Pat Riley has done it again, changing the game of basketball in the NBA as we have known it for a third time.
He did it at first in the 1980s when he became much less a coach (an Xs and Os guy) and much more a guidance counselor, keeping the peace as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson successfully co-existed on one of the most talented dynasties in NBA history. The Lakers would go on to win five titles in arguably the golden age of basketball.
In the 1990s he took over the New York Knicks and recognized he did not have the skilled athletes to compete with the top tier NBA franchises. Thus the era of professional prison ball began. Sure you can say the Detroit Pistons were the true originators of the hyper-aggressive, take-no-prisoners type of defense, but they also had far more skilled perimeter players. Riley took the Knicks with Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, and whoever else they could find built like a tank and hammered down on other teams, beginning a movement toward low-scoring slugfests the NBA is happy to have just left behind.
Now, Riley has undoubtedly been integral in making a three-superstar team the new (potential) NBA champion standard. Yes, once again you can argue another team began this in the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers, or even the San Antonio Spurs, but these are three of the most gifted players entering their prime choosing to sign with the same team. This is not a fearsome threesome comprised of one bona fide superstar, a near-superstar, and a great complimentary player. And this is not some sort of an organic team, built out of the draft, but a completely synthetic monster assembled from the best parts of the 2010 NBA free agent market.
Before this July 8, 2010 the conventional wisdom still existed stating the two superstar model could win championships. It began with the Bulls dynasty and was confirmed by the Rockets intervention in between those three-peats, the Spurs Twin Towers at the end of the 20th century, and the Los Angeles Lakers in the beginning of the 21st century with neo-Riley Phil Jackson maintaining the peace.
Now (not to be too dramatic about this upcoming trio in the 2010-2011 season) every contentious team will wonder how they can build a team around three super, if not potential all, stars.
Deny this all you want, but even if this is not a feasible option, this will become part of the common thread in all discussions relating to basketball. Spike Lee already talked to ESPN and talked about the wisdom of waiting until the next free agent market and adding Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul to play alongside Amare Stoudamire. NBA announcing teams will begin talking about teams in terms of three stars.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will no longer be Kevin Durant and supremely talented young cast, but the star power of potential superstars Durant and Russell Westbrook and potential all star Jeff Green.
The Chicago Bulls will no longer be a team with a freakishly athletically gifted point guard in Derrick Rose and a bruiser in recently acquired Carlos Boozer with some nice pieces. No, The Bulls will talked about in terms of three, D Rose, Boozer, and the next best option to be a star Joakim Noah.
Riley has done it again. He has changed the way the game of basketball is perceived and guaranteed Miami Heat tickets will sell out.