Gearing up for the NBAs nuclear winter

Tweet Here at Millennium (sande) we decided collectively not to write anything about the NBA lockout.  This was due to it being reported heavily and with great detail elsewhere and us adding our opinions would not have been a very interesting read.  Now that it looks like the season will truly be lost the time for silence is over and although other writers of this blog may not have much to say I do.  However, what I am about to write has nothing to do with talking about the lockout, if you want to hear an excellent, well thought out conversation about it, just listen to Bill Simmons's podcast.  What I am going to talk about is the big picture winners and losers of the lockout.  Lets get right to it

The Biggest Losers

There is only one group in this category and that is us the fans.  I'm not just talking about casual fans who will wait it out, I'm talking about guys like me who are watching classic games on YouTube and typing in 'NBA lockout' into Google news hoping something comes up that will save the season, no such luck yet.

The Losers

Apart from the players, David Strern, several owners whose franchises actually make money, and all of the other employees who are job-less as a result of billionaires and millionaires fighting over a few million dollars, here are some teams and players who will also be affected negatively by the lock-out in my opinion.

The Heat-If the season is lost that is one more year without these guys winning but more importantly they wont win anything while also not having an opportunity to build on last years success.  The longer this thing drags on the longer the chemistry the Heat managed to build up disappears and will have to be re-built again.

All of the up-and-coming talented players that essentially waste a year of their development because of this.

Dallas-apart from being a franchise that makes money, they do not get to defend their title or give their fans a ring ceremony, it wont feel the same in a year.

Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, KG, Pierce, Allen, Nash, etc.-all of these older starts who waste a valuable year of productivity.  The counter-argument here is that the rest might do them some good who knows?  But some of these guys I listed are approaching some important milestones which, in a historical context, would have benefited them greatly.

The Rookies-Imagine finally achieving your dream and having to sit through this shit and they are not even allowed to go back for another year of NCAA hoops, this is just sad.

The players who actually wanted to play and didn't even get a chance to have their say in the NBA's latest proposal, so much for democracy.

The In-between group

Lakers-On one hand their window for contending closes, on the other Dwight Howard could join this team as a free agent!  They also shed a year off of some truly awful contracts that they have and also hold off on the Mike Brown experiment for a while.

Spurs-A year off might be exactly what they need to re-fuel and make one final run with this group before blowing it all up.

The 'Winners'

Raptors-shed some brutal contracts and allow their first round pick to develop and start as an actual rookie instead of playing overseas for a year.

The owners who wanted to miss a season so they could save some money...lets move one

The Lawyers-some law firms stand to make a ridiculous amount of money from the amount of suing and counter-suing that is about to happen, expect at least a million articles trying to simplify and explain the process to the 73 fans that will still be around in January.

All players with long-term serious injuries that get to heal and rehabilitate.

The biggest Winner

Billy Hunter, who somehow gets to keep his 2-million dollar-plus salary even if desertification happens and makes all the headlines.  So he will be making money while the majority of the union he represents is losing it and this is fair how?  Shane Battier was right to ask Hunter if he was willing to forfeit his salary if it came to this so why are more players not demanding this of Hunter now that he has failed to negotiate a season for them?  That is all the complaining about this I will do.

Biggest potential story no one is talking about yet

Do you realize that desertification means that ALL contracts are void?  Do you realize that if the players follow through with their threats to dissolve the union that we are going to have an all-out free agent war whenever this is resolved?  You think the heat are a dream team?  How about the Lakers (and the money they have) getting the Heat's big 3 and matching it with Kobe, and Dwight Howard?  I need a drink.

Requiem for a Championship

Tweet Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks organization and fans of the Mavericks for winning the 2011 NBA title!  Let there be no questions; Dallas was the best team this year and fully deserved the title.  On a roster where no players had won a championship previously, its almost hard to believe that they were the best team in basketball this year.  Not the best collection of individuals, but the best TEAM.  NBA championship teams are often defined by qualities.  Detroit is associated with Defense, Lakers with showtime and flare, the Celtics with toughness.  For the 2011 Mavericks, the best quality I can think of is: teamwork. 

When you reflect on Dallas's run to the title, you will be able to point to everyone doing something (with apologies to Caron Butler, Beaubois and Jones, who were inactive for the playoffs). Whether it was Corey Brewer sparking a comeback in Staples center, Brendan Haywood playing excellent defense, or Jason Kidd hitting a dagger 3 against Portland, this team always gave their superstar the help he needed.  Big shots from Stojakovic against the Lakers, key minutes by Mahinmi and Cardinal in the finals, and Shawn Marion's willingness to guard Brandon Roy, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and Lebron James in consecutive series.  Not to mention J.J. Barea's heart, Tyson Chandler's toughness throughout the playoffs, and De Shawn Stevenson and JET backing up their words against Wade and James.  It is truly remarkable for a team to have this many players contributing in big ways but coach Carlisle made it work.  As for Dirk Nowitzki, I'm sure everyone will have a different opinion on his best moment of these playoffs but for me, one stood out in particular: the last 30 seconds of game 6 against Miami. 

As Dirk Nowitzki took a pass from Jason Kidd on a beautiful cut to the hoop with thirty seconds remaining in game 6 and put the ball in to the hoop it began.  He raised his fist high in the air and took in the moment, he seemed to take it all in, relishing every moment of his first NBA title.  Then, after a stoppage in play, he put both hands on his head and seemed distraught.  Emotion overcoming him to the point where he did not want to be seen, he left the court as fast as he could once the buzzer sounded and headed in to the locker room crying.  If there is any question as to how much this title meant to him, those images should tell you how much it did.  In various post-game interviews he talked about how seeing all the hard work he put in over the years pay off caused him to break down.  Finally Dirk was able to get even with Wade after the latter had won a title at his expense in 2006.  Finally Dirk can forget about 12 seasons of disappointment.  Finally, his resume as an NBA player is complete.  No longer will anyone question his toughness, leadership, or ability in the clutch.  If there is one thing we learned tonight, its that Dirk Nowitzki is a true champion.