for the San Antonio Spurs. “Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion,” said Rudy Tomjanovich, coach of the Houston Rockets, at the end of the 1995 NBA Finals. But while Tomjanovich said those iconic words in the moment of his team’s victory, the Spurs displayed their championship mettle right through these NBA Finals despite ending up on the losing side.
Seriously, there were no losers at the end of these Finals. The Miami Heat may have walked away with the Larry O’Brien Trophy, but they walked away, knowing very well that the Spurs had been worthy adversaries. As television reporter, Doris Burke, caught up with the victorious team members of the Miami Heat – from Dwyane Wade to Erik Spoelstra to LeBron James – immediately after Game 7, the one common word that came up in all their comments for the Spurs was ‘respect’. If LeBron James’ self-assessment of his Game 6 heroics were, “I’m going to go down with no bullets…,” then the Spurs pretty much embodied that statement from LeBron with their performances over seven games.
Criticisms on such a day, after such a tough loss for the Spurs, are foolish. Particularly after the Spurs displayed a tenaciousness in Game 7 that few expected of them in the aftermath of the heart-breaking Game 6 loss. For those parochial enough to blame this result on Gregg Popovich for his coaching decisions in the dying moments of that game, or on Manu Ginobili for his 22 turnovers in the series, or on Tony Parker, who went a combined 9-for-35 (25.71 percent) from the field in Games 6 and 7, or on Danny Green, who went just 1-for-12 from the floor in Game 7, understand this: winning and losing a series does not only come down to a few missed possessions or missed shots. As the Grantland writer, Zach Lowe, wrote in his beautiful column leading into Game 7, “We remember players for their work in big moments, and that is never going to change. But when we overvalue those big moments at the expense of everything else, we do both those players and the game itself something of a disservice.”
Instead, we would do well to look at what this Spurs’ team achieved. Written off as too old after a first round exit in the 2011 postseason and four straight losses to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2012 Western Conference Finals, they battled their way to yet another Western Conference title. Tim Duncan, in his 16th season in the league, averaged a near double-double (17.8 ppg, 9.9 rpg) through the regular season. Tony Parker, if not for an injury in the month of March, was a likely candidate for MVP. His play in these Finals - his Game 1 winner, his Game 5 play - was outstanding and second only to LeBron’s, despite a hamstring injury. Along this season, and even more so in the playoffs, the Spurs saw an uncut diamond in the form of Kawhi Leonard develop into a polished basketball player with a tremendous future, possibly the cornerstone of the Spurs’ franchise over the next decade. Above all, coach Popovich once again brought into focus the beauty of team basketball in an era that is increasingly bowing to individual superstars.
There is definitely speculation over where the Spurs are headed from here. Duncan, who has two years and $20.7 million left on his contract, hasn’t said anything yet about retiring, but who knows. At 37, the Big Fundamental is not getting any younger. Ginobili, who will be a free agent this offseason, when asked about the ‘R’ question between Games 4 and 5, said, “I really don’t know. All season long I kind of knew that I was going to play one or two more years. But when you are 36 — I’m going to be 36 pretty soon — everything is a day-by-day basis. Once the season finishes and I see how I feel, I can’t imagine me not playing at least one more year here, but time will tell. We’ll see.”
Then there’s Popovich, who has always linked his destiny to Duncan’s. “When he doesn’t think he can [play], he’ll stop… And I’ll be right behind him, like this. No pride, no nothing,” Popovich, as reported by NBA.com’s Sekou Smith, was quoted as saying earlier this season to the San Antonio Express-News.
And so, if these NBA Finals are the lasting memories that the San Antonio Spurs leave us with, we should be grateful. They gave it their everything, every ounce of effort, every bit of their energy, with nothing, no silverware to show for it.
But sometimes, that is all that matters in sport.
Karan Madhok
Writer, NBA India
Writer, NBA India
Miami Twice
In most cases in life, the road to the summit can be excruciatingly difficult, but once a peak has been conquered, returning back on top becomes easier with every subsequent try.
Not in the NBA.
If we thought that Miami Heat winning a title for the first time of the ‘Big Three’ era (their second title in franchise history) last year had been a challenge, the return to the summit proved to be their toughest test yet. But, the challenge maketh the man. If the Heat looked like the world’s best basketball team back in 2012, winning the 2013 championship solidifies them as one of the most resilient champions in recent history.
Miami have to thank all the doubters who thought that they wouldn’t have the mettle to win a second consecutive championship in 2012-13.
