NBA, Dallas Mavericks, Lebron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers , Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Dwight Howard
Teams like the Celtics and Spurs can succeed with a model of building around multiple 2nd-tier superstars, but in order to build a championship team around one franchise player, McIntyre says you must have one of the following 7 players:
LeBron JamesDwyane Wade
Kobe Bryant
Derrick Rose
Dirk Nowitzki
Kevin Durant
Dwight Howard
Overall, it's a solid list, but I have a few issues with it.
For starters, I'm not convinced that Dwight Howard truly deserves a place on this list. Yes, he's the best big man in the league, and yes, he's a defensive powerhouse. But his offensive game isn't exactly game-changing, and he's a liability at the free throw line, particularly at the end of games.
Also, I have an issue with Rose being on this list, particularly ahead of Chris Paul. Look at the way Paul transformed the Clippers this year, and you'll understand why that's a team with a bright future as long as CP3 is manning the point.
Dirk Nowitzki, despite his recent championship, is a fringe player in my mind as well. Sure, he's great, and he led the Mavericks to a championship last year. But that also had a lot to do with the depth they had, and the great assembly of solid talent around him. Let's not pretend that Dirk did it alone.
In today's NBA, I'm hard pressed to consider ANYONE a franchise player to the extent that McIntyre is saying. Kobe needed Shaq back in the day, and now needs guys like Gasol, Bynum, and others to elevate the Lakers to championship status.
Durant has Russell Westbrook, who is no slouch himself. James and Wade have each other.
The NBA is no longer a league in which a team can build around one player and expect to win. If you don't have multiple stars in this league, you simply don't have a chance.
5/25/12 | GeorgeMon | 132 respect
Hey even Jordan had Pippen. I agree with the idea of "franchise players" but disagree that there are only seven guys in the league that qualify.
5/25/12 | scquwi1 | 1187 respect
I would not put Howard on any list to where I would build a franchise around. He would be that second or third pick to complementary another player so the team could win a championship, Dirk I feel the same with. Kobe is still good, but not dominant as he once was, so again I would not build around him instead put a team with him having a major role. Truthfully the only ones I would build around would be Durant, James , Westbrook, ahead of any of the other players in the league.
Every player needs another star in the group to take the reins and many key role players to make plays through out the game and keep it close, so the super star can take over if needed at the end of the game.
5/25/12 |
kantwistaye
|
3954 respect
Its an interesting idea, and one that isn't really new at all. You always need more than one person who can take over a game for a while. Dwight is possibly the closest to winning a title as a franchise player, ironically. The Magic had no one else who can take over a game without Dwight setting them up first.