| | It is dangerous to assume that the Los Angeles Lakers are a guaranteed
lock to win the NBA title, but not too dangerous. It isn't dangerous the way, say, assuming Bill Gates will be eating tunafish out of a can in front of the Fred Meyer store in Bellevue, Wash., by Christmas would be.
In fact, since everyone else is assuming the patently obvious, it would
seem wrong for us not to do so as well. Besides, even though there are still
70-some-odd games to play, there is no evidence that any of them will feature
Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson walking off the floor in
devastation.
|  | | Larry Holmes was a dominant champion who lacked a true rival and never managed to captivate the sporting public. |
What concerns us more, at least to the extent that it concerns us at
all, is whether the Lakers will end up being known more as Larry Holmes than
Muhammad Ali.
Right now, the Lakers have Holmes written all over them, and that is not
a bad thing. Holmes held the heavyweight title for roughly 60 years without
the burden of drama or excitement. He came, he fought, he won, he put his
belt back on, he got paid, and then he went back home. Over and over and over
again.
He was a great champion who, for lack of an obvious foil, will be
short-shrifted when the history of boxing is told. The best that will be said
of Holmes is, "Yeah, he was a great fighter, but ... " and you can fill
in the end of that sentence as you see fit.
The Lakers are there right now. They have to see to it that they don't
do something silly in the meantime, like fail, but they do look like such a
prohibitive choice that we would be remiss in not speculating upon their
place in history even before that history has been made.
The beast, after all, must always be fed.
No, what the Lakers need is a foe worthy of our fascination -- another
team with a superb center, a fundamentally gifted virtuoso, lots of
support players and a coach who knows his onions, whether they be X's and O's
or the X-chromosomes of those X's and O's.
Anyone see that anywhere? Come on. Speak up. We're interactive. We'll
listen to anyone. We are incredibly open-minded.
Nope. Didn't think so. Whether it be Indiana, Utah, San Antonio, New
York, Miami, Philadelphia, Portland or Milwaukee (sorry, just wanted
to see if you were still paying attention), they all look to be one player,
one move or one concept short.
Most of those ideas, moves and concepts have to do with O'Neal, but you
already knew that.
What we, the customers, need is a believable counter-argument to the
statement, "The Lakers are the best, period." You can't go anywhere with
that right now. You'll watch with interest, but not with fascination.
And fascination is the difference, when all is told, between Ali and
Holmes. You watch Holmes and see the technical skill, the ring wisdom, the
fierce independence that allowed him to do what so few boxers have ever done -- keep his money.
But you watch Ali and your jaw goes limp. That, kids, is the
difference.
What can be done? In the short run, nothing. The rosters already
are made out, the other teams, their claws and flaws, are all exposed. The
second-best record belongs to Portland, and the Trail Blazers blinked when
the lights came on. Indiana won the East, but even if Bryant is defensed,
O'Neal can't be. Utah's most sellable product is the fact that Karl Malone
and John Stockton keep making liars of us all. New York wouldn't seem like
nearly so much if they played in any other city, and Miami doesn't seem so
fearsome in part because they do play in another city, and a city that has more
available playoff tickets than it has beach umbrellas.
Everyone else gets a keychain, a handshake and a home version of our
game.
Harsh? Yeah, probably. Premature. Oh, absolutely. On the other hand,
this NBA postseason isn't shaping up as much of a grabber. It needs something
to divert our eyes from the Staples Center, The World's First Noise-Free
Arena. It needs an alternative to Lakers In Three.
That is, unless you are entirely comfortable with Larry Holmes for the
next four or five years.
Ray Ratto, a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. | |
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