L.A. Slam-Dunks New York in Basketball Tradition

New York might be the Big Apple, but as far as basketball goes it's the pits compared with Los Angeles.

A few big-picture similarities may make the comparison seem even. For instance, both cities have a flagship franchise that has stood as one of the league's beacons, though New York's has fallen on hard times of late. And both have a weaker stepsister of a team with a much smaller fan base and, despite recent success, much tighter wallets.

A lot of the same faces have circled through too, especially on the sidelines. Both cities had Phil Jackson, both had Pat Riley, and both had Larry Brown — twice.

But aside from one glorious spring day in 1970 when a limping Willis Reed lifted New York to the title against the Lakers, the big difference between the two cities has been that the Left Coasters keep winning all the rings.

In pro hoops, the Lakers have won nine championships since Reed helped will the Knicks to victory in the dramatic Game 7, compared with just one more for the Knickerbockers. That total improves to three if you include Dr. J's ABA exploits with the then-New York Nets, but still pales besides L.A.'s haul.

Extend the comparison to college, and things get more onesided. Despite a profusion of Division I basketball schools in the area, New York hasn't produced a truly fearsome college basketball squad since Chris Mullin left St. John's. Indeed, his Redmen (as St. John's was called then) were the last area team to make a Final Four, more than 20 years ago. It gets even sadder if you're looking for finalists or champions — the last local squad to make the NCAA final was NYU in 1952; the last to win it was CCNY in 1950.

L.A., on the other hand, had an amazing run under John Wooden. The Wizard of Westwood led UCLA to 10 titles in 12 years; since then the Bruins won another title in 1995 and made the Finals in 1980 and 2005.

Stylistically, New York may be best known for physical basketball in the mold of Charles Oakley and Dave DeBusschere. However, the area has been home to many of the game's flashiest guards and showmen — a list that includes Julius Erving, Clyde Frazier, Earl Monroe, Dick McGuire, Michael Ray Richardson, and Jason Kidd. Extend the comparison to players the high schools produced and you can fill this newspaper with all the names.

L.A., meanwhile, is the land of the dominant big man. Wilt Chamberlain was the first, helping the Lakers to their first L.A. title in 1972 (another great center, George Mikan, had won five titles for the franchise in Minneapolis). Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led UCLA to three straight titles before returning to claim five more rings as a Laker. Bill Walton had a trifecta of titles as a collegian as well, although his turn with the Clippers didn't work out quite as well. And then there's Shaq. The Big Aristotle won three straight rings with ex-Knick Jackson at the helm, including an embarrassing 4–0 romp over the outmanned Nets in the 2002 Finals.

New York has no comparison at this position — the best Knick centers, Patrick Ewing and Reed, have been very good indeed, but certainly not in the all-time great class with the likes of L.A.'s crew. I suppose the locals could try to claim Shaq based on his childhood address in Newark, but that's a reach.

While the difference at center is the most glaring, this pattern repeats itself up and down the lineup — New York has had some great players, but L.A. has had transcendent players. For example, few players have played the point better than Kidd or Frazier, but Magic Johnson pretty clearly is one of them. His fast-break dominance defined the "Showtime" era that won five championships in the 1980s, even as L.A. became an increasingly defense-oriented team under Riley.

You can make similar cases at the other positions — even Erving's. Elgin Baylor, though often forgotten, was Dr. J before there was a Dr. J, as one of the first players to routinely play above the rim. And unlike Erving, who did his best work while in the hinterlands of the ABA, Baylor had some actual witnesses for his aerial show.

On the wings, the comparison gets even more one-sided. Jerry West is not only the model for the NBA's logo and one of the most successful executives in league history, he was also the best two-way guard of his era … and he's not even L.A.'s best-ever shooting guard. Not by a long shot, as Kobe Bryant's exploits attained legendary status with his leagueleading scoring mark and 81-point outburst last season. The New York area has simply never seen a shooting guard of anywhere near the caliber of these two players; Monroe is the closest facsimile.

Perhaps that explains why Riley could win four titles in L.A., and not one in New York. With Magic and Kareem, he had the superstar power he needed to overcome Larry Bird's similarly star-laden Celtics. But when Riley came to the Garden and had only one All-Star caliber player to work with, Michael Jordan's Bulls were simply too much to overcome.

On a lighter note, L.A. may have the rings, but New York has the upper hand when it comes to where flakes and knuckleheads seem to go. What else would you expect from Ron Artest's hometown? The Nets alone could probably trump every other team except Portland in this category. Their list includes Derrick "whoop-de-damn-do" Coleman, the many legal snafus of Michael Ray Richardson and Jayson Williams, the half-asleep Benoit Benjamin, and the half-crazy Darryl Dawkins.

L.A.'s retort isn't nearly as strong, unless you count the short Laker stints of Dennis Rodman and Isaiah Rider. The Clippers provide the rest of the ammo, as they employed Benjamin too, along with Quintin Dailey, the late Bison Dele, and the puzzling Michael Olowokandi. Finally, they had my personal favorite, Keith Closs — a 7-foot-3-inch project whom I once saw spend an entire pre-game warm-up doing nothing but practicing 3-pointers.

So at least the Apple beats them somewhere. But when it comes to the important stuff, L.A. has it all over us. And with both the Knicks and Nets undergoing rough times at the moment, that situation doesn't figure to change anytime soon.

jhollinger@nysun.com