NBA All Stars from the 80's and Their Championship Runs

Player born in the 1990s began to enter the league. Yet players before the 1990s are not ready to pass the torch. Other than Dwayne Wade, who won a championship in 2006 with stars like Shaq, Jason Williams, Antoine Walker and Gary Payton, there is still no one born in the 1980s who has won a the world champion as the "man" of his team.

"23 vs. 24"...this dream match up still has not materialized in the NBA finals. LeBron James again walked off the court with a defeat ending yet another season without a championship. This time there is no longer complaint about the lack of supporting casts in Cleveland. Mo Williams, Shaq and Antawn Jamison all are competent all stars that are more than enough to help LeBron. The return of Big Z was even considered the last piece of Cavaliers' championship puzzle. Before the playoffs, Cleveland boasted championship odds of over thirty percent on all major NBA media, far ahead of Lakers, Magic and Celtics, who all have championship odds of below ten percent. While the Boston Celtics, though with KG playing subpar games and Ray Allen being very inconsistent, still remained optimistic of their playoffs run.

In June 1010, Dwight Howard had to watch the Los Angeles Lakers celebrated their 15^th champion in his home court Amway Arena. He said he would remember all he saw because he would come back next year. To counter the Lakers, the Magic believed that they needed players who could create his own shot. So they got Vince Carter, a seemingly a great choice at the time. The Magic also got Brandon Bass from the Mavericks, signed White Chocolate Jason Williams and kept Marcin Gortat. With Jameer Nelson healthy and J.J. Redick confident, the Magic had built a lineup that was considered one of the best and deepest in the league. Yet Dwight would be disappointed again. This time even left earlier than last year in the playoffs.

As arguably the top 2 players born in the 80s, Dwight Howard and LeBron James are no doubt the leaders and the stars of the stars in the NBA. LeBron James won two consecutive league MVP awards and Dwight Howard dominated the best defensive player award two straight seasons. They led their respective teams to the top 2 spots in the east. Yet they were defeated again and again in the playoffs. Other than in 2009 in which they went against each other, Dwight and LeBron, and their Magic and Cavaliers, were defeated again and again by old teams like the Celtics and the Pistons over recent years.

We could look at other players of the 80s. Amare Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Deron Williams, Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose...yes, they are the leaders of their teams and NBA all stars. However, don't even say NBA finals, they are still fighting to get out of the first round of the playoffs or even to get into the playoffs. There's another awkward fact. After Greg Oden is certain that health will not accompany him in his NBA career, Dwight Howard has become the only big man of the 80s who is fighting for championship as the leader of his team.

Eventually we have to come back to Dwyane Wade because he is the only lucky one of the 80s. With Shaq in his last dominant season, and with the help of veterans from the 60s, Wade quickly won a world champion before his any of his peers. Nonetheless, though a NBA Finals MVP, the Dwyane Wade back then was more like the Rajon Rondo today. So, history revealed that the 80s all stars, though in their primes, still had not truly led their teams to the final glory.