For reasons that aren't entirely clear, NBA fans seem to like picking on Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki. The 32-year-old former MVP is now playing in his second championship series, having lost his first chance at a title in 2006 when his Mavs couldn't protect a 2-0 series lead against the Miami Heat. Now, with Dallas in a 1-0 hole to Miami, Twitter users are harping on Nowitzki for having not won a championship, with the phrase Dirk NoRingski trending in the United States.
↵↵This criticism of Dirk, certainly among the best players of his generation and inarguably one of the greatest players of all-time, misses the point. Of the 30 players on the teams participating in this series, only Miami's Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem have won a championship. Heat superstar LeBron James doesn't even have one, yet no punny version of his name is trending on Twitter.
↵↵Judging players by championships won is silly anyway; is Will Purdue a better ballplayer than Dirk, or Karl Malone, or Charles Barkley, because he has a ring while they don't? Certainly not. We ought to appreciate players for more than how much hardware they own.