NBA should forget regular season and jump straight into the playoffs
There’s something awkward about resuming an NBA season with only 16 of the 30 teams, should the restart even take place, but it’s a necessity. There’s simply no point in trying to finish the regular season before moving to the playoffs.
In the wonderful world of asterisks, we’re already talking Extra Large if a team wins the title. If you’re trying to play through a pandemic in neutral settings with nobody in the stands, you connect with nothing in Finals history. Don’t ruin this risky venture by welcoming the absurd.
Those 16 teams worked hard to establish playoff position. Nobody else has the right to qualify after such a maddening layoff. The Warriors have long disappeared from view, but the same goes for Portland, New Orleans or any other team trying to sneak into this sciencefiction film. They all had their chances.
And for heaven’s sake, forget the idea (actually discussed) of a “playin tournament” to determine the final playoff slots in each conference. Could it be more boring, especially during times of urgency? “Hey, come see the teams that don’t deserve this.”
It’s true that a regularseason start would give playoffbound teams some actual game experience, not to mention serving as a trial run for the system, but none of that matters against the larger issue: adding the risk of the coronavirus
for 14 teams and the parade of additional personnel. What’s the point of throwing them and their families into the isolation mix, handing everyone a stiff dose of anxiety? There isn’t one. Off to the Bad Ideas bin it goes.
There’s no debate
The “Last Dance” documentary has dominated every studioshow conversation for weeks — not bad for something that happened nearly a quartercentury ago — so you figured a bit of lunacy would come into play. Right up front: The notion that Michael Jordan somehow isn’t the greatest player of all time.
It’s best to have been there, as was your 3Dot proprietor for five of Jordan’s six Finals, the epic AllStar weekend in Chicago, the 1992 Olympic qualifying in Portland and the Games themselves in Barcelona. But “Last Dance” made it all quite clear. Forget about contrasting eras, rules changes, the caliber of Jordan’s opposition, his dictatorial nature, any of those nebulous categories, and focus on the most complete basketball player we’ve ever seen.
Several of the alltime greats have been better passers, notably LeBron James, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, and it’s difficult to measure rebounding for a player operating out of the backcourt — although if you asked Jordan to average a tripledouble, as did Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook, bet the house on him pulling it off. He was no Rick Barry from the freethrow line, but consistent (unlike LeBron) and on the money when it mattered. Jordan could have been a great 3point shooter, but like Bird and everyone else from his era, he didn’t understand the concept. It made so much more sense to attack the basket, which is why Jordan averaged only 1.7 beyondthearc shots per game in his career.
Now take every other category, and know for certain that Jordan was equal or superior to everyone in history: Defense (firstteam AllNBA a record nine times). Creating his own shot. Trustworthy on
any shot, from anywhere on the floor. Textbook footwork. Violent inyourface dunks over the game’s biggest stars (catch those clips from the early years). Scoring in the clutch. Crazy work ethic. No gear less than full throttle. Creating a dynasty and lifting teammates into history. Magnetism, star power and global appeal.
You want to bring anyone else into this discussion, make sure he’s got an elevator going up.
Fantasy Ball
Our “Golden Greats: The I5 Series” begins Tuesday. Go to sfchronicle.com/sports to watch the game recaps every day. There also will be daily dispatches in the print edition. ... So who would manage the Northern California team in this fantasy world? The first name that comes to mind is Bob Melvin, who grew up watching the Giants at Candlestick, played at Cal and for the Giants, and now manages the A’s with distinction. But this goes way back. When the Cubs won the 2016 world title, it was their first since 1908 — managed by Frank Chance, who grew up in Fresno and also attended Cal. The great Lefty O’Doul managed five Pacific Coast League champions with the San Francisco Seals from 1935 through ’51. San Francisco’s Joe Cronin had World Series teams with the 1933 Washington Senators and 1946 Red Sox. Jim Fregosi (Serra High) won the NL pennant with the ’93 Phillies, and Oakland’s Frank Robinson was the major leagues’ first African American manager. And the best of them all, at least in the dugout, was Berkeley’s Billy Martin. That’s quite a field . ... It’s not quite so complicated in Southern California, where L.A.-raised Sparky Anderson gets the nod for his three world titles: two with the Reds (197576) and one with the Tigers (1984). Dusty Baker, who grew up in Riverside and went to Poly High for a year before his family moved to Sacramento, wouldn’t be a bad call, either.
On the Air
From 2 to 11 p.m. Saturday, NBC Sports Bay Area will feature the Warriors’ 200607 “We Believe” team” with four of the best regularseason games . ... From 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday on that station: a tripleheader of regularseason pitching gems by the Giants’ Ryan Vogelsong . ... From 3 to 11 p.m. Saturday on NBC Sports California: Games 2 and 4 of the 1972 A’s Reds World Series, then Game 1 of the ’73 Series against the Mets. ... NFL Network devotes much of the weekend to onehour “America’s Game” shows on the greatest teams, including the 1976 Raiders at 9 p.m. Saturday. Sunday features the 49ers of 1988 (9 a.m.), ’89 (10 a.m.) and ’94 (3 p.m.) . ... NBA TV will air Saturday tributes to the 201617 Warriors (10 a.m.) and the 201718 team (noon).