You want to know the single greatest and most cruel entity in sports? Luck. Luck has a lot to do with success and failure; its impact on sports is as essential as the athletes who play. A lucky bounce of the ball. A Hail-Mary shot that goes in. A deflected ball that lands in just the right spot. A star player (or two) going down with an injury.
Like a wet spot on the court, injuries can turn the tide of a game or series. Unless, of course, you are the Houston Rockets. Injuries, like the Hail-Mary or the lucky bounce, are a part of the game and must be taken as part of the whole in sports. That is why all talk of putting an asterisk next to the results of the remaining Portland Trail Blazers’ post-season run is ludicrous.
What is an asterisk’s purpose in sports? An asterisk, as defined by Wikipedia, is used to indicate that a record is somehow tainted by circumstances. Any wins by the Blazers over the injury-depleted Los Angeles Clippers after the loss of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin is not tainted. The Blazes did not take performance enhancing drugs or maliciously take down Paul or Blake to gain an advantage. The Blazers shouldn’t be punished for any of their wins, their victories shouldn’t be viewed as any lesser because of something that has now become so common in the NBA.
If you are a proponent of the asterisk, then you would have to put one next to the entire post-season run of the 2015 Golden State Warriors who won the title. Every opponent the Warriors played in last year’s playoffs had an injured star. They matched up against an injury rattled New Orleans Pelicans in the first round, during the second round against the Memphis Grizzlies, Mike Connelly was out for a time while Tony Allen was less than 100%. Patrick Beverley, Donatas Motiejunas and Dwight Howard were hurt in the Western Conference Finals for the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers were without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving in the NBA Finals. But, those were the cards the Warriors were dealt to no fault of their own. Ask the Warriors if they think any less of their title. Ask the fans if they think any less of their team. They don’t. They shouldn’t.
If you are going to put an asterisk next to the Warriors 2015 championship, then we should put an asterisk next to every Trail Blazers game of the 1977-‘78 season after Bill Walton went down with a career altering foot injury. Before Walton’s injury, the Blazers blitzed to a 50-8 start and were frontrunners for another run to the Finals. After Walton’s injury, nobody had to face the Blazers at their best and their season ended in the second round of the playoffs. Should we put an asterisk next to the Seattle Supersonics who won the west that year, not having to face a healthy Blazers squad, or the Washington Bullets who won the title that year?
Asterisks, in the context of putting one down for each of the remaining games of this Blazers-Clippers series, or anything afterwards, does nothing for anyone, except diminish what is in fact a very real part of sports. It’s essentially asking you to void the results because in some parallel universe there might have been a different starting five on the court for the Clippers, the same parallel universe where the Blazers won 5 straight titles from the late 70’s to early 80’s and where the Cavaliers won the NBA title last year because Love and Irving went off on the Warriors.
As an NBA fan, I want Paul and Griffin out there. They make the game more entertaining. As a Blazers fan, I want those two on the court in order to say the Blazers beat the best. But, these are the breaks(!) of the game. These are the cards the Blazers have been dealt. But, this hand does not guarantee a Blazers victory any more than it guarantees a Clippers loss. You have still have to go out and compete and earn the victory.
On Wednesday night, the Clippers put a scare into the Blazers for three quarters. The Clips fought hard and gave everything they had, showing energy, hustle, and heart, something that was severely lacking from the Blazers for a half. But, Portland had too much fire power in the end and ran away with the game in the final 12 minutes. The Blazers now hold a 3-2 series lead and will look for the knockout blow Friday night at the Moda Center. Whatever happens in Game 6, don’t put a symbol next to it representing that it doesn’t mean as much. The Blazers have fought too hard to get here. The Clippers will continue to fight without their stars. When all is said and done, they both deserve better than an asterisk.
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