The more things change in the NBA -- in-season tournament, ever-changing all star game format, etc -- the more things stay the same.
To win a championship in The League, you need a centre who can score and dominate offensively if needed.
Go all the way back to the days of pivot men Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld and you'll find teams have always needed a commanding big man who could put the ball in the bucket if necessary to notch a title.
Yes, Russell was known as a defensive force and rebounder extraordinaire during the Boston Celtics dynasty years of the 1950s and 60s but he COULD score whenever called upon.
Offence, though, was not a priority for big Russ because of the bevy of sharpshooters the Celts had -- Bill Sharman, Tommy Heinsohn, Frank Ramsey, et al.
Recently, the Celtics were annually a playoff team that could not win their final game -- i.e. a title clincher. The Celts were backboned by Jayson Tatum, a terrific shooting guard and Jaylen Brown, a slick and proficient forward.
The pair was not enough, however, to bring an O'Brien trophy back to Beantown. Boston needed a big pivot underneath to put the ball in the basket and play solid D around the rim.
Then, two summers ago they astutely added 7-foot, 2 inch centre Kristaps Porzingis and -- voila! -- last spring they finally captured their first title in 16 years.
Porzingis gave them a big man who was an offensive contributor, something they had sorely lacked.
You may say, wait a minute, what about all those championships small forward Michael Jordan won with the Chicago Bulls?
Well, the Bulls, too, had a succession of centres in Bill Cartwright, Bill Wennington and Luc Longley who COULD score from the post and beyond, but because of Jordan's sheer offensive dominance that trio did not have to.
Same holds true for the Steph Curry-Klay Thompson shooting guard-heavy Golden State Warriors during their run of titles.
Because that pair and others were such prolific outside shooters and scorers, Draymond Green, the Warriors' pivot, could concentrate on defence, rebounding and getting on people's nerves -- all of which he was excellent at.
This campaign, the New York Knicks have basically taken the same tack as Boston did before last season.
They added centre Karl-Anthony Towns via a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Towns is a centre who is a scorer -- from both inside and outside -- par excellence.
For the past few seasons, the Knicks have enjoyed a renaissance under Coach Tom Thibodeau but were still not legit title contenders.
They have been a scrappy, hard working outfit that almost by sheer will has fought their way into the postseason only to come up short once there.
Led by hard-working all-star forward Julius Randle and the feisty scoring machine that is Jalen Brunson, the Knicks gave it their all but could not overcome their shortcomings in the post and never made it past the second round of the playoffs.
The price New York paid for Towns was fairly steep -- Randle and hustling, dead-eye shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo. But it was a move that makes them a better team.
The Knicks now have the scoring centre they have lacked since Willis Reed was a mainstay on their last title team, waaaay back in 1973.
Thus, look for the Knicks to possibly end that long drought this season. But they'll have to get by, among others, the Celts and Porzingas, the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Milwaukee Bucks, the Denver Nuggets, built around their splendid centre Nikola Jokic and the Dallas Mavericks with their outstanding pivot/forward Luka Doncic.
Even the Philadelphia 76ers, led by prolific-scoring big man Joel Embiid have a shot if Embiid returns to form following yet another injury. The 76ers were 2-10 in his absence to open the season. Think they missed him?
Meanwhile, look for the Phoenix Suns, despite the presence of splendid shooting guards Devin Booker and Bradley Beal and superstar forward Kevin Durant to come up short yet again in the postseason.
Why? The Suns lack a scoring centre. Ya gotta have one to win an NBA title.
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