We all know Kramer's racist rant at a comedy club.
We know about Costanza and Theo Huxtable.
But, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (a personal favorite) is threatening to break it.
Earlier this summer there was a rumor that the Spurs were trying to trade Manu Ginobili. My best friend Mario and I were talking and I brought this up.
He said the Spurs couldn't get equal value for Ginobili and they'd be silly to trade one of the best two-guards in the league...
... and all I heard was "one of the best two-guards in the league."
Manu Ginobili. Olympian. NBA Champion. Sixth man of the year. I get it.
But I think Tim Duncan is a bit like Seinfeld in this regard. We don't know how good any of his cohorts would be without him. They've never had to leave.
(The Admiral doesn't count. He retired.)
I would have loved for Ginobili to get traded because it would have been interesting to see if he really is a top-tier two-guard. I mean, fair or not, people chided Kobe for his Shaqcess. How do Ginobili and Parker, both of whom are regarded as being among the best at their respective positions escape such criticism?
Here's a short list:
Kobe Bryant. Dwyane Wade. Vince Carter. Ray Allen. Tracy McGrady. Allen Iverson.
At some point all of these guys were unequivocally THE MAN on a playoff team (sorry, I bring this up, T-Mac). They were asked to put teams on their backs and carry them as far as they could. All of them got deep into the playoffs (sorry, I bring this up, T-Mac).
Isn't that, to some extent, perhaps even a large extent how we measure players?
Kobe dragged Smush Parker, Kwame Brown and Luke Walton to the playoffs. Before that, when Shaq would do go on his usual in-season sabattical, he'd keep the Lakers in contention.
D-Wade (and the refs) used a wheelbarrow to haul Shaq past the Mavs.
Vince and AI had their 2001 epic in the Eastern Conference Finals.
T-Mac (w/o Yao) took the Rockets on a 22-game streak.
Ray Allen led the Sonics to the playoffs.
When has Ginobili been asked to BE the man? He's had to HELP the man on many occasions. But to be in that best-in-the-league conversation, don't you have to at least be THE guy at some point, even if it's just for a few weeks while the franchise is on the bench?
