Winning isn't everything
posted: Monday, April 3, 2006

Congratulations to the Hall of Fame selection committee for getting it right this time with Dominique Wilkins. They blew it last time around when they failed to make 'Nique a first-ballot selection.

I assume 'Nique was not a first-ballot guy because he never came close to winning a championship. In fact, his Atlanta Hawks never got past the second-round of the playoffs.

But in fairness to 'Nique, he played during a great era, and his teams were usually beaten by Bird's Celtics or Isiah's Pistons (a solid Bucks team also took them out a couple of times).

But 'Nique -- 24.8 points, 6.7 rebounds for his career -- was undeniably an all-time great and should have been on the list of the "Greatest 50 Players in NBA History'' back in 1997.

'Nique is proof that winning is not everything. That's not to say he wasn't a winner. Nor is it to say that winning is not incredibly important.

But I believe winning is a bit overrated -- if that's possible -- in today's NBA.

The two sentiments I take issue with (to a degree) are: 1) a player's not great unless he leads a team to a championship, or at least the NBA Finals; and 2) your career can't be satisfying unless you win a ring.

Without question, winning a championship is, and should be, the number one goal, but let's not kid ourselves: if A.I. never wins a title, he has no reason to be ashamed of his playing career.

As great as six-ringer Robert Horry's been in the clutch, I'd much rather have A.I.'s career -- or 'Nique's career -- than Horry's. I'd much rather have Vince Carter's career -- or Reggie Miller's -- than Steve Kerr's. I'd much rather have Charles Barkley's career than Kenny Smith's.

It's been said that MJ once said he always wanted his team to win, but he wanted to be the reason it won. That's how many of the great ones feel.

When I play in my little rec league games, I'll be honest: I want to get mine. I want to win, but I also want to do my thing. (A key is knowing who you are. When I'm playing with guys who are flat-out better than me I'm more than happy to play a less significant role. Two points, some hustle and a W is very satisfying when I'm playing with former big-time players who are on a different level than me). But I digress.

The problem is when your lust for individual achievement actually hurts your team's chances of winning. That's when you become viewed as a loser. That's what guys like Steve Francis and Stephon Marbury are battling against. Whether that's true or not remains to be seen, but that's the rep those guys carry.

It's one thing not to win. It's another thing to have your team be horrible and then get better when you leave or when you're not around. Those things can never be said about A.I., 'Nique, Barkley (congrats to Sir Charles as well) and a host of other "winners" who never got the bling.

There's a lot of hypocrisy on the media's part in relation to this. Many writers/reporters act as if an athlete is selfish because he wants to shine as well as help his team win.

I remember back in '99 when the Knicks made that improbable run to the NBA Finals in Latrell Sprewell's first season in New York. Sprewell was coming off the bench for much of the season, and the reporters -- in search of a something scandalous -- kept asking him if he'd rather start.

Spree, being honest, kept saying yeah, he'd prefer to start, and the media kept writing that Spree was unhappy coming off the bench. The implication was that he was selfish. Never mind that Spree had been an All-Star and first-team All-NBA player and had every right to want to start.

Anyway, I asked a local columnist who was, and is, a big shot at his paper if he would be happy and satisfied if his paper demoted him to covering high school sports and yet the paper continued to be great and win awards.

Of course, his answer was "No way!'' Then, I asked, "Well then, why should athletes be vilified for feeling the same way?'' He admitted that we in the media are sometimes terribly hypocritical.

Anyway, props to 'Nique -- one of the best of his era, and of all time, despite never seeing much team success.

Come on DJ, don't get me started...You know where I can take this...I don't think you want me to go there...Good article, Nuff props to Nique...well deserved...He should be one of the top 50 greatest...