They have to thank the critics who wondered if the rise of other powers around the league would upstage the reigning champions.
They have to thank the Chicago Bulls who ended their historical winning streak at 27 games and toughened them up for the challenge ahead.
They should thank Brandon Jennings for predicting that the Bucks would win the First Round series in six.
The Bulls for shocking them and stealing Game 1 on their home court.
For the surging Pacers, who used their size and toughness to force them to a grueling seven-game series in the Conference Finals.
And to the brilliant San Antonio Spurs – one of the greatest basketball teams of the past decade and a half – for giving the Heat the competition they deserved at the NBA’s biggest stage: the Finals. Against a weaker finals opponent, Miami’s victory would’ve seemed a little hollow. A good team needs another good team to make them great. Every legend needs legendary competition. Magic had Larry. Federal had Nadal. Barcelona have Real Madrid. And for the 2013 NBA Finals, the Heat had the Spurs.
When the confetti settled at the end of a memorable series, the Heat emerged as back-to-back NBA Champions, and winning their third championship in the last seven years. Dwyane Wade has been an integral part of all three championship teams and showed up at key moments in the Finals to rescue his team. Chris Bosh recovered after being bullied by bigger players in the Eastern Conference to standing up and delivering with strong defense and key plays in the Finals.
And then there was LeBron James, the man who capped his fourth MVP season with his fourth trip the Finals and his second championship. LeBron joined Bill Russell and Michael Jordan as the only players to win back-to-back regular season MVP awards and championships. After struggling (by his very high standards) earlier in the Finals, LeBron stepped it up to do everything necessary on both ends of the floor to carry his team to the Promised Land once more. He averaged 25.3 points, 10.9 rebounds, 7 assists, and a bunch of big shots to seal his second consecutive Finals MVP award.
At the end of a season where they looked like a historic great team, it took a historically great Finals series to determine the champion. And by defending their championship, the Heat completed their second summit to the top.
Akshay Manwani
Writer, NBA India
Writer, NBA India
No Less Than Champions
Amidst the euphoria of the Miami Heat’s second consecutive championship, and the end of an epic NBA Finals, it’s hard not to feel for the San Antonio Spurs. “Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion,” said Rudy Tomjanovich, coach of the Houston Rockets, at the end of the 1995 NBA Finals. But while Tomjanovich said those iconic words in the moment of his team’s victory, the Spurs displayed their championship mettle right through these NBA Finals despite ending up on the losing side.
Seriously, there were no losers at the end of these Finals. The Miami Heat may have walked away with the Larry O’Brien Trophy, but they walked away, knowing very well that the Spurs had been worthy adversaries. As television reporter, Doris Burke, caught up with the victorious team members of the Miami Heat – from Dwyane Wade to Erik Spoelstra to LeBron James – immediately after Game 7, the one common word that came up in all their comments for the Spurs was ‘respect’. If LeBron James’ self-assessment of his Game 6 heroics were, “I’m going to go down with no bullets…,” then the Spurs pretty much embodied that statement from LeBron with their performances over seven games.
Instead, we would do well to look at what this Spurs’ team achieved. Written off as too old after a first round exit in the 2011 postseason and four straight losses to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2012 Western Conference Finals, they battled their way to yet another Western Conference title. Tim Duncan, in his 16th season in the league, averaged a near double-double (17.8 ppg, 9.9 rpg) through the regular season. Tony Parker, if not for an injury in the month of March, was a likely candidate for MVP. His play in these Finals - his Game 1 winner, his Game 5 play - was outstanding and second only to LeBron’s, despite a hamstring injury. Along this season, and even more so in the playoffs, the Spurs saw an uncut diamond in the form of Kawhi Leonard develop into a polished basketball player with a tremendous future, possibly the cornerstone of the Spurs’ franchise over the next decade. Above all, coach Popovich once again brought into focus the beauty of team basketball in an era that is increasingly bowing to individual superstars.
Then there’s Popovich, who has always linked his destiny to Duncan’s. “When he doesn’t think he can [play], he’ll stop… And I’ll be right behind him, like this. No pride, no nothing,” Popovich, as reported by NBA.com’s Sekou Smith, was quoted as saying earlier this season to the San Antonio Express-News.
And so, if these NBA Finals are the lasting memories that the San Antonio Spurs leave us with, we should be grateful. They gave it their everything, every ounce of effort, every bit of their energy, with nothing, no silverware to show for it.
But sometimes, that is all that matters in sport.