There's a lesson here, for anyone looking hard enough to find it. But you'll have to look awfully hard, through all those layers of Shaquille O'Neal's fat and past Allen Iverson's selfishness. And you'll have to look with wisdom, careful not to be fooled by the two faces of Jason Kidd.
But if you can do all that, congratulations. You're smarter than the average NBA general manager, who would happily gut his team for the chance to add an NBA superstar.
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| This might be the closest Jason Kidd got to Chris Paul the entire series. (Getty Images) |
Dallas Mavericks?
Denver Nuggets?
The three most disappointing teams in the 2008 NBA playoffs. The three teams who traded for the disgruntled superstar. See the connection? Is the lesson starting to seep in?
This postseason ought to be enough to jar NBA executives out of their favorite trade adage, which postulates thusly: In any trade, no matter how many teams and players are involved, find the biggest superstar in the deal and circle his new team. That's who won the trade.
That's the theory, but like so many theories -- Rome being invincible, Earth being flat, Bush being right -- it has crumbled under the weight of reality. Not to mention the weight of Shaquille's ass.
Here's the thing about an NBA superstar: Wherever he is, if he's miserable, he's part of the problem. Too much losing, not enough touches, not enough respect or attention or whatever ... he's not immune.
And whatever was wrong in one city, it will be wrong in the next.
There's concrete data here, people.
Allen Iverson was a loser in Philadelphia, and he's been a loser in Denver. Great player? No question. He's one of the most incredible individual talents ever. But he's a loser, the anti-Midas, and his toxic touch followed him to Denver, which disgraced itself in a first-round sweep by the Lakers. The Nuggets quit in that series, dissolving under the leadership -- such as it is -- of its selfish point guard. Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith took turns going one-on-five, jacking up 214 shots while begrudgingly handing out just 33 assists in 412 combined minutes. Selfish is as selfish does, and Iverson is the most selfish superstar this league has ever seen.
Unsurprisingly, the 76ers have been better off without him. They were 5-12 (.294) when he forced the trade to Denver early last season, then went 30-35 (.462) the rest of that season and 40-42 (.488) this season. While Denver flamed out in four games in the 2008 playoffs, the 76ers are putting up a fight against Detroit.
