Member Poem

This is a poem about the role of championship rings in NBA GOAT discussions.

The Ring Thing (is entirely Bling)
by Michael R. Burch

The ring
thing
is entirely bling.

Michael Jordan was zero-for-six
against the Larry Bird Celtics;
moreover, he was twice sent home
by Isiah’s Pistons;
his ring case only began to gleam
when he had Horace, Scottie and B.J. on his team.

So don't be a ding-a-ling
because
the ring
thing
is bling.

Rings are won by teams, not individuals. Michael Jordan proves the point. Jordan’s Bulls were 0-6 against the Larry Bird Celtics and lost two more playoff series to the Isiah Thomas Pistons. Were Bird and Thomas the better players, or did they simply have better teams? Jordan didn’t win a ring until he had teammates like Horace Grant, Scottie Pippen and B.J. Armstrong, and even then it took time for that team to jell. Jordan was a transcendentally great player before he won a ring. If he had failed to win rings because he never had good-enough teammates, would that make him a lesser player? Judging individuals by team success or failure makes no sense, unless Jordan was a lesser player for six years while his teams struggled and then he miraculously became the GOAT when more capable players showed up. Ditto for LeBron James. The first thing he does after changing teams is use his influence to get better players to join him. LeBron is not foolish enough to think rings are won by individuals. Bill Russell won more rings because he played on better teams, but Wilt Chamberlain was the NBA GOAT, and all the stats say so.

Keywords/Tags: NBA, GOAT, basketball, ring, rings, bling, sport, sports, competition, challenges, championship, team, teammates, play, player, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, LeBron James, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, B.J. Armstrong