Monday, April 4, 2005
The Daddy and the Child: A Tale of Two Cities
There is safety in numbers. Team sports lend themselves to statistical analysis. To paraphrase scripture, ye shall know them by their digits. Missed games aside, it is safe to say that Shaquille O'Neal is more valuable to the 2004-05 Miami Heat than Kobe Bryant is to the Lakers.
Numbers seldom lie: the Heat are 55-19, leading the Southeast Division's second-place Washington Wizards by 12.5 games. Without Diesel fuel, the Lakers lag at 33-39, a woeful 22 back of the Pacific Division-leading Suns. And the cross-town Clippers are nipping at their heels.
Kobe Bryant is a marvelous basketball player, at both ends of the court. That is a distinction he shares with Michael Jordan. Similarities end there, as he is not a proven leader (or even winner, shed of Shaq). No. 8 has played in 57 of the Lakers' 72 contests, and is averaging a commendable 28 points, 6 rebounds, and half a dozen dimes. He's also only shooting 43%, his lowest mark since 1997-98, when he was a callow (but not gun shy) teen. He averages more than four turnovers, well above his previous season high average of 3.5. Kobe is only shooting 34% from the arc. And in the court of public opinion, sales of his uniform jersey replica disappeared.
What about the New King of South Beach? Shaq's only Achilles' heel is he wasn't hip to Carlos Delgado. In 69 games, he's averaging 2.4 blocked shots, 23 points, close to 60% from the field (his highest since 1993-94), and 10.5 boards. He's healthy, fit, and well-matched with Dwayne Wade. No team, even Phoenix, leads their division by as many games as the rejuvenated Heat, who are on track to win 60 games. No doubt, the Diesel will put it on cruise control as we near playoff time.
In the East, he'll face no Tim Duncan's, Kevin Garnett's, or Amare Stoudamire's. The Big Fella won without Penny Hardaway and is winning without Kobe. Tinseltown, for its part, will finish out of the playoffs. What must Magic Johnson think?
What does it all mean? For one, talented centers are rare, and Bryant's lack of appreciation thereof initiated the Laker downfall. Shaq's post presence caused defenses to sag, providing perimeter opportunities for Bryant as it now does for Wade. The Lakers also lack interior defense, no small weakness in the West. Wing talents come along relatively often, but even Dwight Howard and Emeka Okafur will never be Shaq. Rarely is an older superstar more valuable than a younger one, but it is plain to see a 33-year old O'Neal is not expendable, a 26-year old Bryant has yet to prove such. A post player himself, Phil Jackson had to know this.
Winning is about more than talent, it is about getting the best performance from oneself and one's mates. To arrive, and remain at basketball's summit, the elite must recognize the importance of player roles. Bill Russell had this awareness, as did Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan. No man, not even Dominique Wilkins or Allen Iverson, can do it all. To this day, Yao Ming's Rocket teammates have not learned how to mesh their talents with his, though Yao is no Shaq.
What a star pivot player can do though, is attract defenders, and find open teammates with passes out of the double-team — an O'Neal skill that elevated the three-peat Lakers. As Bryant ages, his ability to elude wing defenders will fade somewhat, as will the spring to leap over the trees inside. The Shaq-Kobe inside/outside game stretched a defense beyond reasonable limits, and made the game easy. No NBA team had enough talent to double-team both players, which would occupy 4/5 of its team.
The (Late) Lake Show drove Rudy T to resignation (he a man who endured Vernon Maxwell, and the Charles Barkley/Scottie Pippen feuds). It appears, rings and all (not counting the makeup rock he copped for wife Vanessa), Kobe Bryant's legacy will not be the Jordan-esque one he aspired to, but one of team-wrecker.
In a rare twist of fate which turns the tables on Wilt Chamberlain's favorite saying, in the case of Shaquille O'Neal, everyone roots for Goliath.