Ladies and gentlemen, the NBA . . .

All the blather about LeBron James' performance in Miami's game four loss is an interesting snap shot of the NBA.

If the Heat had won - a game that could have gone either way, with a final margin of one possession -  James would have been lauded for 'getting his teammates involved' or his near triple double.  

But in the modern NBA winning is almost - almost - secondary to an individual players' performance.  The post-game stories have mainly been about James, not simply 'Mavericks win game 4; Series tied at 2 apiece as teams head into critical game 5 showdown.'

The NBA is to blame for this dilemma.  The league, at least since Magic Johnson and Larry Bird made it relevant in the 80s but especially during Jordan's Reign, has always promoted individual players not teams.  The irony of the Magic-Bird rivalry is that it involved the two most celebrated teams in the history of the NBA.

It has generally worked, though most teams lose money and college basketball - where fans root for the school not individual players - is more popular. 

But the NBA has unwittingly under cut it's own brand by de-emphasizing winning, and promoting the players as celebrities rather than as athletes, a fact I loathe.  Athletic accomplishment is about effort and determination; celebrity is the opposite.  Or to quote the North Carolina state motto: to be - Tyler Hansbrough - rather than to seem - fill in the blank: Lindsey Lohan, Justin Beber, etc.  But we live in a celebrity culture, and self-less team play is not as in fashion.

Finally, the Heat may have been hurt by James' lack of offense, OR his rebounding and assists - or simply his presence on the floor - may have been the reason they led for most of the game and were one missed free throw (by Dwyane Wade or Jason Terry) from being up 3-1.

Bottom line: you play to win the game.  All the other stats or facts don't matter, even if we are talking about LeBron James.

A few more takes on the NBA Finals:

•  Interesting take on James' play by Sally Jenkins in today's Post, who points out James should be complimented for not being selfish or forcing the action in game four;
• He's getting a lot of ink lately, but to set the record straight: DeShawn Stephenson is an idiot.  A player with that little talent should NOT tug on LeBron's cape.  Stephenson is most famous for  . . . not feeling his face when he makes a 3?  Calling James overrated?  Yet he keeps poking LeBron with a stick.  If James has a huge game tonight credit Stephenson with an assist for his constant and inane nattering.
• This series has been an impressive coming out party, of sorts since he's a former MVP, for Dirk Nowitzki.  He is really carrying this team, a team that is clearly greater than the sum of it's parts.  The rest of the Mavs roster is not THAT impressive; their third and fourth-best players - Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion - are on the back-side of their careers and their second-best player, Terry, comes off the bench.  It's really 3, Wade, James and Bosh, versus 1 - and Nowitzki is holding his own.