Shawn Marion thinks he's the man

It has recently come out that Shawn Marion is demanding a contract re-up before it's due. He says that he wants $20 Million a year, for three years. This brings in a couple of interesting things about Marion, the Suns, and the whole concept of "The Man."

Nobody can deny that Shawn "The Matrix" Marion is a great player. He's averaged over 18 ppg, 10 rpg, and still manages to get 2 assists, 2 steals, and about a block and a half per game. Not only that, but he is solid, rarely injured, plays virtually every game, and plays almost 38 minutes a game. Definitely someone who any team can use. The question is, has his ego warped his sense of self-worth?

My guess is yes. The guy was a stud at UNLV, has been priceless as an All-Star highlight waiting to happen, and has earned every accolade given to him. Unfortunately, demanding that kind of contract on a team that has lots of great players is going to handicap his team, or force them to trade him.

His contract already is the most expensive on the Suns, and they will be owing him upwards of $16-$17 Million a year for the next three years. This is pretty crazy considering who else the Suns have, such as perennial All-Stars Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire, not to mention their stable of young players who can come in and wreck shop, such as Leandro "The Commodore" Barbosa. If the Suns, for some reason, adhere to this new contract demand, then the Suns will have to part with one or more of the players that have made them Championship contenders consistently for the last few years. For anyone to command that kind of control over a team's future, then you must, by all means, be the Man on that team.

Marion was great on the Suns before Nash and Coach D'Antoni showed up, no question. However, the team did not reach it's present caliber without D'Antoni, Nash, and Stoudemire. Stoudemire gets more points and rebounds, and Nash operates as the ringleader of the most entertaining show in the basketball universe (not to mention his back-to-back MVP seasons). So why does Marion want more money? In this offense, he is irreplaceable, but still scores most of his points off of putbacks (most people are worried about Amare on the boards), fast breaks (D'Antoni's philosophy and Nash's court vision), and wide-open three-pointers (Nash again). My guess is that either Marion wants to show the locker room who's boss, or is just plain greedy. Either way, that's not good for the team. Being the Man on a team would facilitate such actions, but you can't really say that Marion is the Man on the Suns. He is an invaluable cog in the gears of a great machine, but not the Man.

The Man could put up big numbers, put fans in the seats, be great for the community, etc. The one thing that the Man NEEDS to do is be the one reason that a team wins. You can't say that about Marion. You really can't say that about very many people in professional sports at all. this may be because the Man is only really applicable to basketball, because of its individual nature. There's eleven people on each side of the ball in football, and if one or two of them fail on a single play, it hinders the stars who could be the Man. Vince Young on the Longhorns, Michael Vick on the Hokies, those are the two that immediately come to mind, but we would be ignoring that both teams had a good line, good defense, good receivers, and a good running game. Both of those teams would have won without those two guys, just not as well.

Basketball is the one sport that you can go out and play one-on-one. It is the one sport that when the game gets on the line, you put the ball in your best guy's hands and watch the magic. Therefore, the Man can only truly happen in basketball. During this last season, only a few players were really the Man on their teams. Kobe, LeBron, KG, and the list gets sketchy from there. Kobe has handicapped his team with his enormous contract and locker room antics, but do you really want the ball in anyone else's hands? You could put any four guys on the court around him, and he would find a way to win. LeBron has a big contract, but the Cavs are for lack of a better word, stupid. He dragged a mediocre team to the finals by himself (with a little help from Boobie Gibson). Kevin Garnett has been the Man on the Timberwolves since he got into the league, and has been enough of a man to not gripe about the T-Wolves' idiocy, even take a pay cut, because he is so loyal and all he wants to do is win. The rest of the great teams were just that, teams. Dallas proved it could win without Dirk. Golden State overachieved with a collective effort, highlighted by Baron Davis' explosions. The Spurs were the Spurs, everybody played on that team. Gilbert Arenas went out, but the Wizards were still adequate until Caron "The Koran" Butler got hurt. Bulls, Pistons, Jazz, same story. Don't tell me that the Heat were no good because Wade went out. That team couldn't win, period.

For more examples, let's see. Tim Duncan on his first two championship runs, definitely was the Man. Allen Iverson when he took the 76ers to the finals, the Man. Shaq and Kobe, while both great, both needed someone else to get them to the promised land (Kobe hasn't done it, and Shaq needed great play from Antoine Walker, Alonzo Mourning, and Wade's floppery to win in '06). KG almost put his team in the finals a couple of years ago in an exhibition of what it means to be the Man. Hakeem the Dream was probably the Man on his two championships, and of course there was Jordan. Fiction generally gives us a good view of what it means to be the Man. Jesus Shuttlesworth in He Got Game, definitely the Man. Jimmy in Hoosiers might be a stretch, but they only won the climactic game because of him. The best Man in all of sports, fiction or otherwise? None other than the Man himself, the Natural, Roy Hobbs of the Brooklyn Knights.