Legacy is a funny thing. It seems we only wait to define someone’s legacy when we expect their accomplishments to drastically increase. For those who have already overachieved, legacy is set much earlier. Case in point: I would argue that
Legacy is a funny thing. It seems we only wait to define someone’s legacy when we expect their accomplishments to drastically increase. For those who have already overachieved, legacy is set much earlier.
Case in point: I would argue that winning or losing Thursday’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals would have no impact on Tim Duncan’s legacy. While adding another championship banner to the AT&T Center’s rafters would be the cherry on the sprinkles on the icing on the seven-layer cake representing Duncan’s amazing tenure with the San Antonio Spurs, a win wouldn’t change his perceived greatness any more than a loss would. The same can be said for the Miami Heat’s LeBron James, but for very different reasons.
Win or lose for Duncan and we’ll say he’s already done enough. Win or lose for James and we’ll say he still hasn’t done enough.
What began as “The Big 3” in Miami has again morphed into “LeBron James And A Bunch Of Other Guys,” but that hasn’t lowered expectations. Despite reaching the NBA Finals in each of their three seasons together, just one title for the James-Dwyane Wade-Chris Bosh triumvirate would be viewed as nothing short of disaster. Bumping that one up to two would make all the difference in the world for Wade and Bosh.
But not LeBron.
James is a completely separate entity from the Miami Heat. While two out of three championships for Miami would be acceptable, he’s chasing something else that won’t be caught for years to come. An NBA title is typically a crowning achievement, but for James, it’s just treading water.
He’s viewed as a player who could very well be labeled the greatest of all time when his career comes to an end. But every time he’s denied an NBA Championship, that bar moves down a rung to where he’s labeled as one of those great players whose achievements never caught up to his ability. Where his legacy settles will ultimately be determined by how close he gets to Michael Jordan’s six titles.
Is that fair? Debatable. What’s not debatable is that even after four MVP awards, James still has a lot to prove, as far as history is concerned.
Duncan doesn’t, and neither did the Spurs entering this 2013 Finals. They were sizable underdogs, but not to the point where an extended series seemed out of the question. They were expected to show up, execute their brand of basketball, give a good effort and cede the title to the heir apparent — basically play the role of the veteran boxer who takes the young champ the distance but loses convincingly on the score cards.
Then the veterans started throwing haymakers and looking like the spring chickens, while the young legs were the ones just trying to keep up. Miami looked confused and with each day that passed, the perceived greatness of this Heat team diminished. No longer were they the juggernaut that won 27 straight games in the regular season. They were a team just trying to survive against an aging dynasty.
That dynamic has made it one of the most fun championship battles in some time, but while a great back-and-forth series to watch, history really won’t care about the 2013 NBA Finals.
Win or lose, Duncan entered and exited the series as the greatest power forward of all time and alongside Kobe Bryant as the two best players of their era.
Win or lose, James entered and exited the series as an unfinished Mad-Libs page that won’t have its adjectives filled in for quite a while.
• ‘My Thoughts Exactly’ appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays in The Garden Island. Email David Simon your comments or questions to dsimon@thegardenisland.com. Follow David on Twitter @SimonTGI
