The Next MJ... With A Lot of Help

By Craig Kwasniewski

Congratulations to the Miami Heat and their first NBA title. Now comes the historical hyperbole comparisons... Pat Riley is the greatest back stabber coach in the history of the NBA! Shaq is the fattest two-faced greatest player ever! Dwyane Wade is the next MJ!

STOP RIGHT THERE!!!

Granted Wade made the most of his opportunities and played an awesome NBA Finals. (Nice of Avery Johnson to dedicate his defensive scheme to Don Nelson and mostly put one man on Wade!) But let's never (ever, ever, ever, ever) throw out "the next MJ" label again.

Unfortunately, the referees already have granted Wade MJ Status. Now I'm not a Dallas fan nor am I a Heat fan (so no sour grapes here), but let's let the numbers speak for themselves.

Many people (Jordan lovers or haters) all agree that during the 1990's Michael Jordan got the ultimate superstar treatment and led the NBA Playoffs in free throws attempted per game. Here's the breakdown during the 6 NBA Championship seasons:

1990-91 - 8.7 FT Attempts per Game
1991-92 - 8.6 FT Attempts per Game
1992-93 - 8.9 FT Attempts per Game
1995-96 - 10.4 FT Attempts per Game
1996-97 - 7.8 FT Attempts per Game
1997-98 - 10.6 FT Attempts per Game

How many free throws did Wade attempt per game in the 2005-06 Playoffs? A whopping 10.9 attempts per game! And I'm not even signaling out the ridiculous increase over the last 4 games of the NBA Finals.

So let's all sit back and enjoy the beginning of the Wade-LeBron era... and the 15-20 free throw attempts per game. Who will be the first player to shoot 3,000 free throws in a season?

Comments

[Pimp Dice]

Let me just say this, watching the Finals on ABC was one of the most unpleasent expieriences iv'e had in awhile. They should leave their after timeout music video's to MTV; and even they shouldn't do them. The commentary was pretty bad, especially on Hubie Browns part. Why would he keep saying "If this is the first time you have seen the Mavericks" like we are all die hard heat fans or something. If they dont send the finals back to NBC or TNT next year I'm buying tickets.

I also think that you cant compare Dwayne Wade to Michael Jordan. There is no way (Even if Wade went to the foul line like 30 times a game) That Wade could have been a champion this early is his career without Shaq. If you take Shaq away from Los Angeles there isn't going to be any more championships. If you take Shaq away from Miami it will probably be the same result more or less. And Kobe is a better player than Wade in my opinion.

[geebs]

this series turned into the epitome of what the NBA is leaning towards after game two. the post-jordan era has led to players like wade getting the superstar 'blow the whistle for looking at him sideways' treatment that makes the game a farce. it's a hype machine pushed by stern (et. al) to get the ratings up when a player can look superhuman. honestly, wade is talented, but he's not as good as those finals numbers. the significance of his accomplishements are nullified by the favoritism of the referees. wade's been selected as a poster-boy for miami and the nba. he has implicitly agreed to go along with stern's vision of inflating a player's ability, and overall whitewashing of the nba (dress codes, ethics codes, etc.) by maintaining his silence of any league criticism (why bite the hand that feeds you?) and by continuing to play a fundamentally un-sound method (think: a less melo-dramatic manu ginobli. all the flops, minus the hair.) of basketball. it's a grim future for the nba and for people who enjoy the game as it should be played.

[geebs]

and i DEFINITELY agree with the ABC criticism. Horrible commentating/analysis, horrible sponsors, lackluster editing and sequencing, bad camera work. Stu (after dirk got elbowed in game 1) literally reported from the sideline "Dirk took approximately seven sips of fluid from two different containers." WHO THE FUCK CARES? That's not NBA analysis, that's some stalker cum paparazzi bullshit. It's a good thing the Spurs didn't get in though. Longoria with more screen time on ABC is something I can live without.

[JenM]

ABC was horrible. They never posted how many fouls a player had - they announced it but if you were watching at a bar had no idea. They changed the score as soon as the basket went through the hoop so quickly it was confusing. And then things like "well its Fathers Day but let's talk about this players mother" - HUH??

