Dirk and Lebron's Place in NBA History

I love sports history. Nothing makes me happier than an inane argument about baseball hall of famers (anyone who has sat through my “Frank Thomas is a no doubt first ballot Hall of Famer" can attest to the unnecessary passion I bring to my arguments). While baseball has its Hall of Fame, the NBA has its 50 Greatest Players of All-Time. Every year, come June, we get a chance to debate and dissect the historical importance of athletes. Baseball is a game that we ultimately quantify by numbers (have you ever heard anyone argue that Dimaggio was a better hitter than Ted Williams because Williams never won a title). But in basketball, titles are the true mark of the greats. That is why a convincing argument can be made that Bill Russell was a greater player than Wilt Chamberlin, even though the numbers tells us that cannot possibly be true. Kobe enhanced his historical legacy by winning in ‘09 and ‘10 because he finally won without Shaq. No one can rationally argue that Kevin Garnett was better than Tim Duncan because the rings (4-1) tell us all we need to know. With all that being said, two players stand at a historical crossroads this year: Lebron James and Dirk Nowitzki.

Dirk
Dirk is entering his second finals (losing to Miami in ‘06) and has been, hands down, the best player this postseason. Who do we compare Dirk to historically? From a playing style standpoint, there is no apt comparison. Dirk is a 7 foot jump shooter who has developed a stunning low post game and is a German to boot. No one in history had his offensive game. And as a quick tangent, I blame Dirk for the erosion of low post skills in the NBA. Where is the Kevin McHale, the Hakeem Olajuwon, the Tim Duncan among the current crop of NBA players? All the big guys want to be jump shooters. Think of the big men still in the playoffs: Boozer, Bosh and Dirk are all way more comfortable facing up than with their back to the basket. Dirk made tall jump shooting attainable. But I digress.

If I am looking to compare Dirk historically, his contemporaries are probably Barkley (‘93 MVP, ‘93 finals runner up), Malone (‘97 and '99 MVP, Finals runner up in ‘97 and ‘98), Ewing (runner up in ‘94 and ‘99) and Garnett ('04 MVP,‘08 Finals winner). I would have an extremely difficult time arguing against any one of those guys being outside the top 40 players ever (I could make a case against Ewing but that’s it). Depending on how you feel about KG (ie, do you blame him for Minnesota’s years of mediocrity), doesn’t a title put Dirk ahead of that entire crowd?

Dirk’s legacy has taken some shots. His ‘07 MVP award is consistently derided because Dallas was knocked out in the first round by 8 seed Golden State that same year. He missed a free throw that would have tied the game late in Game 3 of the ‘06 Finals and griped about the refs (valid gripes, the Mavs were playing 5 on 7 from Game 3 on, but still) constantly as Dallas saw a 2-0 lead evaporate, ultimately losing in six (causing everyone to forget how unreal Dirk was until that point). A title in 2011 puts all that behind him. I say it puts him ahead of Barkley, ahead of Malone, and yes, ahead of Garnett as the second best power forward of his generation (no one is catching Duncan).

Where would a title put him among active players? Well, he’s behind Kobe, Shaq, Duncan and Lebron (he’s a 2 time MVP already, I don’t care that he hasn’t won a title... but we’ll get to him in a minute). And I have him ahead of Nash, Garnett and Wade. If he wins a title this year, Dirk becomes the 5th best active player historically. In my lifetime, he’s behind Jordan, Magic, Bird, Isiah, Kareem and Olajuwon as well (and maybe Pippen). A title this year makes Dirk one of the 10 best players of my lifetime. Without a title? He ranks right with Malone, Barkley, Ewing, Iverson, Nash and Kidd as the best players in my lifetime with no titles to their names.

Lebron
What is Lebron’s legacy going to be? Maybe the most difficult thing for Lebron is that he is not the player we expect him to be. We want him to have Jordan’s killer instinct. Lebron goes to Miami in free agency, taking the path of least resistance to a title. We want him to be Magic running the break. Lebron has never shown a desire to be a point guard. We want him to average a triple double. No one has even come close to that since Oscar Robertson back in an era with inflated numbers. Expectations on him are so high, he is destined to never live up to them. A title might let Lebron be Lebron. Comparing him to Jordan or Magic does a disservice to everyone involved.

A title for Lebron legitimately makes him one of the five best players of my lifetime. He would not have the resume of Jordan, Bird, Magic, Isiah, Kareem or Olajuwon. But he would win his first at 26, two years ahead of Jordan. In my lifetime, Magic, Bird, Jordan, and Duncan are the only players with multiple MVPs who also won a title (I don’t count Kareem since his last MVP was in ‘80 and Moses Malone won his last MVP in ‘83, the year I was born). Shaq, Kobe and Olajuwon never won multiple MVPs (though each of them probably should have). Malone and Nash never won a title. That is a pretty impressive list.

Lebron is nearly a mortal lock to be the best player of his generation. Bird and Magic dominated the 80s. Jordan was the player of the 90s (with Olajuwon filling the role for the two non-Jordan years). Shaq and Duncan ran the show for the first part of the ‘00s. Kobe owned the last half. Lebron’s only real competitors are Derrick Rose (youngest MVP in league history), Kevin Durant and Dwight Howard, but Lebron is leaps and bounds ahead of those guys. The glaring hole in Lebron’s resume? No title. If the Heat let the Bulls back in the series or if they ultimately fall to Dallas, that hole will be a little more glaring.