Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk Dirk.
Nowitzki.
Because isn't that really what it's all about? A player developing himself into a star? Staying in Dallas while a team was built around him for 13 years (13 YEARS!), and finally exercising his Finals demons against the same team that vanquished him 5 years prior?
Isn't that the championship story we want to hear about? Isn't that the purity in sports that we love to root for? To watch the seemingly good conquer the seemingly evil?
Dirk is the kind of superstar you can't help but love. He motivates his teammates the right way, mentioning that Jason Terry hasn't been as clutch as they needed him to be. Terry responded tremendously in Games 5 and 6. Then, in Game 6, when Dirk shot 1-12 in the first half, it was Jason Terry that reminded him, "Keep pushing. Remember '06."* You visibly saw his team stand up for him, and have his back these playoffs. He's a player his team loves to play with. How often is that said?
And when the Larry O'Brien trophy is awarded, we want to see the MVP be overcome with emotion...pure joy...at finally getting what he worked so hard for. We don't watch sports to see superstars preen, boast, and pound their chests when they win a title (or 6 months before they win anything). We want to see years of struggle, hard work, disappointment and motivation be wiped from their face as they hold the championship trophy up for all to see, as if saying, "Look at what we did. This is ours. You'll never take this away from us."
So in this moment, be happy for the NBA. It's one of the rare times things work out the way they're supposed to. We have a true champion who did it the right way, and if nothing else, reminded us why you don't go to sleep when Dwayne Wade hits a 3-pointer to go up by 15 with 6 minutes left in Game 2.
Because anything can happen when you have a 7-foot German on your team.
*Quote borrowed from Adrian Wonarowski's column on the Finals seen here, (I promise to give it back)
**This column brought to you with no mention of any over-exposed players by the Association for Not Jumping on the Bandwagon of Hating Players or Giving Too Much Attention To People Who Don't Deserve It**
ITS OVER!!!
ReplyDelete