Rings are Won and Worn by Teams

Screen Cap from www.nba.com

I love happy endings.  Don't you?  Of course "happy" depends on which side you are on.

Finally, I can get into the championship fever.  Why do you guys in the States need to schedule championship games when half-way around the globe people like me are tied to the office, just starting our working man's day?  I almost didn't want to go to work after watching the Dallas run that was immediately followed by the Heat's own run to nail Dallas at 40 points.  All that action took only a few minutes, just enough time for me to put my pants and shoes on.

It was not the ending I envisioned early in the season.  I wanted a Lakers-Celtics rematch this 2010-2011  but I admit this finals turned out to be fresh and even more than what I imagined.  This is one of those series where you actually enjoy watching rather than spending most of the time crossing your fingers and hoping that your team would somehow scrape a win, game after game.

Basketball is a team game, especially in this era of multiple superstars and rising young guns.  As Sekou Smith pointed out:  a superstar Big Three can be defeated by a Big Team.  The Mavs had only one superstar and that forced them to spread the burden on everyone.  A passionate deep bench can always tip the scales for a team and a coach who are willing to open their eyes and spread the wings of the other eagles in a team.

Carlisle said it all for all of us "team" lovers:  "This is my opinion now. This is one of the unique teams in NBA history, because it wasn't about high-flying star power.. Come on, how often do we hear about the LeBron James reality show and what he is or isn't doing? When are people going to talk about the purity of our game and what we accomplished? That's what's special." 

Lebron will still have his time.  But it's sad when everyone focuses their attention on this one man.  Sad for him because it forces a terrible burden on him who is still desperately trying to prove his championship worth.  Sad for others in the team because they don't get credit for their own contributions.  Sad because while the  two other members of the Heat's Big Three were doing great, especially at the start of the finals, all eyes and talk were still on the third member who was obviously shrinking in all of the 4th quarters of the finals.

Look at the box score above.  Everyone in the active Mavs line-up converted points, aside from playing their roles in defense and offense.  This was the same story in at least one other game in the series.  A team that plays together spread the burden among themselves.  And they can sleep fully assured that they were part, and not merely accessories, in the quest for a championship ring.

Let's end with coach Carlisle again:   "Playing it a certain way. Trusting the pass. Our team is not about individual ability, it's about collective will, collective grit, collective guts. We're skilled and talented, too. But our game is on the ground. And the guys we were playing, their game was in the air. Fortunately, as the series went on, we stayed on the ground enough to be able to win it."

We will need members in a team who can spark passion and who can be depended upon and who can provide a stable back, but no single player can do that all of the time.  You need the cold determination of the giant Nowitzki as well as the speed of a "small" Barea.  Read all the news and blogs throughout the series and you will be able to name each active Mavs player and identify how each one made a difference in the series.

A TEAM wins rings.

Let's not miss this opportunity to affirm God's wisdom in the Bible:   


As it is, there are many parts, [1] yet one body.  The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”  On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. (1 Cor. 10:20-25 ESV)


A team wins rings.


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As an afterthought:  I hope Boston gets over its own fantasy of its big three.  That also cost them this season and the last season.  I hope they remember that their 2008 ring had more than 3 or 4 cast of characters and a crucial finals game they won last year was fueled by members of their bench.  I hope this upcoming lockout results to better basketball TEAMS.