End of an Era: All Good Things Must Come to an End

Via Basketball Forever

I’ve waited a good amount of time to let the feeling sink in before I write about it, but the strange sting feels the same. For the first time in 20 years, the National Basketball Association doesn’t have one of the 3 biggest superstars of this era in the second round of its playoffs. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry all have been eliminated in either a play-in game or round one.

Not being a genuine fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Phoenix Suns, or the Golden State Warriors is what makes this feeling so interesting to me. I’ve realized my fandom of course lies with my hometown team, but perhaps in a stronger way, the overall wellbeing of the NBA. Even if my team isn’t performing well, I love basketball way too much and still want the NBA as a whole to be thriving. The good news is the association is in fact thriving; just in a way we aren’t yet used to. It seems I have a yearning for the superstars of this league to be in the games that matter most, whether I am rooting for them or not.

We all have known that LeBron has been on his career’s back 9 for some time now, and that ending hole 18 can’t be that far off. We’ve known Steph and the Warriors – though still structurally the same – haven’t been the buzz saw they once were. And sadly, we know that Kevin Durant can’t be the Easy Money Sniper forever. But despite knowing all of this, accepting the NBA playoffs without either of them getting past round 1 seems foreign.

Yes, Steph didn’t win it all last year, nor did KD or LeBron, with just LeBron making it to the conference finals. But this year’s playoffs feel different. It doesn’t feel like it has in the past, where simply one of their teams didn’t perform well enough to beat a team, or they were simply beaten by a better one, or that injuries and general bad luck kept them from advancing. These early exits this year obviously have some elements of those variables involved, but feels like a different gut punch. It doesn’t feel like these players just lost a series; it more so feels like the basketball gods shifting their attention elsewhere, almost as if there are just a handful of grains of sand left in the hourglass for these 3, with major fallout.

Because I think there is more to it than the obvious, surface level interest of still wanting to watch 3 of the best players to ever play the game in the playoffs. What twists the knife further are the deeper implications of these failures of these 3. All 3 have already established themselves as paramount names to mention when poring over the annals of NBA greatness, but they each ~ still ~ have been chasing something personal to them to put a bow on their careers and truly achieve nirvana.

Stephen Curry has been the main piece of one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history. With his shot, he’s truly changed the game forever. But chasing another ring to move this Warriors era closer to being one of the greatest dynasties in ALL of sports and cement his name in the conversation of the GOATS is something we all know he still plays for. Despite his prowess, he’s behind KD (in my opinion, barely) and Bron in this era alone. Forget second, no one likes playing third fiddle.

Kevin Durant is a 2-time finals MVP, arguably the best scorer to ever live, and was the best player on a juggernaut team specifically designed to beat LeBron James. But despite all that, there has always been something missing for KD, something harder to quantify than what you see in the box score or record books. I’ve always had this thought but never was able to fully put my finger on it, and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recently captured it perfectly after the Suns’ elimination. Kevin has the stats and the success, but what’s missing? Happiness. Kevin Durant has been chasing happiness. Post OKC, he’s achieved success but has been unhappy while doing it. The rings brought smiles and places in history books, but not the happiness KD thought it would. From team to team, issue to issue. While his on-court skills haven’t been, his mental fragility and leadership abilities have been in question. No one can get to him on the court, but it seems the best way to break KD down is scrutiny off of it. Is his lack of satisfaction rooted in winning a chip outside of Golden State? Is it tied to the market he plays in? Is it based on doing it his way, not fitting into a system? I don’t know, Brain Windhorst doesn’t know, only Kevin does. But Windy and I think that’s what Kevin is still chasing. No drama, no conflict, no questions, no pressure, no confusion, no doubt, no expectations, no stress. Just ball. Maybe it comes as a result from another ring, but true happiness is the one thing I think Kevin Durant is still chasing to fully punctuate his career and make him feel self-realized. Sometimes jewelry can only mean so much.

