I'm sure they do. I'm sure they have. I'm sure they can.
But you have to wonder if it isn't better to be extremely single-minded.
When I was in high school, at one point, in some class or another, we read an essay by Carol S. Pearson about different archetypes we live by. (Bear with me.) There are several of them, and I don't remember the vast majority of the details.
But two have stuck with me, in horribly bastardized form. (With apologies to the author ...)
One archetype is the wanderer. The wanderer, essentially, seeks new experiences, trying on some level to figure out what's different about him or her from everything else going on. The wanderer, as you can imagine, is an open-minded learner.
Another archetype is the warrior. Whereas the wanderer walks into a room and says "hmm ... what's going on here, and is there a place for me?" the warrior walks into a room and says "let's rearrange this joint." It's about realizing there's something different about yourself, and remaking the world in your image. This is single-minded.
I was learning about this when Michael Jordan was a young NBA player. People were talking about Jordan "imposing his will on the game." Think about the many anecdotes of Jordan telling his teammates, essentially, to be more like him. Warrior. Straight warrior.
And ... not so much of a wanderer. Jordan cast a famously narrow net in search of expertise -- Tim Grover, David Falk, Phil Jackson, people Jordan knew in high school or at college. (Hiring from a narrow pool of friends is one of his weaknesses as an executive in Charlotte.)
One of my favorite Jordan stories is about the fact that when he was getting to know Abe and Irene Pollin, who were courting him to become part of the Wizards' organization, they served him salmon. He had spent decades in the finest restaurants in the world, and had even owned restaurants. Yet, reportedly, this meeting in January 2000 was the first time Michael Jordan ever ate salmon.
Single-minded warrior, check. Wanderer? Not really.
Now, compare that to Dirk Nowitzki, who just spent a good chunk of the summer literally wandering remote Australia. Here is Nowitzki, interviewed on NBA.com, preaching the gospel of new experience:
Best piece of basketball advice you received was...
It wasn't really basketball advice, but just keep your eyes and ears open, always learn. It is a good lesson for life too. You always want to improve. You can never think you learned it all in life. There is always something else coming. That is the same with basketball. You can always work on your game and be a better player and person.
Later in the same interview, Nowitzki talks about his parents (don't we all wish we had these parents?) who essentially encouraged him to wander.
How proud is your family that you made it to the NBA?
You can't really describe it. My whole family is my biggest fans. I could go 0-20 one night and my mom will still call me and be like "hey you did this and this good." They supported me from day one. They drove me around to practices all over when I played tennis, handball. They let me make my own decision. I was pretty decent in tennis and handball. When I said I wanted to stop, they didn't say a word, they said "hey it is whatever you want to do." Then I started playing basketball. They drove me to basketball practice, to the games. So they have been really supportive of my sport career. They come over here every year for like two or three weeks and they love to be here, love to see me play. With the National Team in the summer, they travel wherever I go and try to watch. I grew up in a very close family and it has been great.
As I recall, Pearson suggests success comes from balancing these and other archetypes in your own life. I suspect that's good advice. (I also suspect that you do best in life by playing the cards you are dealt. It's not like Nowitzki could or should just decide to become brutal.)
But in the particular and bizarre game known as being a basketball superhero -- and here being a team leader may differ from being a supporting player -- I am quite certain that rules of the game are tilted heavily in favor of warriors.
And that's where I can't help thinking back to how Dallas was booted from the playoffs in the first round of the playoffs earlier this year. No, it wasn't all Dirk Nowitzki's fault. Yes, Golden State (irony alert, they're called "the Warriors!") was inspired.
But when I was watching those games on TV, I feel like I could see Dirk Nowitzki saying to the Warriors: What are you going to give me? I have this move and that move and this other one, and I'll use whichever one you will let me use. And the Warriors essentially replied that he couldn't have any of those.
And Nowitzki was thrown for a loop. He was not prepared to re-shape that game in his image. He wasn't single-minded in obliterating the obstacles.
Instead he had the wanderer's response. He was open-minded in trying to think of better ways around those obstacles.
That wanderer's approach is perfect in a lot of settings. Who's against learning? It doesn't deliver push-button results, though. It takes time to wander. I will just bet you that if you were to let Dirk Nowitzki replay that series against Golden State right now -- after a summer of replaying that meltdown in his mind -- he would do much better.
But when the clock is ticking and a playoff series is coming to a close, don't you think Mark Cuban and thousands of Maverick fans wish Nowitzki was a little more of a warrior and a little less of a wanderer?
This is not to say that Dirk Nowitzki didn't earn his MVP award. This is not to say that he isn't a magnificent player, and the most skilled player by far on one of the best teams of recent years. But for a few bounces of the ball, and some debatable calls, Nowitzki would have Dwyane Wade's ring on his finger.
I don't know if the Mavericks are serious in their rumored pursuit of Kobe Bryant. And if so, I don't know if they would consider including Dirk Nowitzki in such a deal. But if they ever do consider trading Nowitzki for Bryant? I would have to suspect that it's not because the Mavericks would feel they needed a better scorer, a better teammate, or a bigger star. It would be because they felt they needed a full-time warrior, and whether or not Nowitzki can bring that is still unclear.
