The Mavs had good team, it wasn't just Dirk. Jason Terry is a borderline all-star Shawn Marion was former all-star, so was Jason Kidd, both players are still very good on defense and good offensive options. Tyson Chandler and Brendan Haywood are both better than the average starting center. J.J. Barea is very good backup. Through the season, they had Caron Butler. He wasn't in the playoff run, but he did help them through part of the season.
I'm not trying to take away anything from the Mavs, just adding to the reliability on Dirk. Chandler is the only guy who's CLOSE to being an all-star and that's due to the absence of centers these days. Terry hasn't been considered for an all-star game in years. But if you want to look at Dirk's NUMBERS only for an evaluation of these finals, then sure. He shot poorly. But he also was the leading rebounder for the series. So that should buy him some "traditional role of a PF" points, right? But how are his numbers if you take away the game where he was sick? And then the fluke game where he couldn't hit anything in the first half? I'm not saying that you SHOULD, but that 1.5 games is really the extent of Dirk's "struggles." But you cannot undervalue Dirk's clutch play. You saw it every game. Every. Single. Game. He averaged 10 points per 4th quarter. That's something like 40% of his production coming when the game is either slipping away or the mavs were holding on. Those points are ABSOLUTELY more valuable than a 1st quarter point. Plenty of guys are loose and free in the early stretches of a game. But in the 4th quarter, when defenses turn up, officials call less fouls, and lots of guys are too nervous to score...Dirk was at his best. Every game. But the best part of all of this is that Dirk himself would likely say he's not even a top 50 player of all time. And despite the fact that he just won an NBA championship and is turning 33, I guarantee you that the man will spend his offseason working on his remaining weaknesses to try to improve. When you measure greatness you need to look at the evolution and longevity of Dirk's career. He's played, what, 13 years? And at 33 he's arguably playing the best ball of his career. He doesn't miss games from injury. He doesn't take games off. He's the most humble superstar in the world. Regardless of where that places him on the totem pole of all-time greats, he deserves every benefit of every doubt.
What? Bird was a good defender don't get me wrong - but not very good. Bird was *never* tasked with guarding the other team's best wing. You're forgetting about DJ. Bird made a few defensive 2nd teams, but that had a lot to do with the Celtics team D. Bird could step up when needed, but he wasn't in the Rodman tier. Bob Pettit can't be brought up in a legitimate discussion because of the era he played in. It's as stupid as ranking Mikan in the top 3 centers to play the game. He was great for his time - lets leave it at that. Mchale/Hayes lack the accolades. Barkley/Malone/KG IMO are neck and neck with him, arguments could be made for all of them. The finals MVP IMO puts Dirk ahead of these guys, but there are clear arguments against that. Only Duncan is clearly better.
Late to the discussion but wanted to add my 2 cents: With this playoff run, like Hakeem did in 1994 and Duncan did in 2003, Dirk accomplished something that was so rare - carrying a team with no true #2 sidekick. For this reason alone no one will ever be able to convince me that Shaq is greater than Hakeem. That 4th ring for Shaq was all Dwayne Wade. You have to give Dirk a ton of credit for this achievement. Jason Terry, despite being a really good player and lights out in game 6, is more Tito than Tonto to Dirk's Lone Ranger. The championship wasn't all Dirk, but he deserves the most credit and was the finals MVP, deservedly so. I was born after the days of Elgin Baylor, and was too young to really digest Mchale. Besides, even in his best seasons Larry Bird was the best player on those Celtic teams that McHale was a part of. KG doesn't even make the conversation because despite his excellence on both ends of the court, the teams he lead, apart from one year, never went anywhere in the playoffs. He was never a crunchtime player... at the end of a game, he looked more often to facilitate than to dominate. I'm glad he got his ring with Boston but because he won it as the 3rd or 4th best player on that team, I see it more as career icing than another layer to the cake. To me, it didn't increase his standing in the pantheon of great players. So that leaves Barkley, Malone and Dirk behind TD: Malone - when I think of Malone I think of prolonged excellence. He was great for such a long period of time. He was still putting up 20+ ppg into his late late 30s. That turnaround J of his he developed was so sweet. He was also stout defensively, easily the best of the 3. The only question marks - no rings, and what would he have done without Stockton? Would his numbers have been that good for that long? His (and Barkley's) teams had the horrible luck of playing in the Michael Jordan era. Barkley - just a freak of nature, a wrecking ball. I don't think he developed his game as much as Malone or Dirk but in his prime was more dominant than both. It's scary to think of what Barkley might have done had he played with Stockton. When he lost his athleticism his career went downhill in a hurry, hence the end of his career while he was still in his early 30s. Had the Suns beaten the Bulls in '93 you'd be able to really make a solid case for him being #2. He also loses points in my book for not being as durable as Malone or Dirk. Dirk - he's the best pure scorer of the 3, just the myriad of ways that he can score, the way he has developed a post game, how he has added to his arsenal every year... just really impressive (Y'all remember that left-handed hook shot he threw up against the Lakers in the playoffs? Wow.). And now he has an out-of-the-world playoff run to add to his resume. If Dirk's career ended today, I would rank them in this order with Malone being a clear #2. 1. Duncan 2. Malone 3. Dirk 4. Barkley However, the story isn't over yet. Dirk shows no signs of slowing down, and because his game doesn't rely on athleticism, there is no reason to think that he won't be able to keep doing what he's done for another 3-5 years. He'll then have put up big numbers as the best player on winning teams (with constantly changing teammates) for 15 years and in my mind, give him a longevity credential equal to Malone's. Despite Malone's vastly superior defensive credentials, Dirk's longevity, versatility, and this year's legendary playoff and championship run would narrowly put him number two in my book. Plus, though unlikely, we can't rule out another championship for Dirk in the future. Let's see what he does. Thanks for reading.
