The Ever Changing NBA Dynasties
Fans have witnessed several dynasties that have impacted the league. We may be on the verge of witnessing a whole new one.
There is a particular scene that ranks as one of my personal favorites from HBO’s classic crime drama, “The Wire.” It was in the episode “Homecoming.” Marlo Stanfield (played by Jamie Hector) is having a conversation with his adviser Vinson (portrayed by Norris Davis) about his next move against his competitors and what it means to be the king in the drug game. He has recently got the jump on his rival Avon Barksdale (played by Wood Harris) and is continuously making his presence known on the streets. Avon was the drug kingpin of the streets of Baltimore and the one who was perceived as “holding the crown.” Around the time Avon was in prison, Marlo was on the rise and is aiming for the top spot.
“He gonna have to come back at you,” Vinson tells Marlo. “You know it ain’t gonna stop at this.”
“I don’t want it to stop,” Marlo replies. “Barksdale weak today. They ain’t working with the ammunition I got.”
“No doubt, you carryin’ a full clip,” Vinson says. “But what you gonna do when you sittin’ at the head of the table? Once you there, you got to hold it down.”
“Sound like one of them good problems,” Marlo retorts.
“Prisons and graveyards, full of boys who wore the crown,” Vinson says.
“Point is, they wore it,” Marlo barks back. “It’s my turn to wear it now.”
That line from Marlo is significant in terms of the nature of the shifts of power. No matter how accomplished you may be there will always be a new, younger generation or some upstart looking to take your top sport. It doesn’t last forever. All things must come to an end.
This sentiment is especially true in the world of sports.
I have watched the NBA ever since I was a little boy growing up in New York and eventually New Jersey. Naturally I was a fan of the New York Knicks since my family were diehard fans. Each season we had hoped and prayed that this team, coached by the legendary Pat Riley and later Jeff Van Gundy, would succeed in bringing home the championship and ride through the streets celebrating their hard earned victory. Sadly, there were obstacles too great for the team to overcome in the playoffs. There was Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets, Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers, Alonzo Mourning and the Miami Heat, and even Shaquille O’Neal and the Orlando Magic.
However, none of those guys could compare to the supreme basketball dynasty that was the Chicago Bulls. That team was led by a man would transcend the game of basketball and what it would mean to be a pro athlete in America.
The structure of the NBA today as far as the definitive superstar dominating the league can be attributed to Michael Jeffrey Jordan. The Hall of Fame shooting guard set the standard as to what it meant to be the best pro athlete on the planet. His tenure with the Chicago Bulls created a new type of dynasty never before seen at the time. Sure, the “blue collar,” defensive Boston Celtics and the “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers had impacted the league before but not in the way where the league is driven by one superstar. You associated the Bulls with Jordan. Yes, they had legendary, god-like athletes on the team like Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, and coached by the brilliant Phil Jackson but Jordan was the face, the leader, and the star attraction. Everybody in the league knew it.
When he retired, he left the title of the best player in the world wide open. Plenty of players have had claims to that crown as the definitive superstar in the NBA (Shaq, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson) but the status of superstar icon who would be passed to Kobe Bryant. Bryant was always a dominant player and definitely an athlete who was at the peak of his prowess but he would be the first to deal with the pesky notion of being in the shadow of the great Michael Jordan.
For the majority of the 2000s, Bryant was often touted as an “imitator.” He was a “mimic in a gold jersey.” It was no secret that Bryant’s game was based off of Jordan’s techniques. He was a skilled offensive player, played the shooting guard role, had a scorer’s touch, and a competitive spirit. He would be the first player after Jordan’s reign to carry the legacy as the prime superstar in the league and would hold the title as the best player in the world.
Bryant was able to secure five championship titles during his time with the Lakers. He had obtained three with Shaq and two on his own. He was also coached during his tenure by Phil Jackson and had a semblance of a superteam similar to the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s. Although not perfect, they had a major impact on the league and were often touted as the team to beat in the NBA Finals. Their presence as the dominant team in the league was recognized and Bryant was at the helm of a new NBA dynasty team.
However, as Vinson of “the Wire” stated to Marlo: legacies don’t last forever and someone else will wear the crown.
When I was in high school, I could remember my friends Davon and Byrd talking about the emergence of a new basketball prodigy the world has never seen before playing a televised ESPN game while in high school like the rest of us. My brothers Felix and Charles also mentioned this to me and were surprised I was not aware of this person’s existence. Felix, my big bro, kept mentioning over and over again about some kid from Akron, Ohio who had a high basketball IQ and had excellent court vision and handles Magic Johnson and Jason Kidd, score with efficiency like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, played physical defense like Dennis Rodman, and was an elite shot blocker like Dikembe Mutombo. I told him he sounded like one of those fictional street ballers from “NBA Street, Vol. 2.” He looked at me like I was the craziest person in the world. I didn’t take anybody seriously and didn’t believe that this LeBron Raymone James, Sr. was going to be a dominant player in the league.
I had to eat my words and slap myself several times at that point.
LeBron definitely made his presence known that day and it would be poetic that he would be drafted by his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Since coming into the league, he has set several records and dominated the game of basketball. As Kobe declined in skills and stardom, LeBron continued to rise and eventually would emerge as the best athlete in the world.
LeBron’s ascension wasn’t an overnight process. He had to endure mediocre-assembled rosters on the Cleveland Cavaliers and only made it to the NBA Finals once with his team. He realized that if he were to surpass Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Paul Pierce, and his other rivals at the time he would need to be part of a team that would provide him the best chance to rule the NBA.
