VI

There's only one name that universally comes up as the greatest of all time.  Love him or hate him, he is the standard that all current NBA players want to surpass but how realistic is the thought.  Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, and even Dwyane Wade have been compared to him.  A former teammate of his even proclaimed that one day LeBron James could be better than his Airness but there's only one player that can compare to the greatness that was Michael Jordan.  On April 16th 2003, Jordan scored the last 13 points of his career total 32,292 points.  Jordan spent the last two years of his career with the Wizards but that's not what he's remembered for.  Michael Jordan was and will always be a Chicago Bull and will always be remembered for one number......VI.

For the past 17 NBA seasons we have witnessed the closest incarnation of Michael Jordan that perhaps we'll ever see and sadly he's nearing the end.  Still effective on certain nights, he is considered a relic in this new era blooming in the NBA.  His career blossomed during the time of relics and now he's become one his self.  It's funny because I once heard that as humans we all begin in diapers and most end their lives in them as.  It's a sad but cruel truth that afflicts us all too often and thus the career of an NBA player is no different.  There comes a time when it all ends, the mind wanting to soldier on but the body slowly betraying the wishes of its true master.  It's the moment that every athlete fears, the moment where one question is asked....."What do I have left to give?"  That one singular question has dethroned the greatest athletes, the most fierce champions and now facing his own mortality stand Kobe  Bean Bryant.

What does he have left to Give?

Over 30,000 points scored, 5 MVP Championships, 1 Gold Medal, and 1 NBA MVP.  Kobe Bryant has seen and done it all.  From the moment he entered the league he knew what his destiny would be, there was only one thing that he wanted.  Jordan was the measuring stick and Kobe wanted to surpass his idol at all costs.  The obsession eventually transformed "media friendly" Kobe into the Kobe that most of the NBA world loves to hate, The Black Mamba.  Demanding, foul mouthed, in your face Kobe but I forgot another label........multi-time champion.  With that being said isn't odd that the Mamba has been virtually absent this season?  The production is there, the foul mouth is there but something is missing.  Is it possible that Kobe has given us all that he has?  The endgame is upon us has Bryant himself has already stated that he may walk away from the game in two years once his current contract expires.  When I look at Bryant I see a great player that's 34 years young but in NBA years he's closer to 38 years old, having lived through countless deep playoff runs and multiple knee injuries. At this stage in his career what does Kobe have left to give?

Obsession:  The dominations of one's thoughts or feelings by persistent idea, image, desire, etc

It's no secret that Kobe Bryant is seemingly "obsessed" with becoming the best player that the NBA has ever seen and he has stopped at nothing to achieve it.  There's been feuds with coaches and teammates and some say that Bryant is even responsible to single handed breaking up the last true dynasty in the NBA, the Lakers team that began the millennium.  In his mind Bryant can do no wrong i.e. the departure of Shaquille O'Neal from the Lakers.  During the summer of 2004 Bryant had threatened to leave the Lakers for the Clippers and seemed serious about it.  The relationship between he and O'Neal was fractured beyond repair and once the Lakers moved O'Neal to the Miami Heat, Kobe Bryant signed a 7 year contract with the Lakers the next day.  The timing of Bryant's new contract spoke volumes.  The Lakers had made their choice and good or bad they had to live with it.  Kobe's profile skyrocketed and the "Black Mamba" was born but it was at the cost of several disastrous seasons for the franchise.

Kobe's move to run O'Neal out of town was finally validated 5 years later as Bryant began a string of 3 straight NBA Finals appearances, losing the first and winning the final two.  Not without the help of Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant had once again returned to the throne that he had grown obsessed with; capturing 4 and 5.  The Los Angeles Lakers are used to winning championships in bunches but in the NBA Championship teams/contenders usually only have a shelf life of about 3 years....the kings have their reign and then they die.......

A Thunderous End..............

