Oh, how much the NBA has changed in a relatively short time. Let’s think about one of the most prevalent hoop philosophies from about a year ago: You can’t win a title without a high caliber big man. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I wasn’t one of the many who subscribed to this. But here’s what I can tell you, I bought out as soon as Miami proved it otherwise. Guess who hasn’t bought out yet.
The Lakers recently acquired one Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic. The Sixers got Andrew Bynum, the Nuggets acquired Andre Iguodala, and Orlando? My, oh, my. The Orlando Magicians, somehow, without the aid of smoke or mirrors, managed to make their superstar disappear, entirely, and received next to nothing for him. But that’s not the point here. The point is that Dwight is now in purple and gold. Dwight is also a shining bookmark in a chapter the rest of the league has apparently turned.
Has the NBA found some way to stop Dwight Howard? Outside of fouling him every so often, no. In fact, no one can really stop Howard. Instead, basketball seems to have side stepped him entirely, leaving to dominate in the post, while the NBA takes its focus to the perimeter.
The Larry O’Brien trophy once demanded a Kareem Abdul Jabar. It once required nothing short of an “Admiral”, a “Stilt”, or some guy named Cartwright. And just like that, poof! Talents are taken to South Beach, a squad in OKC grew up before our eyes, and our long-loved big man centric philosophy was turned on its head.
We witnessed an NBA finals whose most “dominating” presence inside was arguably Serge Ibaka. We saw the last few days of the NBA season decided by 6’8″-6’10” ballers who lived on the outskirts of the court, draining long-range shot after long-range shot. If Magic Johnson had not played alongside Kareem, but was instead paired up with the post presence of, say, Christian Laetner…that would be a fair equivalent to the squad we saw lift the trophy this year. The game has literally moved away from the interior completely. That’s what makes LA’s acquisition of Dwight and Nash so interesting. It shows that they mean business…had this been 2009.
Personally, Steve Nash is the reason I started watching basketball. I was raised on soccer. Nash did with his hands what my favorite futbolers did with their feet. With that being said, he’s yet another example of the Lakers’ apparent disconnect with reality. Steve Nash is now going to be the other half of a back court tandem that’s expected to deal with Russell Westbrook and James Harden. There’s no chance there. In fact, pick-and-rolls or not, Westbrook has Nash’s number on both ends.
Then there’s Dwight Howard. The thing about Nash being overtaken by essentially every guard in basketball is that he now has Dwight Howard as his help, a blessing he’s never experienced. Not to mention, Howard is an upgrade on Andrew Bynum, don’t get that mistaken. He’s in fact a huge upgrade. This business of Bynum being in Howard’s class is nonsense. Dwight is on another level defensively and athletically. Yet, he represents the Lakers’ infatuation with an outdated school of basketball. He’s an authentic, original, strictly post-present big man in a game of 6’10” small forwards and ridiculously fast guards. Howard is LA’s attempt to win a title, but it’s looking more like they’ve placed an obelisk on a race track.
This is what the NBA’s ruling party looks like (granted it’s against New York):
Sure, Howard is his own kind of super athlete. The man is in a class of his own, leaping centers in a single bound. But he’s going to be tested. He’s going to be proving his championship mettle against a new formula. Also, consider the fact that the triangle offense is no more in LA, and how the Lakers’ offense looked lost on many occasions this past season.
No longer do teams necessarily put the game in his hands. In the up coming season, LA might well see teams give up the post, squash their perimeter game, and let the scoreboard do the talking. Can the Lakers put Howard in a position to be more than just an homage to when centers ruled the league? LA no doubt has its chunk of nationally televised games, so we’ll sure as hell see.
