Winner: Dwyane Wade
Yes, his team lost in five games, but Wade did what every top tier player is supposed to do when his team is woefully overmatched in a playoff series: put up big numbers, keep his team as competitive as possible, and avoid the sweep. In doing so, he reminded everyone just how good he is. And unlike a certain guy in purple and gold (or a guy who used to wear number 23 for the Bulls), he did not throw his teammates under the bus afterward. And of all the big names from the 2003 draft, he’s still the only one who’s proven he can take his team across the finish line when it counts the most.
Loser: Vince Carter
Vince Carter is who we thought he is. The conventional defense of Carter heading into this season is that he still has some gas in the tank, and could focus on being another scoring option in crunch time instead of carrying the scoring load for the whole game. And that with the reduced overall responsibility, we wouldn’t be subjected to the epic fails that have defined his postseason career. Well, it turns out that even in a diminished role, the results were the same. After playing well against the overmatched Atlanta Hawks (18 points a game, 51 percent shooting, 37 percent from downtown), he reverted into fadeaway Vince against the Celtics. Constantly resorting to pull up jumpers and fadeaways, Vince did pretty much everything he could to avoid getting hit, and the numbers changed dramatically; 13.7 points a game on 36 percent shooting. And there was the iconic image of seeing Vince outplayed by JJ Redick in games four and five, resulted in his being benched for Redick down the stretch in both games. Vinsanity upstaged by JJ Redick? Say it ain’t so, Vince.
Winner: Doc Rivers
Regardless of what happens in these Finals, Rivers has earned his reputation as a top flight NBA coach. Just two years ago, I was in agreement with Bill Simmons that Rivers made the Celtics title run a lot harder than it needed to be with his substitution patterns. Now in 2010, Rivers clearly outcoached Stan Van Gundy and Mike Brown and is poised to cash in after 2011, whether he opts to stay on for another year in Boston or opts to take a year off as has been rumored. This postseason is a win, even if the Celtics get beat by the Lakers. Either he gets a second ring against all odds, or he gets credit for guiding a team that looked dead in the water all the way to Finals.
Loser: Danny Ferry
Mike Brown was the first to go after the Cavs second round flameout; now Ferry is reportedly gone. In truth, he’s more to blame than Brown. I personally had issues with Brown not doing much offensively other than giving it to LeBron and letting him work, but he did get them to play defense night in and night out, so that matters for something. Ferry, on the other hand, stuck Brown with a series of average players to complement his superstar. There was Larry Hughes, the streak shooting guard who fooled a lot of people into thinking he was a good defender by racking up a lot of steals. Then there were journeymen like Joe Smith, Delonte West, Anthony Parker, and Drew Gooden, and guys like Mo Williams who jacked up shots on losing teams for several years and hadn’t started on a winner in his whole career. These are the people that LeBron led to back-to-back 60 win seasons. Ferry brought them in, so he deserved to get run.
Winner and Loser: LeBron
He wins for the obvious reason; straight cash homie! But he’s a loser not just for going home after the second round, but for how he went out. The guy was so lethargic in game five that these stupid Delonte West rumors are actually gaining some traction. Seriously, how do you pull a damn near complete no-show in game five of a series that is tied 2-2 where you’ve been killing the other team? And at home on top of that? You want to know the difference between LeBron and MJ, or LeBron and Kobe for that matter? Neither of those guys loses that game, let alone gets blown out. That game was foot-on-the-neck time, and he blew it. Now his entire legacy is in jeopardy. Any talk of him being the best ever is now over. He’s not even the best player in the league right now. That honor goes to the next guy…..
THE WINNER: Kobe!
Who’s the best right now? The man who was the best three years ago, and apparently was still the best even though we stopped calling him so. Last year we put LeBron ahead of him as if there was no debate, and this season one guy (Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone, who is lousy on sports but good on a lot of other things) even said Kevin freaking Durant was already better. Um…….no. I admit that I finally fell into the LeBron camp this season, and I admit to being wrong as hell right here. Kobe would not have put up a performance like that, neither would have Mike or Magic or any other all time great.
Anyway, back to Kobe. Regardless of how this Finals series ends, he’s cemented his position as the best in the league for the time being. And if the postseason is the true measure of greatness, then there is no one else who can claim the mantle of best in the world right now.