As they always seem to do, the Los Angeles Lakers have regrouped and added star power but the one constant for the last 17 seasons has been Bryant or what is left of the Bryant that we once knew.  The additions of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash were supposed to propel the Lakers to the top and they still might, these things often take time but that's the very problem that the Lakers are faced with.....time.  Howard and Nash are not 100% and the Lakers are a bunch that are long in the tooth.  They've already endured a coaching change this season and question still remain about their defense but yet Bryant is that constant, trying to will the franchise for his own gain, that elusive number six.  If championship were won on will alone, all great NBA players would have one but sadly that's not the case.  The West's franchises growing in strength as the Lakers are seemingly in decline is no coincidence as the last two seasons the Lakers have been eliminated from the playoffs in embarrassing fashion.  The Lakers currently face great threats from the Grizzlies, Spurs, and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

If the Lakers are to overcome the challengers that were mentioned above will the Black Mamba be able to lead them to victory or will it be a new Bryant, an incarnation of Bryant that we haven't seen before.  Known for being aggressive at all times on the court, Bryant has never come across a shot that he doesn't like but now in the twilight of his career Bryant must do something that he was forced to do early in his career.......he has to become the second option.  Kobe Bryant will have to accept the role of being selfless and defer to the Lakers prized off season acquisition Dwight Howard.  VI is not even feasible if Dwight Howard isn't allowed to take his place among the Lakers greatest centers, Mikan, Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar, and O'Neal.

Acquiring IV would be a great Christmas gift for Bryant and perhaps the final milestone that'll be reached in his career but it's a gift that he'll have to wait until June to capture.  In the eyes of many, IV would be a coronation for Bryant and the cementing of his greatness next to the standard bearer, MJ.  Once his career is over, Bryant will have more points scored, more assists dished out, and more rebounds grabbed than MJ but it is the elusive IV that will truly make the defining statement and bring finality to a Hall of Fame career, one that will leave Bryant on a list of the top 5 players to ever play the game.  What does he have left to give.............................................VI

  

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We can all exhale now: Dwight Howard is a Laker

       Well that didn't take long or did it?  The feeling is that this could have been completed months ago but alas it's finally done; Dwight Howard is a Los Angeles Laker and it's the right choice.  Lets forget about all of the posturing it took from the Magic and other franchises to get to this point and lets focus on the future which is now much brighter for the Lakers and Howard.  Simply put, the Lakers needed Howard to be relative again because we all know that Kobe is slowing down and the Lakers would have simply faded away if they'd stay on the current course that they were on.  This trade will give the Lakers life for years to come and eventually LA
will become Howard's town but he must embrace the greatness and not run from it.

Why run from legacy, face it, own it, add to it, that's the task that Dwight Howard faces now.  Mikan, Wilt, Kareem, and Shaq all made their names and won championships as members of the Los Angeles Lakers and now it's Howard's turn to add championships to his resume'.  For the longest time it seemed as if Howard was running away from his "destiny", not wanting to be called a follower of Shaq but all of that ill will can be erased.  It is said that in order to lead one must learn how to follow and that's another task ahead for Howard now as he must learn what he can from Kobe because soon Kobe will be no more and Howard will have the opportunity to be the dominant force that he's meant to be.

Howard has to understand that the time for excuses is over and that he needs to be what the league needs right now, a dominant big man.  Some may say that Howard is already a dominant big man but the truth is that he has no competition at the position.  If coached right, Dwight Howard has a chance to be far superior to what Shaq ever was on offense and defense but it's a huge if.  Simply put, the pieces are in place and the Lakers will only go as far as Dwight Howard takes them.  This is not the time to make any predictions but I will say this.....those who follow the NBA closely should know what the "money matchup" will be for the NBA Finals.  Will it happen, maybe but there will be a learning a curve.  The Lakers will be a factor in the west again just based on the matchup problems that they'll create but it is entirely too early to pick them as the favorites to win the 2012/13 NBA Championship.

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A Magical Mistake? Dwight Howard & The Orlando Magic

During the summer of 1996 a wave of destruction rocked the city of Orlando, destroying one Florida franchise and giving birth to another.  Shaquille O'Neal devastated the Orlando Magic by leaving for the bright light of Hollywood to join the Los Angeles Lakers.  Just a year prior, the Magic were in the NBA Finals facing the eventual Champion Houston Rockets where O'Neal was outplayed by an older, wiser Hakeem Olajuwon.  He was a budding star, on his way to becoming one of the most dominate big men in the history of the NBA but he was allowed simply walk away.....how did this happen?  Who was responsible for allowing the franchise to just walk away, never to return.  Four NBA Championships,eleven All Star game appearances and one NBA MVP award later, no one really knows the answer.  It was after the finals loss to the Houston Rockets that the seeds for an escape were planted, the Orlando Magic won 57 games that season and the next season they did even better by finishing with 60 wins but
they were defeated by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.  Allowing Shaquille O'Neal was not the plan for the Orlando Magic and not enough was done to convince him that the franchise could remain a winner, for they had reached the mountain top only to come crashing down.

