Nowitzki, Reid and championships
He just walked off? No celebratory hugs with his teammates? No handshake for his defeated opponents? Dirk Nowitzki, as the clock ticked down on his career-defining moment, just left?
Nowitzki, Reid and championships
Jonathan Tamari
He just walked off? No celebratory hugs with his teammates? No handshake for his defeated opponents? Dirk Nowitzki, as the clock ticked down on his career-defining moment, just left?
I was more stunned by Nowitzki’s reaction to winning last night than I was by the Mavericks dusting the Heat in six games, but it made sense when I heard his post-game interview: Nowitzki told ESPN the emotions were so great, he wanted to get out of the spotlight. He was overcome.
That, I could understand. A championship in the NBA cements a star’s legacy; a failure puts a hole in it. Before he won a title Sunday night, there were plenty of arguments for Nowitzki as an NBA great, but his critics would always have the “yes but …” argument that you can never entirely refute: “Yes, but, he never won it all.”
In one stellar postseason, Nowitzki forever erased the “yes, but” argument. The qualities of greatness - talent, production, leadership, longevity and, finally, achievement - are now all on the resume.
"Dirk Nowitzki is one of the greatest players in the history of this game," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said after the game. "That has been validated tonight."
Nowitzki had to know he didn’t have many more opportunities for that validation. Which is why he made me think of Andy Reid (actually, he made me first think of Donovan McNabb, but with the quarterback elsewhere, let’s not pick that fight today).
The Eagles coach has the production that reflects talent – a .609 winning percentage, longest tenured coach in the NFL, consistent playoff appearances – but sports arguments about greatness seem now to always hinge on one topic: championships.
It might be just me, but my sense is that in the not-too-distant past, titles were a significant measure, but not the only one. Players like Barry Sanders and Tony Gwynn got immense acclaim, even though neither lifted a trophy. Of course there are different measuring sticks for running backs and outfielders versus basketball stars and quarterbacks, who have far more ability to influence games. (Dan Marino, for one, is a player of the same era who was criticized for never winning the big one).
But where I remember championships becoming THE measure was in the Michael Jordan era. By willing himself to six titles, he so clearly separated himself from contemporaries like Karl Malone, Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing that it became the argument to end all arguments, in all sports.
I’m reminded of this every time I see one of those ubiquitous ads for “Bad Teacher,” the one where a teacher is arguing with a kid over Jordan versus LeBron James. The teacher brings up Jordan’s six rings and bellows, “that’s the only argument I need, Shawn!”
(SI’s Joe Posnanski has a nice take on the clip in last week’s issue).
When it comes to Reid, you can always count on a vocal segment of Eagles fans to make the argument in reverse. Reid backers point to his winning record and the Eagles struggles before he arrived. His critics point to an empty trophy case and growl, "that’s the only argument I need."
Even Reid seems to feel it: he needs a championship to complete the work he started here. It took Nowitzki 13 seasons to get his title. Reid will be in his 13th year as Eagles head coach in 2011. He, like Nowitzki, has to know that opportunities are starting to run short.
People around the Eagles described Reid as more emotional than usual last season. Nowitzki would understand. You only get so many chances to do away with the “yes, but …” argument.
Comment removed.
The main reason why Reid's hasn't won a title yet is that he hasn't had a quarterback step up his game in the playoffs. Even Vick last season couldn't step up his game in the playoffs. Vick started struggling down the stretch and those struggles carried over into the playoff game. Almost every team that has won a SB had some kind of flaw. A team doesn't have to be flawless to win a title. The QB is the most important player and he has to step up his game.— soulman386- Andy Reid is simply being measured by the standards he set for himself when he applied with Lurie for the position of head coach. He was hired to win the Super Bowl. Nothing wrong with that. He probably agrees.— jamesiri
- NEVER. GONNA. HAPPEN.— FireAndyReid
- Some men are born to greatness, others are just fatheads (and arrogant).— mccloudmj
- Yawwwn. Until Andy wins the big one, he'll be considered a slightly better coach than Rich Kotite.— RockStar
- good article,.....good article— SyddBarrett
- no.— KINGOFZED
- Can't beat the top teams in the league until he stops beating himself first. He of course can't stop doing this, because that's who he is. He ranks on the bottom of the top coaches and the top of the average coaches, which equals zero superbowl wins. Just like McNabb, he is here one contract too long.— Voytas
- Andy Reid doesn't have half of Nowitski's guts and character. Well, maybe the gut.— Bob1
- Absolutely will not run the ball!— Geno D
- I found the comment that underscores my point. Systems vs pragmatism is the conflict that I see in Andy's management. Which underscores my evaluation of the NBA Championship game. The game was between 2 different systems - Team versus Individual play. On a comparative note, Andy has insisted on making his system work and by the time it gets to the NFL Playoffs, everybody knows what he will do. Blaming the players is not the issue. They were what they were. Marino never passed his career into a championship because one dimensional strategies can't win CHAMPIONSHIPS. The Heat's success will come when they find an adequate play-maker to generate plays instead of passing the ball and hiding. — aden
- You heard it here first: If/When Andy wins a title with the Eagles, he will be forgiven for all his past failures and become one of the most beloved Philly sports figures of all time. "Winning is the ultimate deodorant." - John Madden
- When Reid is hungry for something, a Super Bowl Championship isn't the first thing that comes to his mind— Luriesucks
- Just about every coach who won a Super Bowl was in his first 5 years of running the team. Andy is long passed that era. Maybe with the new coaching, new ish QB and maybe a new receiver, we could resrat the clock and have a chance to make the SB in the next few years of this era. Or maybe not.— atp2007
