I started following the Miami Heat when Pat Riley moved from New York, suffering through the first Juwan Howard to Heat Salary Cap fiasco and enjoyed the Alonzo Mourning led Heat squad brawl with the New York Knicks.
I was also one of those guys, like Skip Bayless, who thought Dwayne Wade was better than LeBron James. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a Dwayne Wade fan despite his struggles this post season, but just as Wade admitted that the current Heat are Lebron's Team, so must we. And I have to admit my skepticism about combining the talents of LeBron James and Chris Bosh with Dwayne Wade was all for naught.
Not only are the Heat Lebron's team, it would seem the NBA is Lebron's League, it would seem like the NBA Championship and the MVP Award are for him to lose every year. So it was fitting that this image embodied the NBA Finals.
Dwayne Wade was quoted as saying "I've never been happier to see another man succeed in life." And I agree with the sentiment. Never has an Athlete been so polarizing as LeBron James. An athlete who has never committed any crime, has done everything by the book been so criticized. While I agree that James should have reconsidered The Decision, I was amazed by the backlash it received. I understand the people of Cleveland feeling betrayed, but the rest of the league?
It would seem that LeBron would no longer have to look longingly for the NBA Championship. He could now cradle the trophy in his arms and say that he is a champion. He has earned it. The guys just seems like he was genetically engineered to be the best basketball player in the world! Before these season and this finals, like so many genetically engineered characters in the movies, books and comic books all he needed was the Heart.
He tried filling his heart with hate in 2010-11 Season, he was not complete. Funny how he says now that it was his love for the game that made him stronger, much like how we imagine our lead actors and characters finally figure out how to beat the last enemy monster. This post is about admitting how wrong I was about LeBron and how happy I am for the Miami.
Mostly I am happy the Mike Miller, Shane Battier and Juwan Howard finally got their rings. As happy as I was that Dirk Nowitzki finally won his last season. The only bummer last season was that it was the expense of the Heat.
I'm also happy for Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra, despite all the criticisms and doubts that he could lead a team of superstars to an NBA Championship and despite all the hurdles of the King bump and the Wade altercation, Spoelstra has proven himself a capable coach. So after the Bump come the Hug right?
That is not to say that the rest of the heat are not worth mentioning, Udonis Haslem, Norris Cole, James Jones and Mario Chalmers contributed as expected and I am happy that they got their championships as well. But undeniably this the time for LeBron James.
Kevin Durant and the Thunder will have their time. But it may take them longer to get to it than we all think. Just as Hakeem Olajuwon waited for Michael Jordan's first Threepeat to make a run for the Larry O'brien Trophy, maybe other contenders for the championship will have to wait for LeBron James and Miami Heat's run to end to have a shot at being NBA Champions.
Of course Kevin Durant and the Thunder will be hungrier and more experienced next year. They will be better, and so will a lot of other teams. But guess what? So will the Heat.
The Big Three finally delivered on their promise of winning a championship, but will they be a dynasty? Dwayne Wade may have to miss the London Olympics to rehabilitate his knee. If everything goes right, the Miami Heat will be in the chase for their dynasty. If everything goes wrong, then Miami fans like me maybe in for another roller coaster season.
Lost in the euphoria of the championship were the subtle changes made by Erik Spoelstra in the game plan, the acceptance of Lebron that he is a big man who can play all positions, Chris Bosh accepting his role as the Heat's Center and Anchor on defense. But Mike Miller and James Jones may be retiring, and Chalmers is still inconsistent. But one thing is certain, the Miami Heat has grown as a Team and that should help them become better next season.
The rumors that Ray Allen and Steve Nash are considering joining the Heat seems promising, but will they really take pay cuts to join the championship core of Wade, Bosh and James? We will see soon enough. So I will leave you with this NBA Game 5 Micro Movie to ponder what the Heat could be when the next NBA Season opens!
For now, the Big Three are doing their rounds on the Television Circuit, next up? Oprah!
Finally! A championship for NBA Veterans Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd. The entire 2010-2011 NBA Season has been about the Miami Heat and the Heatles, Super friends or Big Three. LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh just couldn't match Dallas' intensity and savvy.
Dallas was simply the better team.
NBA Champions At LAST!
