Antithesis

The upcoming NBA Finals is a sporting event that I admit I am not a huge fan of. You can look at the pre-finals buzz here. I would be a little more interested if the Utah Jazz were playing but not much. So it's easy for me to look at this as an outsider because I truly have no horse in this race. From my indifferent perspective it is fun to categorize the two teams, the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs, as diametrically opposed. Now I know that is a bit of a generalization but there is an interesting case to be made for different team identities

In the last week or so I have heard Dan Patrick, Sage Steel and other sports media personalities refer to the Spurs as "boring" and "vanilla" while simultaneously acknowledging that the Spurs like it that way. They come to work, put their heads down and go to business. There isn't a lot of attention seeking by the players. Greg Popovich routinely takes sideline reporters to task for asking questions he deems ridiculous. He comes off as annoyed with having to deal with the media. San Antonio isn't a flashy town. I had a coworker who recently vacationed in San Antonio...on purpose! To most Americans I would assume that San Antonio ranks just below Branson Missouri as a  travel destinations but only because Branson has the Osmond's.

Miami on the other hand, is a flashy spring break kind of town. You have ocean easily accessible, a beautiful beach scene, and celebrities all over the place. If it was closer to our side of the country I know it would be high on my destination list. The Heat arguably, have the best basketball player in the league in Lebron James and the media always seem to have a story coming from the team (like a video of them getting off the bus). These two teams couldn't look more different if you tried but the problem with casting them as opposites is that they are remarkably similar as far as talent.

The Spurs have three future Hall of Famers and multiple championships. The Heat have three future Hall of famers and multiple championships. Each team has been consistently successful in the playoffs for years. Each team has a superstar anchor player and a well developed set of role players and bench players. The only difference between the teams is the identity that they have either created for themselves or been assigned by the media. The Heat are great and welcome the publicity. The Spurs are great (and defying the odds) but don't want to talk about it.