That's Me in the Corner, That's Me in the Spotlight...

I'm not a fan of either the Dallas Mavericks nor the Miami Heat for that matter, so I didn't have a horse in the race for the NBA Championships.

Last night, of course, in stunning fashion the Dallas Mavericks went on to win the championship.  As always, there will be plenty of talk about who the real stars of the championship series were and were not, who surprised and who disappointed their respective fans.

Lebron, Wade and Bosh have been ravaged by sports writers today.  The three have been called unready for the spotlight, unable to handle the pressure of a big game, and generally players with big salaries that are not commensurate with their talent. 

Dirk Nowitzki has made his way into the spotlight and is largely seen as a clutch player by those same writers.

I'm not sure about all of that.  Lebron, Wade and Bosh are all good players to be sure.  There are many players who didn't get the opportunity to play in the finals this year at all.  And while Dirk Nowitzki held it down for Dallas in the championship series, he has been an inconsistent player over the years by most accounts.

But all of this talk about "real stars" today and that we will no doubt hear and read all week, make me long for the days of my favorite basketball player, Kurt Rambis. 

Remember him?  He was a power forward who most notably played for the Los Angeles Lakers for about 10 seasons in the 1980s and 1990s.  The consummate underdog on the grind, Rambis played excellent defense, was an adept rebounder, had a field goal percentage of almost 60 percent and was considered an all-around team player.  He hustled and set up shots for Magic and James Worthy almost every night he played.  He was willing to box out, grind out, foul out and do the dirty work for his team that other players were not willing or unable to do.  It was a thankless role on a team full of big stars who history will remember.  But he won championships.

And he was a real star.