Final Thoughts on 2010-11 NBA Season: Where the best TEAM won

This past basketball season essentially began nearly one year ago, right around July 8 of last year. Perhaps you recall what happened that evening and presumably helped the NBA garner terrific television ratings throughout the entire season. The Miami Heat became Public Enemy No. 1, which is probably why their loss in this year's NBA Finals has ended up feeling like a victory for every one of us who is no fan of theirs. The celebratory, mocking memes were cranked out in a hurry. An Associated Press headline rubbed it in—although apparently not from this Miami newspaper. I even offered my own dig.

In the end, however, the credit really must be given to the team that ended up hoisting that trophy last night, a Dallas Mavericks team that had been continually underestimated and written off all year long. The boys from South Beach didn't give the series away so much as the veteran Mavs went out and took it.

I suppose once every great while we get this sort of encouraging result in the NBA where the lower-profile, close-knit group of underdogs ends up knocking off the talent-laden predominant favorite. But enough about that Lakers team and the embarrassment they suffered. Like I said, this year deserves to be remembered primarily as Dallas' accomplishment.

With all the games played, here's how the "experts" and I ended up this year:

1. (2) Ken Berger, CBS Sports: 12-3 (3)
1. (3) J.A. Adande, ESPN: 12-3 (3)
3. (1) Chris Broussard, ESPN: 11-4 (4)
3. (7) Kelly Dwyer, Ball Don't Lie: 11-4 (4)
5. (4) Jamey Eisenberg, CBS Sports: 11-4 (1)
6. (5) Marc J. Spears, Yahoo: 10-5 (6)
7. (6) Royce Young, CBS Sports: 10-5 (4)
8. (7) John Hollinger, ESPN: 10-5 (3)
8. (13) Marc Stein, ESPN: 10-5 (3) 
8. (13) YOURS TRULY: 10-5 (3) 
11. (13) Sergio Gonzalez, CBS Sports: 10-5 (2)
11. (16) Johnny Ludden, Yahoo: 10-5 (2)
13. (9) Henry Abbott, ESPN: 10-5 (1)
13. (9) Ben Golliver, CBS Sports: 10-5 (1)
15. (11) Matt Moore, CBS Sports: 9-6 (4)
16. (12) David Thorpe, ESPN: 9-5 (3)
17. (16) Eric Freeman, Ball Don't Lie: 9-6 (1)
18. (24) Chris Sheridan, ESPN: 9-6 (0)
19. (18) Greg Anthony, Yahoo: 8-7 (4)
20. (19) Chad Ford, ESPN: 8-7 (3)
20. (19) Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo: 8-7 (3)
22. (21) Tim Legler, ESPN: 8-7 (2)
22. (21) Michael Wilbon, ESPN: 8-7 (2)
24. (23) Dan Devine, Ball Don't Lie: 8-7 (1)

I "typically" like to paste my original playoff picks from before the season tipped off updated with the red and green to denote what seeds, teams and number of games I had correct or incorrect, but Lord ... what a pain in the ass it is just to get those to appear the way I want on that original post. So instead of giving myself a migraine, I'll hope linking to those predictions will suffice. While I might have had a respectable amount of opening round winners correct, it wasn't so hot afterward.

Needless to say, I felt that this was going to be one last year of another chapter in that Celtics-Lakers rivalry, but instead saw both those teams suffer much earlier exits than I'd anticipated. I wouldn't complain too much about the way that things turned out instead, as like I said before, this year's Bulls achieved far more success than I had anticipated—even if in the end, they mildly disappointed me by getting ousted at home by Miami.

I still believe that the overwhelming vitriol toward the Heat would have been far less muted had there never been a "Decision." Or a pompous rally to celebrate the signing of a couple free agents. After all, I don't recall such disdain being directed toward Boston when they picked up Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to help those guys get rings.

But like I said, the near-universal hate for Miami is, in actuality, a glorious thing for the NBA. It propelled ratings closer to Jordan-era numbers and you could only assume that the interest will remain that way as long as the "Big Three" remain together. 

That might all sound well and good for the league if it weren't for the fact that a little more than two weeks from now, the collective bargaining agreement is set to expire. And unlike the optimists who believe the labor situation in the NFL will get resolved without any games being lost, it's rather hard to believe that we're going to see a full 82-game slate played out next season with the way talks have gone thus far. Furthermore, there's just no telling what that "hard cap" is going to be, but consider this: if the owners have proposed a cap of $45 million, that's nearly $3 million less than the "Big Three" would make alone. "It isn't just a matter of the union losing," one GM was quoted as saying, "It's a matter of how badly they lose."

Any fan familiar with how the NHL lockout resulted in the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 season over similar issues should know that exec is probably correct. And considering we now live in the age of Twitter in which nearly every NBA player shares their every thought, I won't be the least bit surprised if public opinion shifts largely toward the owners.

But again, this year ended up really being all about retribution for a historically inept Mavericks franchise. No longer having the absence of a championship held against him, Dirk Nowitzki will now be considered among the all-time greats. After taking two pretty weak New Jersey teams to the NBA Finals, Jason Kidd also adds a title to his Hall of Fame qualifications. And what more can you say about the inspired performances of Shawn Marion, Jason Terry, and Tyson Chandler—or essentially every crucial role player off that Dallas bench? It was a fine reminder that, sure, it's nice to have three of the league's most wanted players; but it's even better to have an entire roster of guys who can contribute.

I was particularly happy for Rick Carlisle, whom I'd been hoping the Bulls might hire after the unceremonious end to the Scott Skiles era in Chicago (instead we got this guy). I always felt sort of bad for Carlisle after he got dumped in Detroit right after winning Coach of the Year, and I respected what he was able to do with his teams since he took either the Pistons or the Indiana Pacers to the playoffs in five of his six years as a head coach. Still, it seems so few people knew who he was. Hell, my sister even began her email last night by saying she was "so excited for Jim Carrey--or whatever that Mavs coach's name is." I trust people will start remembering it more now.

And somewhat surprisingly to me, I was even pretty happy for Mark Cuban. In all honesty, what fan wouldn't want their favorite team to have an owner like that? 

But beyond all those accolades, the person I'm most happiest for of anybody would of course be ™. While both her and I are Braves fans, I'm fairly certain that it's the Mavs she holds closest to her heart. Like I told her, I've seen the Bulls win six titles in eight years, so she's a little overdue to experience the joy of seeing your favorite basketball team bring home a title. If nothing else this year, I'm just happy that she could be this happy.

Like I said, this year, everybody wins.