The NBA needs a new rivalry, Miami-Oklahoma City could be just what it’s looking for

JOSH MASER

Lakers-Celtics
It’s a rivalry that every NBA fan knows. The history, the players, the intensity. Any time those two teams meet, the country takes notice, especially in the NBA finals, where they have met 12 times.

But what makes this matchup even more interesting, in my opinion, is that they are both in different conferences, better yet on different sides of the country. The two teams seem to contrast each other, the glamour of Los Angeles versus the hard-nosed attitude of Boston. It is a rivalry that has lifted the NBA up, multiple times.
The NBA is facing trouble yet again with the looming potential of Collective Bargaining issues, and facing the real possibility of losing games next season. If (worst case scenario) that were to happen, the league would be in desperate need of its greatest rivalry being great again. Unfortunately, the two teams in that rivalry look like they are at the end of their runs, and the players in that rivalry are at the end of their careers. Both teams face an 0-2 deficit in their conference semi-final matchups, and neither is showing any signs that things will change. The Celtics players are old, Phil Jackson is retiring, and neither is going to be helped out much in the draft or by young players.

The solution for the NBA? A fresh new rivalry, one that will capture all NBA fans, from die-hards to casual. One that will pit teams in the NBA finals that are equals in talents, but have completely different personalities and styles. One that can take that same formula of hard-nosed versus glamour that has worked so well in the past, and one that will be able to last for years to come. What two teams fit this mold perfectly?

The Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder

Now, at first, this does not seem to be a matchup with a recipe for gut wrenching, 7-game finals rivalries. But let’s take a closer look. First of all, we have the players. In Miami, we have as much glamour and hub-ub as you can ask for. Lebron, D-Wade, Bosh, fireworks, stages, wrestling entrances, it doesn’t get much more glamorous then what the Miami Heat have to offer, not to mention the talent they have to make playoff runs year after year.

Let’s compare this to the Thunder. Almost every single player on their roster was drafted by the franchise, including their stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. In the midst of all of the summer talk about free agency and where LeBron would land, Durant quietly signed an extension with OKC, almost like he wanted to make a statement about how he felt about what was going on all around him in the league.
Players that contrast each other: check.

Let’s look at the two cities. Again, it doesn’t get much more glamorous then Miami; South Beach, the nightlife, the celebrities, heck, the arena is set on Biscayne Bay. It’s almost like Los Angeles East.

Then we have Oklahoma City. Located right in the middle of the country in south Oklahoma, it has a modest arena, and any nightlife it may have certainly isn’t attracting any celebrities any time soon. We can even look at the fans, the late arriving crowd full of celebrities in Miami compared to the fans in OKC that stand until the team makes its first bucket.

The cities are almost polar opposites: again, check. But can they meet in The Finals for years to come and give fans great series?  In one word, absolutely. The Heat are tearing through the playoffs right now and have 2 of the top 3 players in the world on the same team, and the scary part is they are just starting to click together. Some may say the Thunder are showing some weakness, dropping the first game of their series with the Memphis Grizzlies. But we have to remember this team is the youngest in the entire League. Not the playoffs, the ENTIRE LEAGUE. Both of their perennial all-stars haven’t even turned 23 yet. The potential for this team is scary if you think about it, considering they were the 4 seed in the west and already have a playoff series win under their belt.

But even with all of this contrast and what seems to be a great matchup, what makes us think that the two teams will have the same edgy, don’t-like-each-other attitude that would tie all of this together? Well that’s a little tougher, but there has been somewhat of a seed planted earlier this year. In a regular season matchup between the two team in OKC (a game that went down to the wire, just saying), Kevin Durant called out the Heat’s Chris Bosh as a “fake tough guy”. Bosh made very little of the comments, but there is something there to show that at least one of the teams doesn’t like the other.

So there you have it, a new and fresh NBA rivalry. It may never happen, it may never get close to happening. They may meet in The Finals and one of them may sweep the other, but the potential for the next great NBA rivalry is there. People will watch it, whether it’s to root against the villain Heat and wish bad things upon LeBron James or to see what could be the best scorer of his generation in Kevin Durant. The matchup is oozing with storylines. As a fan, I hope it happens, not just for the sake of the matchup, but for the sake of the post lockout NBA (potentially).

Photo: Reuters

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