It was Dallas's year.
Destiny seemed to be on the sides of the 2010-2011 Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. Ultimately, and in many ways surprisingly, the Dallas Mavericks got to this point very convincingly. Through so many people involved in the organization, a fan of the game can easily say, "It was just [insert Dallas Maverick]'s time."
Jason Kidd has been as close as many players can get to taking it all home at the end of the season. He was the unquestioned leader of unquestioned contenders in the start of the millennium, bringing the New Jersey Nets to the NBA Finals in consecutive years, before losing convincingly to both Shaq and Kobe's Lakers team in 2002 (Phil Jackson's third and last three-peat) and Tim Duncan's Spurs team in 2003. After that New Jersey team started to fade, many would say the road ahead looked bleak for one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game. Mark Cuban, Mavs' owner, desperate for a championship of his own, traded for Kidd a few years later. As Kidd grew older, nature called, and his athleticism began to wither. That athleticism had an inverse relationship with many of his intangibles, as well as his jump shot. To get to that coveted goal, he had to execute those facets of his game to perfection. He had to continue to make those perfect passes, will his team with his toughness late in games, and hit the open threes. The things that Kidd brought to that team proved to be more valuable then the explosiveness and scoring abilities that Devin Harris possessed.
With the championship won, there has to be a different historical perspective on Kidd. Magic Johnson, Isaiah Thomas, and Oscar Robertson are the best point guards in NBA history, but Kidd's championship shakes up the rankings after that. He passes Steve Nash and John Stockton because of the ring, and now, in my opinion, has passed Cousy on the list. Cousy was never the best player on his team, and the competitiveness and amount of contending teams is greater now than it was in the 1960s. To add to that, this has been one of the most competitive playoffs in the history of the game, ranking with 1993 and the great playoffs in the mid to late 1980s. Kidd has improved his legacy mightily with this championship.
Jason Terry has been viewed widely as a one-dimensional player for his entire career, starting with his days on bad Atlanta teams and through his time as Dirk's sidekick. Opposing defenders played him close, not fearing the dribble drive, and athletic (and even semi-athletic) wing-players and point guards blew passed him to the rim. Terry, however, developed an excellent pick-and-roll chemistry with Dirk through the years that made Dallas difficult to impossible to defend late in games. Jason Terry has climbed historically to the Mount Rushmore of irrational confidence players, a concept developed by Bill Simmons, among the ranks of Vernon Maxwell and Robert Horry. He knew he could make his shot, and never backed down in taking it. That was manifested in his shot over LeBron James down the stretch in game 5, a dagger that proved its worth in the series and the season.
Shawn Marion was seen as washed up and overpaid from his days thriving in the run and gun offense in Phoenix. Many thought, after Marion's flameouts in Miami and Toronto, that Steve Nash had created the all-star and great player that he was able to become for the Suns. However, Marion became a role-player on this Dallas team, and what a pivotal role he played. Marion concentrated on the things he did best, defense and second-chance opportunites on offense for his team. Marion played suffocating late game defense on the likes of Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade. How's that for a playoff run? He may not be a perennial all-star and scorer that he was able to become in Phoenix, but he played a role to perfection on a great team and gave a superb supporting performance in this year's playoffs.
Dominant force in the center position, but never putting it together to make a difference on his team. Not meeting his full potential and allowing himself to become the player that he can beThat is exactly what executives in Chicago, New Orleans, and Chicago thought about Tyson Chandler, leaving them to abandon the tough 7-footer. After all these stops, Chandler ended up on a playoff team with a lethal superstar in Dirk Nowitzki. He found his own. Throughout these playoffs, Chandler made players such as Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, Kobe Bryant, Shannon Brown, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade think twice about driving to the rim as many of them were so accustomed to doing with ease. He stood toe-to-toe with Lamarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Chris Bosh and kept them from giving their teams a better chance to win. He scrapped after lose balls and offensive rebounds again and again and again, keeping possessions alive and swinging momentum with these bursts energy and toughness. And to think, if he passed a physical he could have been playing for Oklahoma City. I will go bang my head on a wall for a bit.
Rick Carlisle has always been a coach on competitive playoff teams. He is, if not the best play-caller, one of the best play-callers the league has in having his team run effective plays that always end up in points. An extremely smart and methodical man, some analysts say Carlisle is too smart for his players. He set up and developed a great Detroit team, and then lost to that Detroit team as the coach of the Indiana Pacers in the 2004 Eastern Conference finals. Now with the Dallas Mavericks, Carlisle has his team executing in perfection all the way to the promised land of the NBA.
Dirk Nowitzki has solidified his legacy in the game. Continually haunted by the 2006 Finals after the Mavericks blew a 2-0 lead to the Heat, Dirk continued to work on his game and specifically his difficult circus shots with his longtime personal shooting coach. In the last three years, Dirk has proved himself to be the best one-man closer in the game, better than Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant in creating his own shot and making tough ones towards the end of close games. When you watch him play, his approach to offense is so meticulous, but he continues to do things that completely amaze those who watch him. He gets to his spot on the left side of the key or the foul line and faces up against his defenders, holding the ball high and over his 7-foot body, and hurls up his shot, one-foot, fading away, the defender's (or defenders') hands all over him. It doesn't matter. It gets to a point when you are surprised if it doesn't go in. Yet he goes back down the floor the same way, lifting up the left side of his jersey as if its too big on him, bearing his big German teeth with some sort of a menacing and maniacal grin. For every minute of every game, Dirk is focused on his team and the game. After the game ends, he is focused on winning the next one. Now he has won the championship. Although in post-game interviews and his press conference he looked like he needed a long night's sleep, he still seemed focused on winning the next game he plays, whenever the 2011-2012 season begins. Congratulations to Dirk. One of the most fun players to watch and a player, if you are a Dallas fan, that you could never lose faith in.
The Miami Heat probably will not win not 4, not 5, not 6, or whatever LeBron said in their famed pre-championship celebration last July, but they will likely get there. Not this year. This year is Dallas' year. This team got it all together at the right time and got their complicated cast of characters to rise up and bring the Larry O'Brien home to Dallas. It was all amazing to watch.
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