Where there is no heart, there is no glory

Within this past decade Dirk Nowitzki has played with two dominant future Hall of Famers and had exceptional talent surrounding him. Nowitzki’s stat sheet has Hall of Fame written all over it. If you would have told me Dirk was un-achieving and unable to win big games, I would have told you that you were insane. Still the reality is you’re not going crazy. So the big question is; Why can’t the Dirk Nowitzki win the games that matter? To refresh your memory, let me give you a break down of the Mavs history in the last nine to ten years.

Mark Cuban owner of the Dallas Mavericks took over the franchise back in 2000. Since the arrival of Cuban the ball club has been a dominant force in the NBA. Cuban as an owner reminds of Jerry Jones the owner of the Dallas Cowboys. They both have a niche for all star caliber talent, but they also have similar way of losing the meaningful games. The Mavericks have had plenty of talent over the past years and Dirk Nowitzki has been the franchise player they’ve built around. Mark Cuban has done a great job of keeping the Maverick’s roster full with talent like; Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Devin Harris, Michael Finley, Josh Howard, Antawan Jamison and the list continues. Dirk Nowitzki and his Mavericks have had more regular season success than post season success. This franchise has won fifty games or more in the last nine seasons, they’ve made post-season appearances more than five times and seen the Conference Championship once. With so much regular season success and a team capable of winning the NBA championship, why haven’t they won?

Do not blame Mark Cuban and his staff, the blame goes on Dirk Nowitzki himself. Mr. Nowitzki will have all of the stats and number to make him one of the elite Power – Forwards in the history of the NBA. But his career will never possess a gold ring because Dirk Nowitzki plays with no heart. A true champion plays with passion and gives his heart and soul to his team. For example Kevin Garnett played with the Minnesota Timberwolves organization for ten long seasons, but never won anything. Every night whether his team was a playoff team or not he played the game as if it were his last. Finally when Kevin was traded to the Boston Celtics he won his first NBA title, but he won with the same passion and hunger as if he was the only star on the team.

As for Dirk every night he can be a sensational scorer, but what else does he bring to your team? If you’re pondering about the other great stuff Dirk Nowitzki bring to your ball club . . . well let me help you out, he brings nothing! He is not a dominating rebounder for his height and he lack of great defense. You can simply say if you shut down Dirk’s offense, you shut down Dirk’s entire game. As we seen in the past offense doesn’t win anything.

Dirk what will it take for you to obtain the hunger of champion? Its start with heart and passion, these two things will drive you beyond your talent. By having the heart and passion for the game it will create leadership. A great leader must have all of the intangibles to get his team from point A too point B. A great leader must see nothing but victory because if he doesn’t, he will always question his failures.

“My responsibility has been to play the game of basketball and relieve some of the pressure of everyday life for people who work 9 to 5, and I've tried to do that to the best of my abilities.” – Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan will always be remembered as the greatest basketball player of all time no questions asked. In the recent years I have heard many comparisons between Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, but today I am defending Mr. MJ and his greatness.

Anyone who is human knows the story behind the Jordan legacy; he is a six time NBA world champion, fourteen time NBA All – Star and six time NBA Finals MVP. Michael’s career achievements goes on and on, but his stats and his awards goes beyond the basketball court.

Michael was an icon in all of aspects of life and was more than just a basketball player; he was a role model for the average American. In today’s society we are subjected to push ourselves to get to the next milestone. For many Americans waking up everyday, putting their kids through school, and working a nine to five are accomplishing the goals of society. The story of Michael Jordan success could be told over and over, but this is the same story that will be remembered and used as motivation to help our youth for generations to come.

The failures and success of Michael Jordan also reflected on the world. Some individuals may read this and say my statement is false. Well here is an example of what I am talking about. As a fan of the New England Patriots I watched Tom Brady and Randy Moss tear up teams for eighteen straight games. On that Sunday where the New York Giants dismantled the Patriots offensive line and took away our fourth Super Bowl win . . . . I nearly cried. The city of Boston was a dead zone, the next morning commuting to work everyone looked depressed and dead. So imagine watching Michael Jordan in game six of the NBA Finals losing to Carl Malone and the Utah Jazz. Not only will the city of Chicago will be effected but the whole world would be in turmoil. This was the power of Michael Jordan. When he won and he made Americans happy and when he retired the world was lost their inspiration.

On January 13, 1999 Michael Jordan Michael Jordan announced his retirement for the second time in his career. Thousand and thousands of reporters came from all over the world to cover Jordan retirement speech. Michael started off with this quote:” My responsibility has been to play the game of basketball and relieve some of the pressure of everyday life for people who work 9 to 5, and I've tried to do that to the best of my abilities.” When MJ decided to retire, he had an impact on many companies across the world. Fortune Magazine reported that Michael Jordan generated revenue of $10 billion dollars in the world economy. NIKE alone produces over $250 million in annual revenue before his resignation from the game, when Jordan announced his retirement the next day NIKE’s stock fell more than four percent. Major corporations invested in MJ such as; Sara Lee, Gatorade, MCI WorldCom, General Mills, and many more.

In conclusion Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and the other NBA greats may surpass some of Jordan incredible numbers. There is one record that these young superstars can not break, and that is the effect of man life and legacy and on the world. His blessing trickled down from Corporate America, to our school teachers, to the single mother taken care of her kids. Michael Jordan was a shinning light for people across the world and the 1995 Chicago Tribune consider MJ as a “cultural icon.” According to David Walsh’s from the World Socialist Web Site; Americans once placed Jordan fifth on a list of "most-respected newsmakers," behind Mother Theresa, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and Ronald Reagan. They were many reasons why number 23 was great, but his effect on life was greater.