Heading into the NBA finals, the Spurs, especially Wemby were the media favorites. That they were facing the disliked Knicks, and their even more disliked celebrity fans was understandable. Having beat out the season-long favorite Thunder was quite the story.

Even when an athlete is the flavor of the month doesn’t mean the national media won’t turn on them at a moment’s notice. Fame or infamy is fleeting. However, some of the national pundits were already proclaiming that Wemby would be the greatest basketball player of all time. I get the love for a foreign-born player, that’s the rage in the 21st century NBA. Right now, I’ve got an NBA comp that isn’t as flattering as Kobe, Michael or Lebron. This is recency bias gone amok.

What struck me was how quickly the same media members questioned his greatness because of his non-clutch finals’ performance. Those same people started to make the ring case for greatness. Local sports media (I’m guessing other NBA cities are as lacking as Chicago) can’t analyze or discuss NY-SAT without making it a referendum on the local team (Bulls) or worrying about Jordan’s legacy.

I’ll still argue the series was about David v. Goliath and that David slew the giant, no matter how friendly he appears to be. Editor’s note: I heard two national folks discuss how Wemby is actually a dirty player. Did anyone say that before he disappeared in the finals?