There's no doubt that O'Neal was smitten by the possibilities that LA offered based on the fact that he'd always dreamed of being more than a basketball player.  Why be just an athlete when you had an opportunity to be a cultural icon and considering that O'Neal spent most of the summer prior to his rookie season in LA with non other than Magic Johnson, the Magic were already in for an uphill battle once O'Neal became eligible to become a free agent four years later.  During the initial negotiations between O'Neal, the Magic and the Lakers, the Lakers offered O'Neal a contract of $120 million with the Magic's final offer being $115 million.  O'Neal publicly stated that the Magic were his first choice however then Magic GM John Gabriel never believed him.  To make matters worse, the Orlando Sentinel ran a poll asking if O'Neal was worth a $100 million dollar contract.  The question was designed to make O'Neal look bad from the outset based on the fact that the majority of Americans would agree that professional athletes, especially NBA athletes earn too much money....no scientific poll needed here, just look at the reactions based on misinformation of the NBA lockout of 2011.  To no one's surprise, 90% of the respondents agreed that O'Neal wasn't worth a contract of 100 million.

Lets dig deeper into this poll and also into the psyche of human beings.  We are selfish by nature, destructive, and judgmental, always has been and always will be in one shape or form.  I've even been guilty of stating that someone doesn't deserve the salary that they earn "Joe Johnson" but I've always blamed to team/owner for such things because athletes don't draw up their own checks, non of us do.  The residents of Orlando have yet to get over the departure of O'Neal nor truly understand why he walked away.  I spoke to a die hard Magic fan almost a year ago who's much older than me at a family function and he explained to me how he still felt pain of the departure every time he saw O'Neal.  Another told me once that he hated the Miami Heat due to the fact that O'Neal arrived there and helped Dwyane Wade deliver a championship in only two years.  How could the same residents who degraded O'Neal's worth turn around and be shocked that he left.  The Orlando Magic eventually matched the Lakers monetary offer for O'Neal but the damage was done.  It was never a money thing for O'Neal, yes LA offered O'Neal easy access to some of the other passions he wanted to pursue i.e. movies and his rap career, but O'Neal left the Magic because he didn't fee appreciated.  He felt that the Magic didn't appreciate him with their first contract offer and he felt as if the fans no longer had his back after the poll results were released.  During his four years in Orlando, O'Neal averaged 27.1 points per game, 12.3 rebounds per game and shot 57.9% from the field but yet he received no love from the organization or fans.  What would you do if you felt unappreciated and unwanted?

A New Hope?

During the summer of 2004, the Orlando Magic drafted Dwight Howard with the 1st overall pick.  Many Magic fans were split on whether or not Dwight Howard should be the pick or Omeka Okafur who had just lead Uconn to the NCAA championship months earlier.  Hindsight is in indeed 20/20 as Howard turned out to be the better choice.  As of the posting of this article, Howard has averaged 18.2 points per game, 12.9 rebounds and has shot 57.8% from the field all the while winning 3 defensive player of the year awards.

During the 2008/09 NBA season, the Orlando turned into title contenders behind the excellent play of Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson, Hedu Turkoglu, and Dwight Howard.  Rookie shooting guard Courtney Lee also added needed versatility to the team as the Magic moved past the Raptors and the Celtics in the playoffs.  The league MVP Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers were the next team to face the Magic as the two teams battled for a trip to the NBA Finals.  Despite an MVP performance from Lebron James, the Cavaliers were no match for Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic as the Magic moved past the Cavaliers in 5 games to reach their second ever NBA Finals.

Waiting for the Magic in the NBA Finals would be the LA Lakers, who were led by Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.  Having lost in the finals the previous year to the Boston Celtics, the Lakers were on a mission.  Kobe Bryant was on a personal mission to win his first NBA Championship without Shaquille O'Neal.  Five games later the dust settled and it was the Lakers who proved to be too much for the young Magic to handle.  Enduring torture by electing to sit on the sidelines as the Lakers celebrated their victory on the Magic's home court were Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard, living through a self inflicted punishment that I couldn't even begin to imagine living through personally.  The loss was supposed to be a tipping point for the franchise as they were prepared to dominate the Eastern Conference for years to come but it wasn't meant to be, the basketball Gods wouldn't have it.