Hence, a new dynasty was formed in the league. This time they would emerge in Miami.
LeBron’s infamous “decision” to take his talents to South Beach would change the power structure of the NBA. The partnership of James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade transformed the Miami Heat from traditional playoff contenders to a legitimate title threat. They had the talent and the coaching helm to defeat any team in the league. At the time, the Boston Celtics were deemed as the supreme talent of the Eastern Conference while the Lakers were the definitive best team in the league. Things began to change once LeBron made his move to Miami. The Celtics and Lakers were getting older. Traditional defensive schemes and old school style of offenses like the Triangle Offense were no longer effective. The three point shot suddenly became the great equalizer in NBA offenses. Mike D’Antoni’s style of “pace and space” basketball that was utilized during his tenure in Phoenix was becoming the norm and the Miami Heat were one of the first teams to adopt and embrace this basketball philosophy. Although they were unable to win a title in their first year, they were able to secure one in their second and third go around, winning back to back titles in 2012 and 2013.
LeBron was able to enjoy the fruits of his success in South Beach but things were once again changing and the once unstoppable Miami Heat were suddenly looking mortal. LeBron’s old rival Tim Duncan returned to the NBA Finals and brought along a new protege who would emerge as one of the best two way players in the league and a constant thorn on LeBron’s side during the regular season.
Kawhi Leonard’s emergence as a skilled defensive stopper and an elite scorer showed us a changing NBA league that proved that even greats like LeBron could be stopped when a great team and an extremely skilled athlete are assembled together. Aside from other personal reasons, this would fuel LeBron’s second major decision to return to the team that birthed his NBA career. It was supposed to serve as a major homecoming for the king and now that he had the championship experience he can help the Cavaliers get to the Finals and bring home the title that he promised to do so many years ago.
Little did he know that there was another team that was looking to bring home a championship to their franchise for the first time as well.
The Cleveland Cavaliers would return to the NBA Finals in the spring of 2015 but would meet their match at the hands of the rise of the “Splash Brothers” Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, along with veteran defensive forward Andre Iguodala — who has a history of defending LeBron during his tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers — a unique, undersized hybrid power forward/center in Draymond Green, and coached by Steve Kerr, a former NBA point guard who was coached by two of the greatest minds in basketball, Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich. The emergence of the Warriors introduced the NBA to the “Death Lineup,” a matchup nightmare for opposing teams that has all five players skilled enough to shoot the three ball while creating enough space to drive to the basket for easy layups or midrange shots. They would serve as the atypical representation of “positionless basketball.”
This style of play would also help the Warriors win their first NBA title.
It could be argued that it was due to sheer luck. During that Finals matchup, LeBron was in an unfortunate position due to the loss of All Stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love due to injuries. The following season LeBron would return with a healthy roster and would deliver his long established promise of bringing home a championship to his hometown.
Although the Warriors were always a championship-caliber team, the current era of basketball is still defined by LeBron James. He is still the standard that all players aspire to be when playing basketball. He’s still called the best player in the world for a reason and his dominant, MVP performances year after year show that this is a man who is a supreme talent that should never be overlooked against his competitors.
However, we may have to deal with the fact that his era and reign may be approaching its end. And it may be sooner than we think.
Kevin Durant’s decision to join the Warriors mirrored LeBron’s decision to join the Miami Heat. Both teams were already superb in terms of talent but having a generational talent would evolve the team beyond championship status. Thanks to Durant’s decision, he has turned the league upside down and has teams trying to assemble superteams in an effort to dethrone the Warriors. Meanwhile, LeBron continues to maintain his title as the best player in the league but it’s abundantly clear that his era is slowly reaching an end. His defining skills are still there. He’s still an elite defender, excellent shot blocker, can take over a game in crunch time, and has a scorer’s touch when driving to the basket or shooting three pointers. However, he also had to play whole games in order to ensure that his team doesn’t fall out of contention.
This was especially evident during this postseason run where he went through not one but two extremely close Game 7 games against young teams that are on the come up. The Cavaliers’ current salary cap structure makes it difficult to sign another superstar. Plus, Cleveland isn’t exactly known for attracting stars. The Kyrie Irving trade is more damaging than most people think since LeBron is about to become a free agent this summer and may very well leave his hometown again just to have another shot at winning the championship and the young star they have cultivated since his rookie year has gone to greener pastures in Boston and they essentially have no one.
LeBron could join another team thi summer but would he be the focal point of the team? How long will that last? What if it’s still not enough to beat the Warriors? These are questions that nobody wants to ask because they want to enjoy LeBron’s presence for the duration of his career, but these are questions that fans and the media will have to deal with at some point.
The Cavaliers and Warriors will enter their fourth consecutive NBA Finals appearance tonight and it’s pretty obvious that Golden State has Cleveland’s number. While some may picture it as another NBA Finals defeat and unfortunate bad luck for LeBron going up against a titan-like NBA team, most could see this as a shift of power. Much like Avon Barksdale’s decline in power when Marlo Stanfield was on the come up, LeBron’s reign as the definitive best player in the league is at a crossroads and a new NBA dynasty is about to take over the league. While it is questionable as to who the best player on the Warriors is, there’s no denying that they are the team to get past now.
As the saying goes, someone wore the crown and now it’s someone else’s turn.
*additional credit to Sports Illustrated, NBA.com, NBC Sports, USA Today
