Man Up

It's that time again, fellas. So dig deep, stare down those demons and show us what you got

What endures is the snapshot of Dirk Nowitzki sitting at the end of the Mavs' bench, head down, body turned slightly away from his teammates. He's squeezing a basketball with both hands as if he were trying to choke it into telling him where his game has gone. Nowitzki knows how much his teammates count on him, and he is overcome with the realization that right now, in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, the rainbow threes and tear-drop fallaways his fellow Mavericks have rallied around have suddenly abandoned him.

Some might argue that Nowitzki's anguish over not coming through is the mark of a leader of men, someone who is not satisfied until the mission has been completed. Others might contend that no selfrespecting alpha dog would ever allow his own problems to consume him, that all that matters is figuring out another route to the summit. But what isn't up for debate is that 10 months ago, with everyone watching, Dirk was again not the guy his team most needed him to be.

And so the word spreads: Nowitzki is not a winner. For all his skills, he doesn't have that certain something it takes to drag his team across the finish line. But what exactly is inside that kind of man, anyway? Is he someone who steadfastly shares the ball or who refuses to give it up with the game on the line? Does he lead by example or shout out what to do? Is he fiery or a sphinx, the glue or the fist? Is he loved or feared?

And most important of all, is this guy born or can he be made?

One particular student of the game definitely leans toward option B on that last one. "Phil [Jackson] teaches that it all starts with making an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses and then addressing them," Kobe Bryant says of his Lama-esque coach, who has both ridden and guided the likes of MJ and Shaq to nine rings. What you learn about the psyche of your foe can work to your advantage, too. "Phil is also a master at creating a challenge the opposing leader doesn't want or isn't comfortable with," Kobe says.

Jackson could have a field day in these playoffs then. There's so much material to work with. The title-contending field is as bunched as it has been in years, and every team has an assortment of under-the-bed monsters waiting to jump out and block the path to the crown. A successful running of the gauntlet this season will depend on which of a host of superstars—from Steve Nash to LeBron to, yes, Dirk and Kobe—can put the head of his personal demon on a spike.

Where to begin? "You can talk about all the qualities they need to have, but at the end of the day, if there isn't a certain amount of fearlessness, the rest doesn't matter," says Pistons GM Joe Dumars, an understated floor leader of two Detroit title teams before he became the front-office architect of a third. Think of Chauncey Billups, the Pistons' then-journeyman point guard, who in 2004, in his first NBA Finals, smiled as he worked his way upcourt against the Lakers' full-court pressure. Or Avery Johnson, now the Mavs' coach, who, athough derided for his lack of a jump shot, knocked down the 18-footer that clinched the Spurs' first championship in 1999. Or Tim Duncan, who shook off a 9-for-21 performance from the foul line in Games 5 and 6 to hit five of six in a Game 7 win in the 2005 Finals.

"Real leaders don't talk about the pressure of the playoffs," Dumars says simply. "They see it as an opportunity, a chance of a lifetime, to show who they are and what they can do."

The great ones are never through proving themselves; it's what makes them great. Who pushed MJ to win all those titles, to make all those big shots, if not ultimately himself? But scaling the mountaintop even once does silence a lot of noise, both without and within. "You know you have a formula that works," Dumars says. Then again, though Duncan has banked enough big-game moments to carry him through the rest of his career, at least from a fan's perspective, do you think he's secure in his place?

"Isiah Thomas and I never appreciated it as players," Dumars says. "It wasn't a feeling of exhilaration; it was relief. And then we went straight to 'We have to get ready to defend this.' If I have a regret, it's that I never stopped to enjoy what we
accomplished."

Maybe Dumars wouldn't have had as much to enjoy if he had. Standing on the summit, awash in the purest sunlight and a cool breeze, can be only momentary bliss. Gazing at the next peak over, the slightly higher one, and wondering what it would feel like to be on top of it … well, that's what really grabs the heart of a winner.

"Five years ago, if you'd asked me if I'd be happy with two MVPs, I'd have said, 'Hell, yeah,'" Nash says. "Now? No way.

"I want to win it all."

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