Conference Finals Preview: What’s your legacy?

‘Legend’ isn’t a title easily bestowed. It takes the harshest challenges, the biggest moments, and the toughest victories to make a Legend. In the cold-hearted world of NBA basketball, no one remembers anyone except the one that stood last. A player could achieve a triple-double, and yet a missed fourth-quarter free throw is the difference between glory and failure.

With just four teams left to battle for the 2012 NBA title – Spurs, Thunder, Heat, and Celtics – each moment will make or break the legacies of several of the NBA’s most important characters. The conference finals feature legends of the past, the present, and perhaps of the future, too. Each character – and each team – now hunts to define their legacy. Eight more victories separate each of the remaining four teams from making their first or last imprint into eventual immortality.

Last year, the legend belonged to Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks, who, with one inspirational playoff run, changed their legacy forever. Their star player and the team as a whole were dogged forever with the stinging imprint of ‘chokers’, as the one great squad that could never figure out to close the deal. As the one superstar who was never tough enough to taste championship champagne. One title was all it took to flip the script. Suddenly, the team was hailed for what it truly was: a strong, balanced, organisation, designed to survive every challenge. Dirk’s name instantly joined the lists of some of the greatest power forwards ever. And even if the Mavericks followed that championship with a sensationally weak title defence this season, Dirk and his 2011-12 squad will always remember that first moment when they finally broke the barrier and were at the top of the basketball world.

The story of no two teams is alike. The Mavericks long, decade-long road to the title was a unique tale, and so are the four different tales of the four different remaining teams. This year, the Spurs are in sight of crowning the last 14 years as one of the greatest and longest stretches of dominance in NBA history. The Heat, a team which manufactured a shortcut to greatness, is looking to provide the first crown to the biggest and most mercurial star of this generation. The Thunder, a strong young squad, look to cap off their own era of greatness with their first rings. And the Celtics, a team of successful and battle-tested veterans on their last legs, look to close their memorable five-year run with a fairytale ending.

The chapters of NBA history will have a special place for the winner of 2012 title. For the four remaining teams, the next few weeks could completely twist, enhance, or destroy their stories in the history books. And in the end, who will ultimately be remembered the most?

Before we get to previewing the NBA’s Conference Finals, let’s take a quick recap of the teams who bit the dust in the last series, and a look at where their stories stand.

The Los Angeles teams were the first to go. The Clippers stand at a crucial, tipping point in their franchise history. They have just completed perhaps their most relevant year since the move to LA. In Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, they have a great tandem for the future. But their coaching and squad balance remained a question mark as the Spurs swept them away in the Second Round. Will this team improve, or will Paul and Griffin have one eye looking out of Clipperland soon? The Lakers, one of the most storied franchises in NBA history, saw another underwhelming end to their playoff push. Where does the aging squad go from here? Will Kobe continue to be the main man? Will Bynum ever mature? Who will they lose, who will they gain?

There is a lot more optimism in the losers out East. Both the Pacers and the 76ers can be knocked out with their heads held high. Two hard-nosed, unselfish, and well-coached teams, who both have a bright future ahead of them if they keep improving. Both teams are one natural shot-creator away from dominance.

And now, on to the four remaining teams of relevance.

East

Miami Heat: What can I say about the Heat that hasn’t been said, taken back, repeated, regretted, shouted loudly, smirked silently, tweeted, retweeted, mocked, shared on facebook, critically exclaimed, or fearfully uttered already? Some call them the Team of Destiny while others refuse to acknowledge a squad of two/three stars a real ‘team’ in the first place. Some say that they’re set for NBA-wide dominance in the future, while others believe that they’ll never have enough to close the deal.

In LeBron James, we have the only three-time MVP winner in NBA history yet to win a championship. Now in his ninth year in the league, LeBron has enjoyed success at every level except the last one, the one that truly makes one immortal. LeBron took a controversial decision last year to join Wade and Bosh in Miami, to take a shortcut in manufacturing a winning squad instead of earning it. Will his plans finally bear fruit? In Dwyane Wade Miami have a player who has already earned a championship, is one of the most explosive talents ever, and yet one who has had to take a backseat to James. The way Wade closed the Indiana series though has struck fear in the hearts of opponents as he gears up to top form. Another ring for Wade will bring him higher in the conversation of greatest shooting guards of all time. Miami’s big question mark hovers over the availability of All Star power forward Chris Bosh. Mocked for being the least-important member of Miami’s Big 3, Bosh is still a game-changer and his presence could be the difference between championship and second place.

Boston Celtics: Five years ago, the Celtics, after two decades without championship success, finally made the biggest and boldest move to change the course of their franchise. Boston brought in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to join Paul Pierce and a young Rajon Rondo, and immediately went from being the NBA’s worst team to champions in 2008. In the following years, the Celtics squad became a staple of toughness and the never-say-die attitude in the NBA, reaching the Finals one more time and playing through several memorable playoff series. Garnett, Allen, and Pierce got older and slower, but Rondo improved dramatically to help keep the team in contention.

