While the question around here should be where can I get a meal that is not deep fried?, it is instead, “Why not us? Why not now?”
The “us” would be the Orlando Magic, a basketball team young enough to need a curfew. It’s the first game of the NBA Finals. Do you know where your overgrown children are?
The “now” would be a generation or so ahead of schedule. In a mere seven years, the Magic is where it took, for example, the Bulls 25 years to get. And however this turns out, chances are greater the Magic will be back before the Bulls are.
Only the Milwaukee Bucks, three years old at the time, made the NBA Finals faster, and that was because of the combination of two Hall of Fame players, the legendary Oscar Robertson and the rookie Lew Alcindor.
Alcindor then decided that Milwaukee was too culturally bereft for him, and forced his way to Los Angeles, becoming Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson’s long-time companion.
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Two things about Shaquille O’Neal, the Orlando heap and the present-day Alcindor. He seems not anxious to change his name nor to move out of the smallest pond in the NBA. This place makes Milwaukee look like Rome.
Besides, anything that exists somewhere else is duplicated just down I-4, including Main Street, Morocco and the Mississippi. Phony as it is, this is Shaq’s World and one admission ticket is good for the whole stay.
Still, how interesting would it be if O’Neal changed his name to Hakeem Jamaal and the originally designated Hakeem Olajuwon, who wants to play for the U.S. Olympic team and very likely will, Americanized his name to something like Bubba Wilson?
Well, maybe whichever one wins these Finals can do whatever he wants. Why not them? Why not then?
“It’s like me against Michael Jordan,” said Orlando’s Anfernee Hardaway of O’Neal’s battle against Olajuwon. “Shaq’s really getting up for this. Hakeem is the center of the ’90s and Shaq is trying to get there. He knows the way is through Hakeem, to get that respect.”
Jordan-remember him?-is still at least the standard against which greatness is measured.
“Hakeem is Michael Jordan playing center,” said Horace Grant. “Hakeem is like Michael, Magic and Larry Bird all rolled into one.”
O’Neal and Olajuwon hugged before the opening tip, sincerely it seemed. And then proceeded to keep cameras focused on them.
Each had his poster moment at the expense of the other-Shaq slamming home a lob over Olajuwon and Hakeem doing his rolling shoulder, triple fake, up and under flip hook while O’Neal looked like he suddenly realized he was on the wrong bus.
Both teams played their Hope Defense. Hope the shot doesn’t go in. Both teams shot so quickly, the shot clock couldn’t be sold as used.
Not to be out-sloganed by Orlando, the Houston Rockets come with a catch phrase, and explanation marks too. Believe It! Again!
For a defending champion, Houston was longer on doubts than conviction. In fact, until the trade for Clyde (Why not me? Why not the third time around?) Drexler, the Rockets were table scraps.
And thanks to the magnificent Olajuwon’s playoff splendor, beating in succession the three teams with the best records in the NBA, not only were the Rockets believable but inspirational.
“These are the teams everyone wanted to see in the Finals,” said Hardaway. “I’m not knocking Indiana or San Antonio, but both our teams like to run and have great centers. It will go down in history, this 1995 NBA Finals.”
Probably so. Even Kato Kaelin will go down in history.