Kudos to Dallas coach Rick Carlisle for out-duelling Miami's Erik Spoelstra, which was made easier by LeBron James' "Decision" not to show up in fourth quarters of the last 3 Finals games.
Chris Bosh has been maligned as the half man in the Big Three, but during the finals, specially in the last 3 games, it was LeBron James who appeared diminished, and wasn't even half the player everyone expected him to be.
It may seem to early and certainly unconscionable during the regular season, but it appears that in order for Miami to win not 1, not 2, not 3... championships is for the team to trade LeBron James for a Center, a Power Forward and a Point Guard. The Chosen One appears to have become the Invisible One!
After posting a triple double in game five, LeBron James was M.I.A. (Missing-in-Action) AGAIN(!) in game 5! After James' admission was the biggest game of his life, EVERYBODY was expecting a statement game. But then there was a statement game, but it did not come from LeBron! Dirk Nowitzki has left his "choker" monicker behind and no longer considered soft by so-called NBA experts.
The Miami Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks despite an ailing Dirk Nowitzki who was playing with the flu virus in his system. The spectacular play of the Mavericks supporting cast helped. The No-Show of LeBron James? Helped even more!
Suffice it to say that even if we review the film, we would still say that LeBron sucked! The amazing defensive and offensive display by Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh were all for naught as the Miami Heat lost and the series is tied.
LeBron better get out of his funk and play good ball in game 5 or the Heat would go home and have to win both home games to win the NBA Finals.
In fairness to Dirk Nowitzki, he took the best shot the Miami Heat allowed in the last sequence of the game. He missed, but there was no other option. J.J. Barea? Not a chance in this one, made the Oklahoma series look like a fluke! For crying out loud, Ian Mahinmi had a field goal attempt and had 5 fouls in 7 minutes of playing time.
That's how the game played out for Dallas. Dwayne Wade was making big shots, the same shots the Heat missed in game two, but this time they made the shots that counted and the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk didn't.
This time it was Miami (LeBron James and D-Wade) that celebrated too early wasting a stellar performance by Dwayne Wade by playing hero ball at the end!
I'm a Miami Heat fan, but Dirk Nowitzki was just being Dirk. It's shameful I know, but if Dallas wins I'll be fine with it. Giving one ring to Dirk and Jason Kidd wouldn't be a problem at all!
Dallas steals a game in Miami and we have a series!
Time to say goodbye to the most dominating player to ever play in the NBA. As a Miami Heat fan, I will most remember him for helping and co-leading the Miami Heat to the 2006 NBA Championship.
After winning 3 NBA Championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and another with Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat in 2006, Shaquille O'neal announced his retirement via Twitter.
This all comes after an injury plagued season with the Boston Celtics, and a disappointing 2nd round playoff exit after the Celtics lost to the Super Friends (Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James) and the Miami Heat.
But none of that will diminish Shaq's contribution to the game of basketball.
NOTABLES: Won three consecutive NBA Championships (2000, 2001, 2002) with the Los Angeles Lakers and a fourth title with the Miami Heat (2006)…named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history, the youngest player to earn the honor…was awarded Most Valuable Player honors during the 1999-2000 season, 2000 All-Star Game (co-MVP) and NBA Finals 2000, becoming only the third player in NBA history to accomplish that feat…earned All-NBA in 14 of his 17 seasons, including First Team honors eight times (1997-98, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06), Second Team honors twice (1994-95 and 1998-99) and garnered Third Team honors on four occasions (1993-94, 1995-96, 1996-97 and 2008-09)…15-time NBA All-Star, the second-most All-Star appearances in NBA history (K. Abdul-Jabbar)…started nine of the 12 NBA All-Star Games in which he has participated and averaged 16.