Mavs Validate a Nation's Schadenfreude, Win NBA Title

In lieu of a widespread explosion of joy, the nation more or less let out a collective sigh of relief that "those guys" didn't win as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Maybe that's just how I felt, and I am ultimately surprised by that, but the reaction to LeBron & Miami's failure was a lot more muted that I expected.

To me, there was a more visceral and venomous reaction after Game 4 when everybody realized that LeBron was sucking in the fourth quarter of every game of the series. Pretty much all the media coverage I saw was pretty tame compared to that, apart from Deadspin who basically spent all day ripping on him every hour, on the hour.

I was glad to see the Heat fail for a myriad of reasons, but the main one was that three of the best players of our current generation weren't able to just join one team and walk over everybody else to a title right away. Even in the immediate afterglow of such a glorious result, I still know that there is an overwhelming likelihood that they will win one someday. It's just great that they didn't win one in their first year, and we have to go through an entire season and postseason next year before they even get to challenge for one again (that is, if there even is a season next year).

But personally, that's even bigger than all "The Decision" nonsense at the outset of the season, all the pyrotechnics of their preseason NBA equivalent to a midnight madness in which LeBron famously set a goal of winning seven consecutive NBA championships. Underneath all of my fury towards the Heat was the fact that I've always hated dynasties, going back to when Jordan's Bulls were dominant. It's the same principle that exists in international soccer, where there are no salary caps and very little regulation of any kind when it comes to building a roster. When a billionaire decides to buy a club and buy the best players in the world at any price, then pay them double or sometimes triple the amount any other club could pay in salary, it skews the level of competition so much it almost defeats the purpose of sport altogether.

Though LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh didn't break any rules by joining forces, it still just warmed my heart to see such a sure thing fail when it mattered most. Maybe they will get rid of dead weight over time and acquire younger, cheaper, more skilled role players to supplement their superstars. But the Mavericks gave us all a reason to keep watching games, even the result seems like a foregone conclusion. They also gave Dirk vindication for 2006, which is just plain awesome. But perhaps the most brilliant thing the Mavs gave was a title to DeShawn Stevenson before LeBron had won any, which subsequently gave us this shirt. And that's just about the most glorious thing any Wizards fan can take away from this series.