When it comes to comparing the centers of today to those of previous generations, there isn’t a conversation to be had. The days of Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O’Neal and David Robinson are over. Just because the game has gone uptempo, however, doesn’t mean that center isn’t still a critical position.
The source of this misconception is the success that the Miami Heat have experienced, winning two consecutive NBA championships without a star in the middle.
Chris Bosh has made the transition from power forward to the 5, but it’s no secret that he’s been an unorthodox, avoid-the-paint type of player.
As always seems to be the case with Miami, however, their success is more of a statistical anomaly than an established trend—people simply overestimate the value of imitating success.
When David Stern took the center position off of the All-Star Ballot, many expected it to open the door for frontcourt players of other positions to step in and shine. Instead, both the voters and the coaches made one thing perfectly clear to the NBA. Of the 11 interior players who were named to the 2013 Eastern and Western Conference All-Star teams, seven were centers.
The single most misleading belief in the NBA is that the center position has seen a severe decrease in value (on the court, but not in contract negotiations) over the past few years. This likely comes from teams’ reluctance to run their offenses through their big men, but that doesn’t mean having a great center is without value.
In fact, outside of the Heat, you won’t find many playoff teams from 2012-13 that didn’t have a star center.
In the Eastern Conference, the other postseason teams had the following players at center: Tyson Chandler, Roy Hibbert, Brook Lopez, Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Kevin Garnett and Larry Sanders. In the Western Conference, the 5s were Kendrick Perkins, Tiago Splitter, JaVale McGee, DeAndre Jordan, Marc Gasol, Andrew Bogut, Dwight Howard and Omer Asik.
So why does this matter?
Of the four teams to reach the Conference Finals, every one had an All-Star at center if you include Duncan, who often supplanted Splitter at that spot. The others were Gasol for the Memphis Grizzlies, Hibbert for the Indiana Pacers and Bosh—”center”—for the Miami Heat.
If you don’t believe in Bosh, then try this—Miami was 27-12 before signing Chris Andersen to protect the rim and 39-4 after they found a reliable center. The value is undeniable.
Max Ogden is a regular contributor to SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.