[Brett]

Nice commentary, geebs.

We were joking last night about how, in the middle of a 3-point game, Stu Scott went into a diatribe about Marquis Daniels' tattoos. I suggested he get his own show on ESPN 6 called "Tales From The 'Hood" where he could talk about that crap all he wants, as well as other stories about players being raised by their 3rd cousin's Grandma because their father was a crack-head who died blowing someone for drugs.

As long as I don't have to hear it during the NBA FREAKING FINALS!

[JenM]

Brett - ha!!! I totally forgot about that Marquis Danielstattoosgrandmotherwhocouldn'treadbibleverse thing - but then again I was drinking. Too funny.

[Box in sox]

You know, it kind of makes me wonder what Stu Scott would have done if Marquis Daniels didn't play that night. I mean they couldn't have cut to him for that ridiculous info with Marquis on the bench, that would have been stupid. You gotta wonder if they have useless information on all players to use at random times or when the Commentators dont know what their talking about. It makes me wonder...kind of like Steve wonders.

[nbafan_8]

I totally agree...ABC was the worse but not as bad as the officiating.

[Pimp Dice]

The refs were as whistle happy as the ref who was throwing around yellow cards in the game where the USA played Italy in the world cup. If the refs cant get it right I suggest they walk off the field/court and go jack off a mule. The kind of calls the refs were giving Wade were just obscene. Did they earn an extra 40 bucks from the commish everytime they sent Dwane Wade to the foul line on some bullshit call? Only time well tell; we'll see how manny boxes of cracker jacks they take off the shelf to determine it.

[Spencer]

Mandatory mule jackings for refs that cant get the job done.

[Sean]

The music was always that damn INXS song...seriously, pick ANY other song, please.

[dave]

i would take hubie brown over bill walton any day of the week. i think it's kind of funny how hubie over-explains everything. "now if you got a player in foul trouble, what you wanna do is run your offensive sets at that player untill he picks up more fouls or the opposing coach takes him outta the game. why? because this is smart strategy." when bill walton is announcing i have to turn the sound down.

[Stoned]

At least Bill Walton is funny and down to earth. Hubie Brown has no other personality than the fundamentals of basketball.

[dave]

if you think bill walton is funny, i want some of whatever you're smokin'. he is an insufferable bufoon who has no consistency in his comments other than his idiotic catchphrases. i never need to hear "throw it down, big man!" come out of his huge, red, freckled freakmask of a face again. "that's hoooorriibllee!" i can't stand his constant complaining. bill walton had a speech impedement for half of his life. now that he has overcome it, he won't shut the hell up. "this is ridiiiculoulasss!" one of these days he going to drive snapper jones crazy with his inane arguments and snapper is gonna go ghetto on his ass. i hope i'm watching.

[Stoned]

Eh, your just pissed that your ex-Championship Spurs team went out in the second round in a disgraceful act of mal-brilliance. What the hell was Tim Duncan doing while the playoffs resumed without him? He's like a robot that knows nothing but dominating third rate centers and drawing fouls erroneously.

Bill Walton is crazy and entertainig. Why else would they put him in an animated commercial for ESPN? Although If they used Hubie Brown they could have saved alot of money in the animation proccess. He rarely moves; they could have used a cardboard cut out of him with basketball fundamental speeches that never end blasting out of a speeker behind him.

[dave]

is bill walton your gay lover?

[Stoned]

I'm just making a point. Its robots like Tim Duncan and Hubie Brown that make the game less entertaining. And as far as gay lovers are concered, I'm sure you know all about that with your flings with Ginobli and Parker

[Steve]

The refs really ruined the finals from game 2 on. I cant help but think Dallas was screwed out of some of those calls. As long as your Lebron or Wade I guess the refs will always be on your side. Tis a pity really.

[dave]

just let it go, dude.

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[suprayouth]

let's join our hands together to stop this kind of wrong doings. It may risk lives in the future if we just let them continue.

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