True dominance is not so drab

HO-HUM NBA POST-SEASON SETS STAGE FOR COLLISION OF TRANSCENDENT POWERS

in Washington

The only thing more predictable than this NBA post-season has been the reaction to its predictability. Those who bellyached last July over Kevin Durant’s decision to join the Golden State Warriors’ funhouse are snarling and belting out “I told you so!” at every chance. After nearly seven months of “competition,” the season will end the way everyone knew it would end: with Part III of the Warriors vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Hibernating bears have experienced more suspense.

So there’s one thing that I, as a passionate defender of dominance, must say in reaction to this boring reality. So what? Give me two super powers marching indomitably toward a rubber match over mediocrity disguised as parity any day. I’d even take it over a more balanced playoffs that resulted in just a couple of pretty good teams playing a seven-game NBA Finals. Sure, the ideal scenario is to have balance and greatness, but that’s craving the exotic. This is the NBA’s current state: Seven of the league’s top 25 players reside in the Bay Area or Northeast Ohio, for a variety of reasons. And so be it, for now. Actually, so be it, for as long as the NBA has existed.

I’m not flippant about the NBA’s competitiveness issue. There are problems that require deep thinking, especially during a year in which the playoffs have been all chalk except for No. 5 seed Utah beating the No. 4 Los Angeles Clippers, which hardly rates as an upset. Even worse, many of the 14 series we’ve watched have been lopsided. There have been just two Game 7s. Both conference finals have been a haze of blowouts. Until Boston went to Cleveland and won without Isaiah Thomas on Sunday, it was assumed that the Cavaliers and Warriors would both enter the Finals with unbeaten post-season records.

But it’s too reactionary to demand sweeping changes to the playoff model and the NBA’s overall structure. Just a year ago, the post-season provided fantastic drama, with five of the 15 series going seven games, intriguing storylines across the field and a historic finish.

Even if NBA commissioner Adam Silver opted to make significant adjustments, there’s one thing about basketball that can’t be litigated: It’s the team sport in which a single superstar can have the most dramatic influence. To be one of the all-time greats in this game, you’re expected to win multiple championships. To be considered among the top 10 ever, you’ll likely have to win at least three. Why? Because that’s the way it has always been. The great players suffer, then they crack the championship code, and then they are slow to fade.

Every eight to 12 years, one or two transcendent figures will emerge and make parity difficult. There’s always a Mikan, a Russell or an Abdul-Jabbar. There’s always a Bird, or a Magic or a Jordan. There’s always a Shaq, or a Duncan or a LeBron. And they always find a way to partner with another legend or two, and that’s when the mass championship-collecting begins.

I’m not certain of your tastes, but it’s likely that if you were to make a wellthought list of the top 10 players in history, only one of them — Oscar Robertson — would be without multiple titles. The Big O won only — only! — one title: in 1971, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Many of you might list only one other player who won fewer than three titles. That figures to be Wilt Chamberlain, who won just — just! — two.

In NBA history, the Boston Celtics (17) and the Los Angeles Lakers (16) have won 33 of the 70 titles, nearly 50 per cent. Twelve current franchises haven’t won a title. Seven of them haven’t even made a Finals appearance.

Right now, the NBA is LeBron James’s league. Two years ago, the Warriors beat LeBron’s Cavs in the Finals, setting the stage for James to return the favour last season by rallying from a 3-1 series deficit, beating his recordsetting, 73-win nemesis and delivering Cleveland its first pro title in 52 years. Now the Warriors have added Durant, giving them four all-stars and arguably the secondand third-best players in the game in Steph Curry and Durant. If either team can figure out how to raise the stakes again, the NBA is going to be forced to separate them into their own league and make them play each other 82 times next season.

For what it’s worth, Durant doesn’t care about the lack of parity.

“The fans always want to see a tight game; they always want to see a buzzer-beater every game, but it’s not like that,” Durant said. “You have your years where you have your great playoff series, four or five Game 7s. Then some years you have what you see in these playoffs. As players, you want to go out there and win by as much as possible and play as great as you can. Whatever happens with the score happens.

“Relay that to the fans who feel upset. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.”

At the end of these boring playoffs, there will be a Finals full of drama. It will be James’ greatest test. It will be vital to Curry’s pursuit of legendary status. It will be an opportunity to see Durant perform under must-win, no-excuses pressure.

If the inevitable proves worth it, I’ll look back at the rest of the playoffs, shrug and come to the same conclusion. So what? Dominance can be compelling. nationalpost.com