Off the Court Storylines in the 2006 NBA Finals

The 2006 NBA Finals are set, with the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks squaring off in a seven game series for the NBA Championship. There is plenty to talk about in regards to the on the court activities. The match ups, game planning and the X’s and O’s are all important, and we’ll get to that in another article. Right now though we are going to focus on the off the court happenings, the storylines that are formulating going into this series.

The most obvious and the biggest of these storylines in every sense is Shaquille O'Neal making his return to the NBA Finals in the post Kobe Bryant era. Since his exodus from L.A. a season ago Shaq has made no excuses about his goals of reaching the NBA Finals and winning a championship without Kobe. As he put it in an interview a earlier in the season, he is ready to make the book of his career a great book, and winning a fourth NBA Title would do exactly that.

There have been criticisms surrounding Shaq since he and the rest of the Lakers lost to the Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals. We have all heard the stories about how he is too fat, and too old. When he first arrived in South Beach for the press conference to announce his signing, Shaq looked lean and ready, then the season came, and we soon saw the same old Shaq. His performance was slowed by injuries and old age.

This season has been an up and down story for the Diesel. A coaching change and Shaq got the coach he wanted in Pat Riley. As the regular season toiled on, Shaq was up and down, and then came the spring. The last month of the regular season and into the playoffs, and we all saw a new Shaquille O’Neal. He seemed to have dropped weight almost magically. Once the playoffs started we saw a Shaq that we have not seen in years. He seems to be down to a trim 325 pnds, and he has found quick feet. In each of the closeout games the Heat have faced Shaq has stepped up with big performances.

Now the Diesel is back in the NBA Finals. He is a bit older, and wiser than the last time we saw him there wearing Laker yellow and purple. Shaq wants this ring, and in many ways a championship this season in needed to vindicate Shaq’s career. No one questions that he was and is the most dominate player in the game. However, he needs a ring to put that final bit of distance between himself and Kobe. He needs a ring to vindicate the hijacking of Stan Van Gundy. If he falls short of winning a ring, Shaq will have lost his last two trips to the finals. That narrow window that is the end of Shaq’s career closes just a little bit more.

Another storyline emerging from these finals as mentioned above is the Pat Riley factor. Pat Riley took the Heat to an Eastern Conference game 7 lost to a dominate Chicago Bulls squad, but that was the 90’s. The Heat made the transition and became Stan Van Gundy’s team. All Stan did was take the Heat to the second round before the arrival of Shaq, and a game 7 lost to the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals with an injured Dwayne Wade.

He was promptly thanked for his success by being booted by his boss, Pat Riley. Pat Riley’s ego could not be kept in check. After watching his team come so close to making the finals last season, Riley blew up the squad shipping out the role players to bring in vets Gary Payton, Jason Williams, and Antoine Walker. Riley created his own super team, and before Van Gundy had a chance to succeed or fail with the squad Riley took it over.

Now Riley’s reputation is on the line. If he wins a title with the Heat, he stakes his claim as one of the all time greats. Leading teams to the NBA Finals in three different eras of basketball and winning in two of them. If Riley loses, then he looks like an ego maniac. We would be forced to really examine his legacy and what he has really accomplished. A lost in this years finals would mean Riley is 20 years removed from his last NBA title. Ten years removed from his last trip to the finals, where his Kicks went down in seven to the Rockets. Now looking at that, how many second chances do we give a coach? Or do we continue to let this particular coach slide because of his reputation of running the Showtime Lakers of the 80’s.

This years Miami Heat team was custom designed by Riley and in the image that he desired. He must come through with a championship, or he will look like the fool of the NBA.

Yet another factor for the 2006 NBA Finals is Mark Cuban…. But we will get into him at a later time…