Now there are but two left to play for the NBA championship.
And if the Finals are as memorable as these preliminaries, filled with buzzer beaters and the most improbable conclusions, it will have been worth the wait since October.
But these playoffs also have offered a brutally honest comment on American society.
We want winners, not role models.
Since the Houston Rockets, the defending champions but heavy underdogs, defeated the San Antonio Spurs last week, the Spurs’ star center David Robinson again has been the subject of criticism, especially in San Antonio.
The knock on Robinson, who was the regular season’s Most Valuable Player, is that he never has been playoff tough, that his teams invariably never go further in the playoffs because he is unable to raise his game–like Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson or Isiah Thomas–and carry his team to victory with uncommon effort. The hated appellation that he is “soft” is often hung on Robinson.
And it has been again following the Spurs’ six-game loss in the Western Conference finals and Hakeem Olajuwon’s domination of Robinson.
That Olajuwon has been establishing himself as one of the best ever–and that Robinson did average 25 points and 12 rebounds in the playoffs and was among the leaders in steals–has not been a consideration.
It’s pointed out Robinson’s game, which is best in transition, doesn’t lend itself to slower playoff play. And Spurs’ coach Bob Hill, in Robinson’s defense last week, claimed Houston double-teamed Robinson more than San Antonio did Olajuwon.
Still, it’s ironic Robinson is condemned. He deserves to be celebrated for what athletics should be about. Competing hard, commitment, sportsmanship, ethics, strong values. Robinson is all of that and more.
Never is scandal associated with David Robinson. Never does one hear teammates complain about him. Never do press reports chronicle him upset or pouting. Never is he uncooperative with the media. Never does he have to explain about his personal behavior.
He just always finishes the season with a loss. So Robinson is not considered among the heroes of sport.
There’s much talk about athletes as role models, and the truth is, if your child selects an athlete as a role model, disappointment most likely is to follow.
After all, what can anyone really expect from people in their 20s paid millions of dollars to play games? What can such people know about life and responsibility? Respect athletes for the physical gifts bestowed upon them and which they’ve nurtured, and not what they can offer to society.
But Robinson takes this role-model stuff seriously.
“A lot of guys say they don’t want to be role models,” observes Robinson. “I don’t really think you have a choice. In this situation, you’ve got everybody’s eye on you. So I take that not as a burden, but as an honor. I can be an example. I can say, `Hey, look. I’m able to love my wife.’ I don’t care if 75 percent of the people in this country get a divorce. It’s not impossible to have a good marriage and to be a good father.”
Robinson says he also takes most seriously his commitment to God: “How do I perceive myself? Father, husband and I feel I have an unbelievable responsibility on the floor to honor God’s gift. It’s far more than what I feel toward the fans. It’s far more than what I feel toward the people who are paying me or even to my teammates.
“I have a responsibility to come out and work and make myself better. Not for my own glory and honor, but for His. I think it’s taken a lot of guys a couple of years to understand that about me. That’s where my drive is.”
Some have whispered that’s one reason why Robinson’s team never wins the ultimate prize–that Robinson thinks whatever happens is God’s will.
But where Robinson is rare in sports is that he is a credible role model. Are Jordan, Johnson and Thomas? No. They’re all great players and winners who have taken on the burden of success and handled it magnificently.
But you wouldn’t necessarily want your child to follow their lead, from Jordan’s embarrassing gambling episodes and petulant feuds with the media, to Johnson’s lifestyle over the years to Thomas’ questionable sportsmanship and Machievellian behavior.
They are all likeable individuals who possess great charisma and are endearing and intelligent. But one might point to perhaps Craig Hodges, who has worked mightily for community betterment, or Steve Kerr, who quietly does intense charitable work, as more suitable role models for youngsters.
But they can’t be–or won’t be–because they are not associated with game-winning shots and heroic athletic feats. Neither is Robinson. And he may never be. But he embodies what most anyone would like for their child.
Take your choice: Athletic hero or role model. They rarely go together.