Following the humble defeat in the NBA Finals at the hands of the Lakers, the Orlando Magic decided not to pay Hedu Turkoglu the amount of money that he thought he was worth and they let him walk as a free agent.  Trying to fill the void at the small forward position emptied by Turkoglu, the Magic traded promising young talent Courtney Lee and Rafer Alston to the New Jersey Nets for a declining Vince Carter.  In the eyes of many the Orlando Magic had reloaded and were ready to claim the Eastern as theirs but the Boston would have no part of that on their way to a second NBA Finals in three years as they defeated the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals in 6 games.

A shift in the balance of power

The Orlando Magic didn't expect to see their run as the beasts of the East last such a short amount of time, but no one could have foreseen the storm that was brewing south in Miami.  Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh formed a Holy Trinity in the eyes of the basketball and combined their talents as they all signed with the Miami Heat in the summer of 2010.  Soon after the Heat resigned Udonis Haslem and former Orlando Magic wing Mike Miller as the Magic continued to sit idle, Magic management didn't see the Heat's reconstruction as a threat.

"Not concerned" about the storm that was brewing in Miami, the Orlando Magic decided against making any moves in the off-season to counter the Heat deciding that their roster was powerful enough.  A 26 point pounding by the Heat in Miami and a poor road trip performance later, Magic GM Otis Smith made perhaps one of the most costly trades in Magic history by bringing in the mammoth contracts of Gilbert Arenas and Hedo Turkgolu, both of which who were on their last legs and a bit out of shape.

The Magic never found their groove as a team and it was apparent as they finished the season with the fourth best record in the conference which did at least give them the home court advantage in their first round playoff showdown with the Atlanta Hawks.  The Hawks who had been embarrassed by the Magic a year earlier had the Magic's number all season and the playoffs would prove to be the same.  The Hawks defeated the Magic in six uninspired games and that was when the seeds for an exit were planted.  The Heat and the Bulls got better, the Magic regressed.

The Decision Redux

March 14th 2012, the eve before the NBA trade deadline and Dwight Howard was still a member of the Orlando Magic.  The Magic believed all along that they could convince Howard to remain with the team and that belief has apparently paid off in the short run.  Dwight Howard waived his early termination option and will remain with the Magic for at least another year.

The Decision has been made, but only for an additional year.  The leak has been plugged but the pipes still would need to replaced.  The pressure is clearly now on the Orlando Magic franchise to surround Howard with the right pieces that would allow them to take the next step towards a championship.  March 15th saw a short term solution to a long term problem.  Bad management negates star players every time.  The goal is simple, the Orlando Magic must win a championship next season or The Decision Redux will occur all over again.

Dwight Howard stated that he made his decision for love, love over money and admitted in the process that he had more career opportunities in a city other than Orlando, a chance to become a global phenom but end in the end he still chose love....by fulfilling the terms of your contract....love was chosen by remaining with the team for an additional season versus signing a long term deal with the team you love so much.....but Howard chose love over money....does one more season equate to love?  Am I the only person who feels as if Howard fell victim to a guilt trip, choosing to remain with the partner that he knows and in unhappy with versus a new partner?

The Clock is ticking for the Orlando Magic and the entire state of the franchise is at risk.  There's pros and cons for every decision that is made, good or bad, right or wrong.

Tick:

The Orlando Magic will not have cap space until the summer of 2013 to rebuild it's franchise which means that Howard will have to waist a year and a half of productivity if the Orlando doesn't win the NBA Championship this season or next.

Tock:

With Dwight Howard waiving his ETO, what will be the fate of head coach Stan Van Gundy who has yet to properly utilize Howard?

Tick:

What will the future hold for GM Otis Smith who's had a documented rift with Howard over the past year.

Tock:

How much longer will the Orlando Magic allow Dwight Howard to hold the franchise hostage outside of the next year and a half that's guaranteed.

Tick:

Will the Orlando Magic be able to trade away the massive contract of Hedo Turkoglu.

Tock:

I think not!

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