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.8 assists in 22.8 minutes while shooting .551 percent from the floor…three times he was selected to play in the All-Star Game and could not participate due to injury (1997, 2001 and 2002)…named the 1999-00 NBA MVP…named NBA Finals MVP three times (2000, 2001 and 2002)…three-time All-Star Game MVP (2004, co-MVP in 2000 and 2009)…three-time NBA All-Defensive Second Team member (1999-00, 2000-01 and 2002-03)…captured NBA Player of the Month honors 12 times and Player of the Week accolades on 19 occasions…earned NBA Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Rookie honors in 1992-93…became the first player in NBA history to earn Player of the Week honors after the first week of his career after he averaged 25.8 points and 16.4 rebounds…won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics as a member of the USA Men’s Senior National Team…has appeared in 1,117 regular season games (1,108 starts) in his 17-year NBA career…owns averages of 24.7 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.4 blocks in 35.7 minutes while shooting .582 percent from the field… his teams have compiled a 751-366 record (.672) in the 1,117 games in which he has played and a 124-120 record (.508) in the 244 games he has missed…among active players he ranks first in points, field goals made, field goal percentage, free throws attempted, offensive rebounds and games played… among active players, second in minutes played (Jason Kidd), field goal attempts (Allen Iverson), and defensive rebounds (Kevin Garnett), third in free throws made (Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant), and fourth in scoring average (LeBron James, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant)…ranks 15th on the NBA’s all-time rebounding list (12,566) after passing Dikembe Mutombo for 17th (Feb. 17), Paul Silas for 16th (Feb. 24) and Charles Barkley for 15th (April 10)…has led the NBA in scoring average twice, in points scored three times, in field goal percentage on 10 occasions (breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA record of nine), in field goals made five times, in field goals attempted twice, in free throws made once and free throws attempted on five occasions… has gone over 140 consecutive games scoring in double figures three times in his career…longest stretch of consecutive games scoring in double figures is 245 and occurred from Feb. 28, 1995-Nov. 9, 1999…longest stretch of consecutive games scoring at least 20 points is 37 and was accomplished from March 2, 1998-Feb. 23, 1999…has scored at least 30 points in a game 313 times (28.0 percent of his games)…longest stretch of consecutive 30-point games is 11 and occurred from March 28, 2001-April 17, 2001…has scored at least 40 points in a game 49 times…longest streak of consecutive 40-point outings is two and occurred on three occasions…registered three games of at least 50 points and one 60-point game (career-high 61 points on March 6, 2000)…averaged at least 20 points in 14 of his 17 seasons…shot at least 55 percent from the floor in each of his 17 NBA seasons…averaged at least 20 points and 10 rebounds for an NBA-record 13 consecutive seasons from 1992-2005… has notched 35 games with 20-or-more rebounds…longest career streak of consecutive games grabbing double-figure rebounds is 18 and was accomplished twice (Nov. 27, 1993-Dec. 30, 1993 and March 18, 2001-Oct. 30, 2001)…recorded double-figure blocked shots once…recorded 717 double-doubles (64.2 percent of his games)...finished the season as the fifth-leading scorer in NBA history with 27,619 career points...became just the seventh player in league history with 27,000 career points and just the second player with 27,000 points, 12,000 rebounds and 2,500 blocks (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar)…two career triple-doubles on Nov. 20, 1993 (Orlando at New Jersey., 24 points, career-high 28 rebounds, career-high 15 blocks) and April 11, 2006 (Miami vs. Toronto, 15 points, 11 rebounds, career-high 10 assists)…has missed a total of 222 games during his career due to injury, eight games to NBA imposed suspensions, seven games due to personal reasons and seven games he was a healthy scratch on the Inactive List.
Shaq's antics and larger than life personality (literally and figuratively) on and off the court will surely be missed.
The Miami Heat lead the NBA Eastern Conference Finals 3-1. The Chicago Bulls, the team with the best record in the regular season, the Season MVP (Derrick Rose) and the Coach of the Year (Tom Thibodeau) just seemed lost and appear to have their backs broken.
Dwayne Wade celebrates with Chris Bosh after overcoming 30 scoreless minutes in the game, but coming up with clutch plays, including a highlight block on a driving Derrick Rose in Overtime. I remember this was the same Chris Bosh, Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant (the one celebrating as if they won the series against Dallas before end of regulation of Game 4) called soft right?
Wade: "The game is not won in the first minute, it's won in the last." WADE IS TAKING SHOTS AT THE THUNDER!
Let us not forget LeBron James' continued stellar performance in this series, as ESPN's John Hollinger notes and Rose confesses that:
Now the Thunder are in the brink of elimination and the Heat need only one more game to advance to the finals.
Ironic is it not?
Of course, the fat lady has not began singing, but it is seeming more and more to be a repeat of the 2006 NBA Finals. Miami Heat vs. Dallas Mavericks: Round 2. It also appears my good friend was wrong when he predicted a Miami vs. Los Angeles Lakers Finals.
