The Firm!

"This is really where titles are won bruh!"

So many people watch professional sports, the NBA in particular and never begin to understand how important the front office is to winning championships. I'm constantly blown away by how many people make the comment that LeBron James isn't a great player because he's never won an NBA title. Not realizing that as a player he really doesn't control the outcome of that dream. Players don't win titles, organizations do!

I don't care how good a player is if he isn't put in the right situation to win by the front office he could realistically spend his career in the twilight zone. As good as Jordan was, he spent his first 7 years in the league breaking boyz off with 60 point scoring nights at times; wooing crowds with unbelievable dunks and crazy baseline moves never to make it to the Finals. Jordan was literally fighting his teammates at practice bruh!

It wasn't until the organization recognized that he needed help and that Doug Collins couldn't coach him. He needed players around him that would compliment both his playing style and especially his ego. So they drafted Scottie Pippen in 1987 and then two years later hired Phil Jackson. Every player that they would eventually add was told what their roles had to be in order to play with Mike and they were fine with it. It wasn't until then that they peeled off 3 straight! They later added Rodman for the second leg of the tour and won 3 more. It wasn't all MJ that made the Bulls click it was the front office that put the puzzle together that made them champions.

Don't think for one minute that Jordan would have won 6 titles playing in a joint like Atlanta because not everyone understood how to handle him. However, Chicago did at that time. There is a reason why more than 50% of all the NBA titles have been won by either LA (16) or Boston (17). They are organizationally better than the rest of the league more often than not. Do you really think Kobe would have 5 rings if he'd been playing somewhere like Denver? Not a chance because Denver is and always will be Denver! Just like places like Charlotte, Milwaukee, Toronto and oh yes New York! I said it, NEW YORK!

Do you really think Pat Ewing wasn't good enough to win a title? He was one of the all time greats and played for a front office that couldn't seem to unlock the safe. He wasted all of that talent and his career in the “world's greatest city” that hasn't won a title since 1973. Don’t get it twisted; there is a reason for that bruh. It’s called the front office. Please don’t try to tell me that he didn’t win because Jordan was winning all of the titles because MJ only won 6. Ewing played for 17 years so there was room enough for him to win at least one but not in New York.

It was the organization that recognized that Kobe and Shaq could no longer co-exist and decided to ship the "Big Fella" to Miami and not Kobe. They understood that their future was in the younger of the two even though they had already won 3 titles together. They knew that to force it would be tragic so they rebuilt the car around the new engine and won two more.

Players just play the game that they've been blessed to play with no more or less intensity. It's the front office that has to buy the groceries to make it a 5 star restaurant bruh. Nobody can win a championship without smart people evaluating talent and personalities to put them together in the right situation.

Don't fool yourself into thinking that Kevin Garnett all of a sudden started playing with that unbridled passion when he got to Boston! He's been playing with that same intensity since his days at Farragut Career Academy in Chicago. I know because I watched him play. He finally got with an organization that understood how to put the pieces together to win a title. If he'd stayed in Minnesota he would have wasted away with the same passion that he eventually won a championship with.

Charles Barkley and Karl Malone, two of the best to ever play the game, don't have rings because they spent nearly their entire careers playing for mediocre organizations in Philly and Utah. Their talents allowed them to win games and make it to the playoffs but without a smart enough front office putting the right pieces together at the right time they kept falling short. Like I said before, Jordan didn’t win it all of the time because Barkley played 16 years and Malone played for 19. So there was room to get at least one but not with those franchises. While you're at it, throw in Reggie Miller too. He was one of the best ever but happened to play in Indiana.

So to blame LeBron for not winning a title to this point in his career when he's played every year but the past two of them for probably the worst organization historically in the league is asinine! His talent allowed him to take the worse team in the league within a span of five years to the Finals(2007). Don’t hate on him for being smart enough at 26 years old to understand what most people never figure out, including LeBron hatin’ fans!

However, in year one with the Heat they've gone to the Finals and are destroying boyz in route to another one this year and more than likely the title! Why, because the Heat front office understands what it takes to win. After all, they are the same guys that brought in Shaq to play with D. Wade at the right time! Right? That's why players don't win titles, organizations do bruh!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Hit me up on Twitter: @jaygravesreport
To Check out the Video Commentary on this joint click here: "The Firm"