And we all know what I mean who* LeBron is chasing. Some think he’s still behind #23, some think they share the top spot together, some think there’s just one King at the top. These arguments will go on forever and though sometimes tedious, I think will always be worth having. The discussions are interesting and complicated now, but maybe things will change in the future and things won’t be so hazy. I mean, think about it. LeBron is playing with house money at this point in my eyes. He has rings, stats beyond comprehension, and some records that will likely never be broken. Improving all of those things moving forward just strengthens an already strong argument in saying he is no longer second to Jordan. What will it take to get out of the permanent number 2 spot some have him at? Is it another ring? Is it a few more rings? Is it another 5 years of consistent excellence? Is it showing more skill by changing his game even more to fit his age? At the end of the day, LeBron has more than any of us can dream but is still in the shadow of one. He could have retired years ago in the number 2 spot and we all would have accepted it. For years now, LeBron’s career has been solely dedicated to trying to pass Michael Jordan on the GOAT list. Forget scoring records, helping others win, and trying to be better than his contemporaries. Those things all came by accident. I really don’t think he cares about beating specific teams or players in the playoffs anymore, revenge and evening scores have gone out the window. LeBron just cares about tying Jordan at 6 rings, by any means necessary. Let’s be real, it wasn’t KD, not even the untouchable Warriors and Steph, he has been competing against #23 more than anyone over the course of his career. LeBron James wants to be number 1 of all time, plain and simple. That’s what he’s chasing, that’s why he still plays basketball. He may think he’s number 1, but that isn’t the affirmation he wants. He needs* the approval of those who have watched him for years to fully reach the top of that mountain. He has it all but it isn’t enough, as he thinks it’s all for not. Only time will tell if he will remain in that shadow or if it becomes his shadow that is cast.

Time is running out for these 3 to grasp what they’re chasing and write their perfect story book ending. But they still have time to somehow improve their indelible mark on this game and find what they seek. Steph can change the conversations about him and his team, Durant is still able to feel the happiness that eludes him, and LeBron still has time to change people’s minds. They aren’t retiring tomorrow and they each played phenomenal ball this year- their stories aren’t over yet.

A lot of us grew up idolizing LeBron and KD and marveled at the game of basketball that changed before our eyes in the past 10 years with the influence of Steph. I think the absence of these 3 in round 2 of the playoffs this year is a really big deal. The reign of expecting, almost guaranteeing deep playoff runs by 2 if not all 3 of them is over. The dominance has subsided.

The good news is, when it is time for them to hang it up, the NBA is in good hands. Across the league there are stars forcing a changing of the guard in ways most did not expect. To quote the great Charles Barkley on his thoughts about potential new faces of the NBA being ready to take over the league, “they’re not knocking on the door, they’re kicking the door down.” And I think that is so perfectly captured in a post-game comment made by the MJ comparable who snatched the soul of The Slim Reaper on national television; “I just want to kill everything in front of me.”

I’m not trying to be (too) dramatic about it though it sure seems like I am. It just feels so strange to have LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry out of the playoffs so early. On one hand, you have young stars cementing themselves as trusted talents among the ranks of coveted veterans, and other young players blossoming into box office superstars that are the new players we can tell our grandchildren we had the privilege of watching. On the other, you have the realization that the uprising of some can only mean the downfall of others.

Youth and hunger eventually supersede experience and accomplishment. A man who is arguably the best pure scorer to walk the planet, a man we compare to Jordan, and a man who changed the game forever; all watching the playoffs on couches just like you and I. There’s only so much room at the top.

I find their absence in round 2 this year as a true sign of change, one that marks the beginning of the end of an era. It’s a sharp reminder that their window to achieve the things that keep them playing this game is closing, fast. So enjoy these playoffs full of young stars, and enjoy these aging superstars in the future while we still can, because remember, all good things must come to an end.

What an era to Witness.

With a Melancholic Smile of Fortune and Hope,

Mickey Swish

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