John Riordan, New York
TWO OF the greatest NBA players to have never won a national title will go head-to-head early Wednesday as the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks begin a hotly anticipated best-of-seven series in Florida (2am, Irish time).
German power forward Dirk Nowitzki, who will turn 33 later this month, is regarded as one of the greatest Europeans to have ever played in the NBA and was in flying form during the Mavs successful run to the Western Conference title.
But Eastern champions, the Heat, go in as slight favourites and will look to LeBron James - a lightning rod for criticism ever since his controversial decision to move to South Beach last July - as well as James’ fellow superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Nicknamed “King James”, the Ohio-born forward spent seven seasons at the Cleveland Cavaliers before his high-profile move to Miami where he opted for less money to team up with Heat veteran Wade and incoming Toronto Raptors star Bosh in basketball’s version of galácticos team-building.
Wade has one NBA ring from Miami’s last appearance on the game’s biggest stage - a victory that came courtesy of a 4-2 series win over Nowitzki’s Mavericks in 2006, adding further spice to this match-up.
However, no matter how high profile the chase for that elusive title has been for James and Nowitski, it will be the latter’s veteran team mate Jason Kidd who will be most keen to end a long-standing record of disappointment having played the most play-off games of all time without sealing the deal.
Miami’s Udonis Haslem is the only other survivor from the 2006 finals.
But the main focus Tuesday night in the US and throughout the series will be LeBron James who was vilified for announcing on live television last July that he would “take [his] talents to South Beach” before adding fuel to the fire with brash predictions at a pre-season Miami rally.
A poor start to the season had many rubbing their hands in glee as rookie coach Erik Spoelstra struggled to harness the incredible trio he had at his disposal.
But by the time the play-offs rolled around in April, doubts about the Heat’s ability to react in high pressure situations have been expelled by comprehensive victories over last year’s finalists, the Boston Celtics, and top-ranked Eastern side, the Chicago Bulls.
The latest setback to James’ relationship with the basketball establishment happened last week when former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen claimed the Miami player was better than Michael Jordan.
"Michael's an unbelievable player," James said on Saturday. "I've got a long way to be mentioned as far as one of the all-time greats. Not even just Jordan. There's a lot of great players who have played in this league. Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, all these guys who are floating around with multiple rings, Bill Russell, all these guys who have pioneered this game.
"I'm gracious. Humbled by Scottie's comments, especially with him being a teammate of his and seeing Michael on a day-to-day basis. But as far as me, I'm not going to sit here and say I'm better than Jordan. I'm not better than Jordan."
* Follow online coverage of the 2011 NBA finals on the Irish Examiner Sportsblog
Schedule
Wednesday: NBA Finals Game One: Miami Heat v Dallas Mavericks, (ESPN, 2am).
Friday: NBA Finals Game Two: Miami Heat v Dallas Mavericks, (ESPN, 2am).
Monday: NBA Finals Game Three, Dallas Mavericks v Miami Heat, (ESPN, 1am).
June 7: NBA Finals Game Four: Dallas Mavericks v Miami Heat, (ESPN, 1am).
June 9: NBA Finals Game Five: Dallas Mavericks v Miami Heat, , (ESPN, 2am).
June 12: NBA Finals Game Six: Miami Heat v Dallas Mavericks, (ESPN, 1am, Fri).
June 14: NBA Finals Game Seven: Miami Heat v Dallas Mavericks, (ESPN, 1am, Fri).
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/kD6mrCi69D8/post.aspx
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