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By Leonard Erickson

There comes a point were you have to win a championship to be consider great. And if you don't win one, or four, then no matter how amazing a player you were, the world will always remember that you never won a championship.

Players strive throughout their career to reach that pinnacle. Many great players have come up short: Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, Charles Barkley and so forth. Many have done it: Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Magic Johnson and countless more. Others are still trying. Some don't seem to have the capability of taking their teams to greatness and by themselves were nothing much but extremely good players who couldn't win it all.

These names may sound familiar and for sure they will be repeated five year after they retire in the Hall of Fame: Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Very respectful careers, definite stars, but that perilous ring was never earned on their own. Now they are off to the City of Stars to try and get themselves some more hardware to style. The way they are doing it is dishonorable, both on a personal level and to the game. Yes, other players have had their sidekick but these two also had second hand men to help them but they couldn't, they weren't willing to take it to the next level. They did get there but his Airness was in the way. If they were truly great, they would have won and beaten MJ, but unlike him they couldn't take that necessary step over and through to get that championship.

Yes, we do play the game to get to the point amongst high, but you play to get their with you and 11 other role players, none of this "lets hitch the bandwagon and have a team of 4 All-Stars." That isn't the way it should be done. Men fight for what they achieve, and they never take the easy route there.

If you agree with these players' mentality, you should reexamine you basketball values and why you watch the sport. If you disagree, you have an understanding of what the game is and how it should be played. You also understand how a player must carry himself on the court. Those who hate this whole "Payton-Malone in LA" will just wait and see if they really do get their rings. They probably won't!

Leonard Erickson is a fan in El Paso, Texas