Now, their biggest names are perhaps in their last years, and the next few weeks could be the last time that fans and haters alike get to see Rondo, Allen, Pierce, and Garnett play together. It has been a good five years, and despite only one championship in the previous four, the aura around the Garnett-era Celtics will be of a team that fought till the end, and always fought like champions. They won a ring together in their first season, will they win won more in perhaps their last? Rondo continues to be dominant and Garnett has raised his game miraculously to become the best big man in the post-season at 36 years of age. Pierce and Allen will have to sacrifice the remaining strength in their limbs for this last run together. A second championship will truly mark this five-year stretch as one of the best in Boston’s successful NBA history.

Prediction: The absence of Bosh will make a big difference. Bosh may not be able to play at Garnett’s current level, but he would’ve neutralised KG a little. LeBron and Wade are in the forms of their lives and against Indiana showed that they could win the last three games pretty much on their own. The Celtics will be a different, more difficult challenge, especially since Rondo seems to have had LeBron’s number over recent months. Still, Boston have their own weaknesses: they’ve lost defensive ace Avery Bradley (whose job it would’ve been to stop Wade), and they rarely seem to be healthy enough to play two good games in a row. It will be a long, grueling series, one that will frustrate fans on both sides. Eventually, Miami’s star-power will outlast Boston’s old legs. Heat win 4-3.

West

San Antonio Spurs: The last NBA lockout was in 1999. A young Tim Duncan, coached by Gregg Popovich and mentored on the floor by David Robinson, carried the Spurs to their first ever NBA championship. Over the next seven years, the Spurs won three more rings headed by the player-coach combo of Duncan and Popovich. And even as they got older, the Spurs continued to find a way to remain excellent and relevant. And they have truly switched it on in the playoffs. Duncan and Manu Ginobili are slowly improving and getting into championship stride. Tony Parker has been one of the best point guards all year. And the Spurs have incredible depth, from Danny Green and Boris Diaw to Stephen Jackson and Tiago Splitter. They have been efficient, clinical, and ruthless, winning their last 18 games and sweeping both of their previous series.

How much will it mean for Duncan to add a fifth trophy to his cabinet now, at age 36? Five rings over a course of 13 years will be a real marvel in modern NBA history. Popovich status as one of the greatest coaches ever will grow higher, and so will Ginobili’s as a true winner. Their most important cog though will be Tony Parker, a superstar who has spent a career being excellent yet underrated. Will he finally get the respect he deserves, as one of the finest point guards of the past decade? While the Spurs have injected a lot of youth in their veins, it could be the swansong of the Duncan, Parker, Ginobili partnership, at least in terms of the three players being major contributors in a championship system.

Oklahoma City Thunder: While the story of Duncan and Popovich in San Antonio looks to perhaps write its last chapter, the story of Kevin Durant and Coach Scott Brooks in Oklahoma City may write its first championship chapter this year. Durant and the Thunder dream of being what Duncan and the Spurs have been for many years: a player and a team bonded together for long-term success. At 23, Durant is the future of the NBA, but the player who finished second in MVP voting and has been the league’s leading scorer for three consecutive years is very much the present too. For Durant, this year could be the first step to flag off a lifetime of success, the championship that starts his future legacy.

Durant has a more-than-able second-in-command in Russell Westbrook, who has elevated his game to become a top-10 player in the league. Westbrook and Durant have ignored the critics who claimed they couldn’t coexist and have improved every year. With James Harden and Serge Ibaka making up the strong core of OKC, this team has all the talent but little championship experience in their youngsters. That is where the likes of Derek Fisher and Kendrick Perkins will come in handy: two players who have won championships before and players who understand the temperament required to be a champion. After being spurred by the Lakers, Fisher will be looking for his sixth championship ring. He may have never been an All Star level player, but he will surely be honoured in the future for being a consummate winner over the course of his career.

Prediction: Thunder have more talent on paper, but Spurs have much more experience and are better coached. This will be a series for the ages – perhaps the most exciting series of this postseason – and like the one out East, I predict this one will go to seven games, too. While the Spurs will use their experience and depth to attack OKC in numerous different ways, the Thunder will strike back on the back of unstoppable basketball by Durant, Westbrook, and Harden. When it’s all said and done, I think that the young crew will have the last laugh. Despite their youth, I feel a sense of calm confidence present in the Thunder team, and that combination of youthful athleticism and a veteran’s ability to close out big playoff games will see OKC through to their first ever Finals appearance. Thunder win 4-3.

So there you have it, folks. I’m predicting two exciting playoff series, one defensive and one offensive, but both that will go to the last possible game. In the end, I predict that we’ll see the titanic Heat vs. Thunder showdown in the NBA Finals.

Um, and yes, please share your predictions, too. How do you think the two series will run through?