No. However, the Thunder have the potential to be an all-time great team this year.
Ultimately, any team that has Luka will have a chance to compete for a championship for the next 10 years.
That’s how it was with Dirk Nowitzki. As long as you had him, you had a chance to compete.
I’m sure that if it were up to you, you would have given up on Dirk after they lost to Miami the first time they made the finals in 2006.
But Dirk was a superstar phenom, who would always give you a chance to win. And we fans with patience were rewarded with a championship 5 years later in 2011.
You won't like this take.....especially if you have Luka fever........but Dirk was different for me.
I had my questions about him, too. Mavs didn't have a big man, and during that era, most of the big men stunk. It wasn't the 90's anymore, it was Shaq and everyone else. Mavs sucked at defense and I felt they needed a better interior presence next to Dirk....Tyson Chandler comes and saves the day.
But Dirk and Luka aren't alike. I question Luka's conditioning and his will to win. I never questioned Dirk.
I never question Dirk's heart. NEVER.
I remember when KG used ot try to punk Dirk and he'd light him up for 30+.
I remember Karl Malone knocking Dirk's teeth out, and him coming back.
Dirk never loafed around. Never did not get back on defense if he didn't like a call.
It's just different.
How I feel about Dirk, I'm sure younger fans feel about Luka. But I lived it. I remember how raw Dirk was. I remember I met Dirk and Chris Anstey...don't remember the year, but Dirk was a rookie. Didn't speak a lick of English. Or he pretended not to. He had a translator. I remember how bad we sucked.....When I saw Calvin Booth get fired...I immediately thought of his game winner he hit for us to advance past the Jazz.
So I'm always gonna have a Dirk bias. I saw him from the bottom and watched him take down one of the greatest teams in the modern era. And did it with his second-best player being Jason Terry.
There are some things you can't teach. Luka will always have great stats in today's league. But Dirk was dominant in a much different era, where the league was more than just 50 3-point shots a game.
As effective as Dirk was? It wouldn't shock me if he'd put up 30+ in today's game.
I would've never traded Luka because he was one of the fans. But I admire a GM that's willing to make the tough decisions. Most of us fans would rather lose with Luka then win with someone us.