Caleb Martin #16 of the Miami Heat reacts after a slam dunk during Game Four of the Eastern ... [+]
It’s NBA Finals time. The time of the year when everyone tunes in to watch their favorite stars go head-to-head in the series that matters most. The star power can be so strong that even if we have a rooting interest in one team, we want the series to go to seven games just so we can watch a LeBron or a Steph or a Caleb at work!
“What’s this?” you ask. “What the heck is a Caleb?”
You read that right, fair reader, the Caleb in question is none other than Caleb Martin, one of the Miami Heat’s no-name players, guys who weren’t even drafted by the NBA but will face the Denver Nuggets in the Finals that start on Thursday. This year’s championship is an opportunity for viewers to enjoy watching two teams that do not feature era-defining, marquee names in their starting rosters.
This is a Finals for the rest of us.
Make no mistake, both of these teams are packed with talented basketball players. The journey these players took, though, will provide a great narrative. Both teams feature players who were underappreciated, but who have made constant improvement their mantra. Viewers will be in for some interesting matchups when, for example, Miami’s Jimmy Butler, chosen dead last in round one of the NBA Draft, goes head-to-head with the Nugget’s second round big man Nikola Jokic. Yes, the Nuggets have their “no-name” star, too!
Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets leaves the court after defeating the Phoenix Suns 125-100 in ... [+]
In order to get to the championships, the Nuggets had to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers, led by two number one draft picks in LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Heat had to play an Eastern Conference Final against a Boston Celtics team that boasted three top-three draft picks (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford) versus the Heat’s three undrafted players (Caleb Martin, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent).
But you wouldn’t have known of this imbalance in pedigree by watching the games and seeing Martin scoring 26 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to complement Butler’s 28 points and Vincent’s helpful 10 in the Heat’s game seven blowout. Martin earns around five times less than Tatum, Brown or Horford. What Martin brings home amounts to the kind of green Tatum finds wadded up between the cushions of his couch, which is exactly where Tatum will be sitting on Thursday to watch the Finals.
Watching a Finals series full of shooting stars is fun, but it’s also a treat to watch one full of grinders who have taken themselves to a level of achievement – and a level of greatness – they may or may not have once thought within their reach.
We often use a shorthand to summarize a particular era in history, and this includes sports history. In basketball, we talk about the age of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, the age of Michael Jordan, the age of Kobe Bryant and Shaq, then the age of LeBron James and Steph Curry. We’re experiencing the latter stages of the James and Curry era, and Boston’s magical duo of Tatum and Brown were supposed to be ushering in a new era.
Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics, Jimmy Butler #22 and Caleb Martin #16 of the Miami Heat go ... [+]
Instead, Boston couldn’t figure out how to adjust to when their three-point shooting went sideways. In game six, they went 7 for 35 from three-point land and still managed a one-point win. On Monday, they shot 9 of 42 from threedom and went down in flames. The irrepressible commentator Charles Barkley may have put the matter best when he hilariously told his fellow commentators during game seven, “Watching these dumb-ass Celtics play is making my head hurt.”
In Barkley’s characteristically unfiltered way, he was referring to the Celtics’ reliance on “chucking up” three-pointers rather than doing the harder, necessary work of settling down and finding ways to execute actual plays together.
But Barkley couldn’t have said that about Miami. They shot well and defended well. When their most talented players had a bad night, others stepped in to make important contributions, whether by rebounding, shooting, assisting or defending. They followed the unshakeable belief of their on-court leader, Butler, who swore to avenge the Heat’s 2022, game-seven Conference Championship loss to Boston by beating them this year. They played like a group of guys who had spent some time journeying around the league playing on different teams and decided that this was the year — right now — in which they would put down a marker that defined who they were and what they could achieve as individuals and teammates.
A team of grinders.
It will be refreshing to watch a Championship series that doesn’t attempt to market the contest as this top-pick against that star. And who knows, if we’re lucky we’ll witness the beginning of a new era as a star or two distinguish themselves in June. And if they should emerge, we’ll know they’ve earned every minute of their success because the one thing you can say about grinders is they always pay their dues.
