Roger and Rafa
It’s hard to know how to characterize the relationship between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Nadal has been resting in the number one spot in the world of men’s tennis for a while now. Despite being the second youngest player in men’s tennis to win 10 Grand Slam singles titles, he is sometimes maybe a little over-defined by his dominance on clay as opposed to other surfaces. He also plays with a kind of uncapped exuberance that can be endearing, but it also leads me to think of him as a player who has to work harder for everything, than say Federer. And it’s the preeminence, as well as just the commanding presence of Roger Federer that seems to define Nadal as a player more than anything else. He first made his mark by being the player to beat Federer.
In some ways Nadal has solved the riddle of the stylish, smooth, once unbeatable Federer. His record against Federer in Grand Slam finals is 6 wins to 2 losses. Part of the grand narrative of this French Open final was that on his path to absolute greatness, maybe towards being the best of all time, Roger Federer had to go through Nadal, on the clay grounds of Roland Garros. Nadal is the only player who has been able to consistently beat Federer, despite Federer being one of the most dominant tennis players ever. It would be unfair to characterize the rivalry as Batman vs. Robin, even though Federer would make for an excellent Batman. The analogy would work best if it took place in a reality where Robin consistently gets to smack Batman around.
Li Na’s win at the French Open makes for the start of a great story in women’s tennis, and it will be interesting to watch her carve out her spot in what’s now a fairly wide-open women’s field. But despite Djokovic, the story in men’s tennis is still Federer vs. Nadal. And how they’re defining each other like they were rival judges at a spelling bee.
Dirk and Steve
Dirk Nowitzki, on the other hand, might be even more difficult to characterize. He has the individual glory of being a former league MVP, but no championship ring to his name. The same can be said about Lebron James, of course, but Dirk is already 12 years a pro. Even though he’s being talked about as one of the game’s all-time greats, Dirk is largely defined by lack. The difference now is that Dirk is playing with a kind of resolve, a composure, that shows no side effects of past failures. It hasn’t always been the case, but watching Dirk play in these playoffs you see a player determined to win, willing to step up in crucial moments of a game to do whatever necessary, and able to beat pretty much anybody (but for the heartbreaking loss in game 3).
Nowitzki has been to the finals once before, when his Mavericks collapsed against the Miami Heat (though a very different Heat team than the one he faces now) and lost in six games. He simply wasn’t ready for the big moment. The next season marked the year he was named MVP, and his Dallas Mavericks were great. Enter Stephen Jackson.
In the first round of the 2007 playoffs, the “We Believe” Golden State Warriors upset the Mavericks to become the first eighth-seeded team ever to beat a first seed in a seven-game NBA series. This completed the collapse of Dirk’s Mavericks that began in the previous year’s finals. Stephen Jackson was the one guarding Dirk for most of that series, even though Jackson is about five inches shorter than Dirk. But with an arsenal of crafty defensive moves he got into the MVP’s head and kept him completely off-balance all series. It’s been the story that’s followed Dirk for four years.
Jackson was a mismatch for Dirk in many ways. Dirk has always stood out, attracted attention. He looks like he was born to play basketball, with boundless athleticism, and being over seven feet tall. He also stands out on an NBA court where blond Germans are a rarity. Jackson was always a good player, but never an all-star. Most of the attention Jackson had otherwise received hadn’t been positive. Never a media darling, Jackson’s involvement in the brawl at a game in Detroit became a big part of his reputation. It was because of the Malice at the Palace that Jackson got traded to Golden State. Once there, he found himself united with a team of other multi-talented players, most of whom had yet to really shine in the NBA.
That Warriors team was exciting to watch (for everyone but Dirk’s Mavericks), but it never came to anything other than that victory at Dirk’s expense. If Dirk is now at the point where he doesn’t shy away from the big moment, if he can maintain his unbeatable aura (which for almost all of these playoffs he’s done amazingly well), then maybe we look to Stephen Jackson as the player who has defined Dirk Nowitzki. It was Jackson who broke Dirk down to his component pieces. If Dirk has built himself back up, to the point where he can stand up to the daunting onslaught of this current incarnation of Miami basketball, maybe he’s got Captain Jack to thank.
I also think it’s unfair to characterize Jackson as a villain, but if Dallas comes back to beat Miami I think it would be a fitting analogy for Dirk “Skywalker” Nowitzki, once he’s vanquished his foe, to find Stephen Jackson’s face behind the Darth Vader mask.
