What is better, an amazing team or an amazing player? Which throughout history is remembered more fondly? Do you recognise the Chicago Bulls in the 1990's or do you resonate with his royal "airness" Michael Jordan?
If you pierce the bubble of sporting history and take a look inside you notice the debate that has gone on since the beginning of time. Who is bigger the athlete or the team. No none will ever win this time consuming argument.
Yes the Bulls where great and yes Michael delivered the championships. And then the rebuttal, would he have won without Pippen? And this goes on for a few hours until the beer cans are empty and the chicken wings have been consumed.
The intricacies of this argument across all sports make the debate too hard to find a definitive answer, it's fair to say that each situation has to be carefully judged on its merits and the level of opposition must carry appropriate weight throughout the discussion.
Does a player make the team or does the team make the player? Two contrasting situations face off in the NAB finals that could once and finally shed some light on the great conundrum.
In the left corner we have the Western Champions San Antonio Spurs, renowned for their team basketball, where the bench players often score more points than the starting five. A team filled with great players that play as a cohesive unit on both ends of the floor. They play to a structure night in and out, when the roster changes the structure remains the same. No personality in San Antonio is bigger than the structure.
Then we head over to the Eastern NBA Conference champions and the world looks a whole lot different. You have the "Big Three" King Lebron, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.
In Miami the term "structure" is a word that does not carry the same weight as in San Antonio. Miami is a house built on natural talent and confident personalities. Adored by young fans and bemoaned by traditionalists, the Heat are an enigma on the court that can have their explosive fuse lit at any moment.
The next ten days will give us answer as to which style prevails and who can win the age old argument. Lebron fans will be laughing all the way to the bank if he can drive the heat to "championship" lane and traditionalists everywhere will have a little satisfaction if old school team basketball prevails, not to mention there will be a tiny amount of quiet satisfaction for Cleveland fans if Lebron fails one more time.
Josh Hinds is a school chaplain on the Gold Coast, a family man and PSI's IT professional. Josh is an experienced writer on international sport.
Josh Hinds' previous articles may be vie/wed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/joshua-hinds.html