As we have reached mid-June with the Stanley Cup Finals beginning, the NBA Finals concluding, the NCAA Men’s College World Series ready to open and the MLB season continues onward to its October destination. I will get to all of those later. There is something else I want to discuss first.
I was mindlessly working out in the gym when I saw Stephen A. Smith, the bombastic talking head at ESPN, discussing lists of NBA players. First, with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo of WFAN fame in New York, they talked about the toughest guys in the NBA. Those players you wouldn’t want to mess with, At any time.
Then, on another day, he was engrossed in a debate over Steph Curry and his place in history. Whether Curry has made it into the top 10 of all-time NBA players. Smith said he would with another championship and a Finals M.V.P. award.
I agree with Tony Kornheiser of Pardon The Interruption that this listing stuff is nonsense. Comparing different players of varying talents and positions makes it rather difficult.
One barometer is how many rings they have won. To that I say—how can you compare the era of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to that of Tim Duncan? Russell won 11 championships in 13 seasons. Duncan was on 5 title teams. Russell was a mega talent, but he was surrounded by far more Hall of Fame players than did Duncan, who played with the likes of Mano Ginobli, David Robinson and Tony Parker. Despite his 6’11” height, which is taller than Russell, who measured 6’10”, Duncan is considered to be the greatest power forward ever, while many believe that Russell was the best center ever.
Yet thee are those who will offer an argument that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won the tilte 6 times in Milwaukee and with the Lakers and accumulated a tremendous resume, is ahead of Russell. Others make an argument for Shaquille O’Neal, who is a 4 time champion. He certainly was a force in his prime, especially paired with Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest himself.
For that matter, where does one place Lebron James? At 6’9”, he has been classified as a small forward. Look at him—he is anything but small in the way he plays.
I take a different approach to all of this. I look at what kind of impact the individual had on the game. Which allows me the luxury of not declaring who is the greatest nor establishing a top 10 list because it can lead to an unjust apples and oranges comparison.
One of my favorite examples is Derek Jeter. Was he better than Babe Ruth? Of course not. Maybe he wasn’t better than Mickey Mantle or Lou Gehrig or Joe DiMaggio. Perhaps not even as great as Yogi Berra, who won 10 crowns with the Yankees. But it was a different time that the aforementioned stars played their games.
Yet, unquestionably in my mind, Derek Jeter was the greatest Yankees player since Mantle, who retired in 1968. Jeter did not possess the power that Mantle had, nor the speed The Mick had until he suffered the first of his knee injuries.
What Jeter did, on a team which had some Hall of Fame players join him for a few years here and there—Wade Boggs, Tim Raines, Mike Mussina immediately come to mind—was stand out. He could hit. He made the plays. Kids idolized the way Number 2 carried himself, including so many future MLB players.
Jeter was head and shoulders the best infielder the Yankees ever had. I say that jokingly about Phil Rizzuto, who was 5’6” tall and previously was known as the best Yankees shortstop. Jeter also was the Yankee who had the most hits, by far and away.
It would be folly to compare Jeter to Ruth, Mantle, Di Maggio, etc. He could be better compared to Alex Rodriguez, Cal Ripken, Jr., Ozzie Smith—all who primarily played shortstop.
Which I am not going to do.
What Russell could do was defend. There may not have been a better center defensively in the game. Chamberlain changed the game by his size and strength—the NBA widened the foul lane because of him. Magic Johnson showed us that a 6’9” player could play point guard. Larry Bird reminded us how to shoot and win. James showed us a refined way of play, second only to Michael Jordan, who changed the game as he floated through the air with grace and dominated whenever he wanted to.
Those players changed the way basketball could be played. Which is what Steph Curry has done. He may not have had the cast that Russell was bestowed with, or for that matter Johnson or Bird. What he did was revolutionize the game from the three point line while dribbling magically to open himself up for drives to the hoop, stop and popping from in the lane, or dramatically changing the outcome of games by his pinpoint shooting beyond the arc.
So when you watch Curry get battered on a remarkable scoop shot that bounces into the basket, or continually sinks 9 out of 10 free throws, or throws up a shot from 35 feet out that majestically swishes, know that he changed the game of pro and college basketball by his ability to do what no other 6’3” guard could do among his peers.
Whether or not the Warriors win the title or he garners the Finals M.V.P. to join his two League M.V.P. trophies, Steph Curry is one for the ages. And that is why I watch him play with such awe and reverence.
The Yankees reached 46-16 with 100 games to go. Aaron Judge is at 25 home runs with 49 R.B.I. He is being serenaded with M.V.P. chants each at bat. Every night, somebody else steps up to help Judge.
The starting pitching is as good a rotation as has been seen for a long time. Clay Holmes might have been the heist of the century when GM Brian Cashman grabbed him from the Pirates. He is an untouchable closer, making the injury of the incumbent closer, Aroldis Chapman, seem insignificant.
This team is playing at a pace which is now surpassing the 1927 Yankees led by Ruth and Gehrig and a host of Hall of Fame players. The tough stretch I mentioned a couple of weeks ago is upon them. In the first two home gamers with the Rays, the Yankees are 2-0 and have won 13 straight in the Bronx.
If the Yankees win 50% of the games, they have 96 wins. Win 60% and the total is 106. I know I am the eternal pessimist, waiting for the roof to cave in. For now, this has been some ride.
As formidable as the Yankees have been, how about the defending World Champion Atlanta Braves winners of 14 straight? This is without Freddie Freeman, now in LA, where I learned he chose the Dodgers to be closer to his father, who helps adjust the first baseman’s swing when it needs tweaking.
Kudos to the Phillies who have manufactured some gutsy come-from-behind wins during their renaissance. And don’t look now, but the San Diego Padres have virtually tied the Dodgers in the NL West—without the string bat of Fernando Tatis, Jr. in the lineup at all this season. Yes, Mets fans, you still reside in first place without Jacob deGrom or Max Schurzer on the mound. You do have a good team, too.
Game 1 of the Stanley Cups Finals was an exciting opener. Colorado, the Western Conference leader, won in OT. John Cooper, coach of the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning indicated that his team could play much better. If Cooper is correct, then we hockey fans are in for a whale of a series.
This is being written before Game 6 of the NBA Finals in Boston, where the Celtics trail the Golden State Warriors 3 games to 2. In spite of a real rarity when Curry did not make one three point field goal, the Warriors downed the Celtics with timely scoring and plenty of defense.
Most experts believe that Boston will win at home. That may be true. The Celtics are one heck of a team.
I have been chided about not making strong predictions. How can I when I honestly don’t know what would happen in Games 6 or 7, if the series goes that far? My heart says one thing—rooting for Curry and his mates. Conversely, my mind is jumbled with how good the Celtics are and whether the Warriors have just enough to down a very worthy opponent. That is why I will be up until near midnight watching tonight’s game unfold. While switching back and forth to the Yankees game.
One last comment. The NCAA Men’s College World Series starts in Omaha on Friday. There is a bias towards the Southeastern Conference having an overabundance of top flight football teams. Now call the SEC a baseball conference.
How about four SEC schools making the final eight. Arkansas, Auburn, Ole Miss and Texas A&M are there. Future members Texas and Oklahoma, still in the Big 12, are also present. LSU and Vanderbilt, perennial SEC powerhouses aren’t in Nebraska. And Tennessee, the top team all season, lost at home to Notre Dame in the Super Regionals (I don’t understand how Notre Dame jumped to become the favorite to win it the MCWS just because they beat the Vols).
I have said too much. Please, Stephen A., no more talk about lists.
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