NBA

Counterpoint: I’m Rooting For The Oklahoma City Thunder Because I’m Rooting For The Future Of Basketball

SportsGrid’s Dan Fogarty is rooting for the Heat in the NBA Finals, because he’s sick of hearing about them and thinks our summers will be ruined by having to hear about the Heat’s failures constantly. SportGrid’s Evan Sporer, though, is rooting for the Thunder – and thinks if they lose, it’s not just our summers but the NB’s future at stake. His reasoning is below.

Good things don’t happen overnight. Except for snow days… snow days happen overnight. But with the exception of snow days, and a few other things, the majority of good things take time to develop. The Oklahoma City Thunder are no different. The Thunder have been in the making for five years. In an era of sports when professional athletes’ allegiances to teams are dwindling, the Thunder has gone the route of bringing in home-grown talent, and ridden it to success.

When the NBA Finals begin tonight, the attention will shift to the matchup of the Heat’s big three versus the Thunder’s big three. But these teams’ paths to NBA supremacy came from markedly different philosophies. Whoever wins these Finals may create a blueprint for success and future team-building.

This is the era of the big three. With the exception last year’s Mavericks, every NBA champion dating back to 2007 had some trio of players that led the way. The Spurs had Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Tim Duncan, the Celtics had Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen, and the Lakers had Kobe Bryant, Pau, Gasol, and Andrew Bynum. Even in this year’s conference finals, the four remaining teams all boasted some sort of big three. The aforementioned Spurs and Celtics comprised half the field, while the two teams we are now focusing on made up the other half.

As such, conventional wisdom will tell you a big three will reign supreme when a champion is crowned. But there’s more to it than that, and a closer look at the true makeup of these teams could change the landscape of the future of basketball. In the Western Conference, the leading trios were manufactured from within. Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook were all selected by the Thunder through the draft. The same is true of San Antonio’s trio.

But the Eastern Conference tells a different tale. With the exception of Dwyane Wade and Paul Pierce, none of the other players of the Heat’s and Celtics’ respective big threes were drafted by their organizations. While the Celtics used trades in the 2007 offseason to acquire Garnett and Allen, the Heat went the way of free agency two summers ago to bring on LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

So while all eyes will be on two trios, six players in total, the real question will be: which strategy will prevail? Building from within, or going the route of the market?

Other teams have begun to mimic this model to create their own success. The Knicks grouped the talents of Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler in the Big Apple. The big three seems the way of the future. But will it be the path to a more entertaining NBA?

Parity is lacking in pro basketball. While it’s fun to predict the results of later rounds of the playoffs, upsets are few and far between during the earlier stages of the postseason. An eight-seed cannot win the NBA Finals in the current geography of the league; it just won’t happen. A run like the Los Angeles Kings capped off last night is not realistic. And if big threes and super teams continue to form via free agency and the gutting of small market teams, parity will only decrease.

If you don’t want that to happen, root for the Thunder in the Finals. Oklahoma City proves success can be built through properly estimating assets, maintaining a vision, and staying the course. In an interview that aired this morning on SportsCenter, Kevin Durant recalled playing in the league as a 19-year-old, going on two week road trips, and losing every game. But he stayed the course. He believed in management, he believed in the mission of the franchise, and he was loyal to the team that told him he was good enough to play in the NBA. The team Durant was referencing when he entered the league at age 19 (then the Seattle SuperSonics) won 20 games. Durant knew things would improve.

It’s easy to point the finger at a guy like LeBron and ask, “He left Cleveland, not only the team that drafted him, but his hometown. How can you root for a guy like that?” And whether or not you hold The Decision against LeBron, the facts are black and white. Arguably the best player in the league jumped ship to be flanked by two superstars. That’s the scenario. If you disapprove of team-building in such a manner, you are 110 percent rooting for the Thunder come tip-off tonight.

It would be hyperbole to say the future of the NBA hangs on the result of the next two weeks of basketball. But the outcome of this series will change perceptions around the league. If the Heat lose, people will call for the big three to be disbanded in favor of a two-pronged attacked complimented by better role players. But if the Thunder lose, no one will question whether Thunder GM Sam Presti should cast off Durant, Westbrook, or Harden. And no one will question how the three came to become teammates. See the difference?

Your preference in the NBA Finals may come down to a more existential decision: do you prefer parity, or superpower? A more competitive league, or more marquee names on a roster? For the sake of competitiveness, and for the future of the NBA, Oklahoma City should get your vote beginning tonight.

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