As an avid sport fan and spectator, I have seen degrees of domination leaving the audience stunned. The Chicago Bulls of 1996 was a dominant theme that has not been matched. In the early 2000’s the Los Angeles Lakers’ dominance was overwhelming. In 2004, Michael Schumacher and Ferrari dominated Formula One. and we saw something similar this past season with Mercedes. Dominance at a certain level can be boring, but there is something to analyze about this level of dominance.

In 1996, the Chicago Bulls won 72 games, and lost only 10 games in the regular season. This achievement went into the record books. It provided materials for the Netflix documentary the last dance. However, here lies the question. How did the dominance come to be? I remember in the months leading up to this season, the level of focus the Bulls had. Michael Jordan had a humiliating return to the NBA prior to that season. He and his teammates were eliminated from the playoffs. Many fans knew how tough of a pill it was for Michael Jordan. During the offseason, Michael Jordan trained and brought himself back into shape. His dedication to his craft leaned on the obsessive, and the proof was the 1996. The Chicago Bulls ran away with the regular season. Once that was accomplished, they proceeded to the playoffs. The dominance was ridiculous. They swept the Miami Heat. They lost only one game in the next series. They finally swept the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference to march on to the NBA finals. They defeated the Seattle Supersonics to close an epic season. The Bulls two additional championships, but the competition was stiffer. Four years later, a new team started an era of dominance unprecedented to some. The Los Angeles Lakers (led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant) dominated the league with sheer force. They plough through the competition in 2001 to win the championship, and they did the same in 2002 as well. Looking back at these eras of dominance, the one thing that was prevalent was the human factor. The human will manifested itself in many ways. This is my opinion of the NBA.

As I have said in previous blog post, I am a lifelong formula one fan. In 2018, an American composer came with a orchestra theme for formula one. I have placed the link above the paragraph. My favorite season in formula one is still by far the 2012 season. There were seven different winners that season. The title went down the wire at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Sebastian Vettel was crowned world champion. The season was thrilling to say the least. However, there has not been a similar season since. Mercedes has dominated in one fashion or the other. The past season was case and point. The pecking order in formula one was determined at the preseason testing in the Circuit de Catalunya. The cars to beat were fielded by Mercedes. They were good overall cars. The men driving these machineries are fully dedicated men. However, one driver stands out in the field. Lewis Hamilton is the driver who stands out. This past season Lewis Hamilton utterly dominated the competition. The proof was his teammate. Valtteri Bottas had a similar machinery to Lewis Hamilton, but he was not able to consistently challenge Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton is as dominant as Michael Schumacher was in the early 2000’s. Their dominance has one keystone element. They have a single focus. Nothing can distracts them in their quest for success. Lewis Hamilton obliterated Valtteri Bottas this season.

I have drawn inspiration from Michael Jordan, Michael Schumacher and Kobe Bryant in my professional. However, I have become a fan of Lewis Hamilton. I fell in awe of his work on the track. I do not believe there will be a dominance similar to Hamilton’s, but I believe I lived in interesting times.