I would like to thank Chris Ryan for being unable to let something go.
A few months ago, LA Clippers star Blake Griffin threw down a rather
impressive dunk on Oklahoma City’s defensive-minded center, Kendrick
Perkins. At the time, many commentators
felt that it was necessary to not only praise Griffin’s athleticism, but to
mock Perkins — who was simply trying to do his job — as well. This was disgraceful, and, sadly,
representative of the sports media (and media in general) as a whole. I wanted to write something about it, but I
was too busy and time passed. Now, two months
later, Chris Ryan has decided to refer back to Griffin’s “postering” of and “mid-air
obituary” for Perkins. In doing so, he
perpetuates the most negative aspects of the media, but has reopened the door
for me to say my peace. So thanks again,
Chris Ryan.
Kendrick Perkins plays defense. And he plays it hard. Because of this, it is widely known that Perk is a Beast. Now, it shouldn’t be noteworthy that a man
who gets paid millions of dollars to play a game actually works hard on the
defensive end of the floor, but it is.
Perkins is limited in his offensive abilities, but he is unquestionably
a valuable NBA player because he is a large man (even by NBA standards) who
plays defense and grabs rebounds with a fury that far exceeds most others in the
league. This fury led to Perkins trying
to defend Griffin on a play where, in reality, Perkins had little chance of
defensive success. Griffin is too big,
too athletic, had too much momentum, and was too close to the rim for Perkins
to stop him. Of course, in real time,
it’s hard to make that kind of judgment, so Perkins tried and failed. Griffin threw down an incredible dunk. Perkins was posterized.
This same fate has fallen upon
other NBA players, which makes sense. If
you work on the defensive end, it almost certainly will happen to you. Some of your opponents will have
extraordinary physical gifts, and your attempts to stop them will be in
vain. Of course, other NBA players are
never posterized. They avoid doing so in
a rather simple manner: they don’t attempt to play defense. When an opposing player elevates to dunk,
they simply let him do so. Nobody ever
writes their “mid-air obituaries.” They
never look foolish on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays of the Night.
In fact, SportsCenter’s Top 10 probably
perhaps best captures the problem I am addressing. How often on the Top 10 do you see some
version of the following: “A monster dunk by Player X. His team lost by 20 points” or “A monster
dunk from Player X, but he had a rough night overall. He shot 2-847 from the floor and had eleventy
billion turnovers”? If his team got
crushed or he had a terrible game, why should we
celebrate Player X’s monster dunk? He
had a bad night. He did not help his
team win. He did not perform his job. We are celebrating the momentary individual
achievement over the team. We are
celebrating the meaningless over the valuable.
And in team sports, one of the
most valuable attributes a player can have is defensive intensity. It is no coincidence that NBA champions frequently
have a player on their roster who is there for his defense. Defense is fundamental to winning, and it’s
fundamentals that should be celebrated.
Kobe Bryant best illustrates this point.
Bryant is a star because he is a prodigious scorer, but he is one of the
greatest players of all time because of his fundamentals. He is widely known as one of the league’s
elite defenders. Even his scoring is predicated
largely on fundamentals, as he has one of the greatest mid-range games of all
time. This gets ignored. Watch the Top 10 and tell me how many
mid-range jump shots you see.
What I want is for us to
celebrate consistent hard work and effort over a single flashy play, celebrate
substance over style. Bryant has his
fundamentals because he is a notoriously obsessive worker. Likewise, defensive
success is predicated mostly on tenacity.
Perkins, on that famous play, put forth effort and came up short. There are countless plays, however, where Perkins’s
effort will lead to success. The
Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the best teams in the league, one of the most
complete teams in the league, and one of the favorites to at least reach, if
not win, the 2012 NBA title. Kendrick
Perkins is a major reason why.
We should all approach work and
life the way Perkins plays defense. Work
hard. Be tenacious. Make the most of the talents we have. And when we see our personal Blake Griffin
charging toward the hoop, have the courage to step in and try to stop him, even
if we probably can’t. Griffin’s dunk on
Perkins should not be referred to as “postering” or a “mid-air obituary” or any
other crime against the English language.
It should be referred to as a man, Perkins, working hard to do his job
and, in one moment, failing to succeed.
Perkins should be praised, not mocked.
Regardless, I would imagine that, because Perkins is a professional, he
has shaken off that night and that moment.
I would imagine he still plays defense with heart and without fear. I hope so.
It’s a lesson that all of us can and should import into our own
lives. Here’s hoping the sports media find some cute terminology to promote that story, too.
- Jack Rollo
- Jack Rollo
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