I feel like a less important version
of when President Obama hosted the Green Bay Packers and had to celebrate their
2011 Super Bowl victory. Watching a team you root against win it all and then
having to give credit where credit is due is an unpleasant but necessary part
of being an all-around sports fan. What interests me just as much as what
transpired in the series is the aftermath and reactions from the NBA’s fans. This
may be the one case in professional sports in which these spectators may become
even more fascinating than the teams and players. But before I move on to that,
I will fight my strong urge to ignore the Heat’s accomplishment and give some
credit to the NBA’s best collection of talent. Lebron was huge throughout this
playoff run and finally realized that the best way to escape his endless
criticism was to ignore it and just enjoy playing the game he loves. The
spiteful Lebron only defeated himself by getting too worked up and choking in
the biggest moments of the most important games. As a new man, he learned to
stop fighting the off-court battles and stick to competing only against the
opposing team. Chris Bosh reminded us that this Heat team is a Big 3, not a Big
2. The Heat as a whole stepped up and did everything possible to avoid another
finals disaster by rising to the occasion and capturing an elusive
championship. It may only be their second year together, and people like me
still wonder how it took them so long. This team was destined to beat everyone
in their path, and have finally done so.
My last NBA article previewed this series and predicted a
Heat victory. However I do not exactly want a medal for it; my logic was that a
ring for the hated king was inevitable when he joined this team. I said that so
many things were not going their way and that if they fixed even one, OKC would
have no chance. As it turns out, more than one of these factors improved. Bosh
returned from his injury and performed like the superstar he is supposed to be,
role players outside the Big 3 stepped up (Battier, Miller and Chalmers) and
Wade stopped pretending to be injured and was the same player that won it all
in 2006. The play itself was like any other Heat game; the Big 3 made a lot of
layups and free throws, and then they played the defense that a team with three
superstars should play. OKC made every game interesting but were consistently
beaten because their defense is not elite and their offense became inconsistent
in the face of elite defense.
To fans of the Heat, there are
aspects of this that you simply must acknowledge, but I also have a lot in your
favor coming up after this. The NBA has given Lebron, Wade and to a lesser
degree Bosh preferential treatment throughout their NBA careers. When they
decided to come together, this treatment naturally accumulated and now more
than half of your starting lineup will get every benefit of the doubt. They
also flop more than any other collection of players, which is an embarrassment to
the game and gives ammunition to people who say they hate the NBA in comparison
to other major sports. I basically watched the NBA finals and Euro 2012’s first
round simultaneously, and anyone who looks down on European footballers for
flopping is kidding themselves because basketball is catching up fast. Lebron
and Wade are also not among the NBA’s best defensive players; they are simply
very good defensive players who are allowed to foul, which is invaluable when
you are playing America’s softest professional sport. Lebron’s natural talent
combined with the knowledge that he could have assaulted KD if he had to made
his defense even more impenetrable than it already is. On the other side of the
court, he knows he can just run you over because he still ends up on the free
throw line, maybe even completing an old fashioned three point play.
Clearly there is a lot more on Miami’s
side than three great players, but the only thing I find more aggravating than
an essentially pre-determined champion are the people who attribute this entire
outcome to terrible officiating. Let’s not overanalyze this, the main reason
the Heat won is not because the refs took their talents to South Beach two
years ago. It is because two top-five and three top-ten players did. If you
told any NBA fan living in 2009 that this Big 3 would be together, they would
treat the NBA as I do, an inevitable outcome. Basketball is very unique because
three free agent signings really can win a championship, which was evident this
season. The Big 3 took a third grade reading level coach and a junior varsity
bench to the promised land in a city that would still trade the entire Heat
franchise for a Dolphins playoff berth. I know this comment will not reflect
the most popular opinion, but they are the best three players to ever play
together. Think about it, the famous Lakers/Celtics Big 3s made each other
better and took well rounded teams to championships. These Miami guys make each
other worse and still got it done with next to nothing around them. Flawed as
it is, the NBA is a system that every team and fan willingly participates in.
If you have a problem with how unfair it is playing the Heat, do what Dirk did
and make every single shot. The Heat are not a team that should ever lose, so
you cannot say they only won because David Stern and his striped clowns wear
Lebron pajamas.
You have to look past officiating
because at this rate it will never change in the NBA. Instead, there is much to
dissect within the Thunder’s actual play that really let them down in their
franchise’s biggest moments in history. We already know defense is not
necessarily their strength, but not rotating to protect the paint after
James/Wade blows by inconsistent perimeter defense is not nearly enough to have
a chance at winning a playoff series. Tony Parker did the same thing to them,
but his lack of size and power did not exploit them as badly; he usually looks
to kick it out and pass after cutting through the lane anyway. Lebron, however,
will dunk on your face. You cannot just
let these things happen, the easy points are what make Miami so invincible. On
offense, OKC’s forte, I have a somewhat strange criticism. People always pick
on Westbrook for how often he shoots, but I have a very different opinion.
Sure, the guy is not Steve Nash, but as I watched game four reach its closing
stages I realized that he was the only one who even wanted to keep playing. He
furiously drives the lane and either makes incredible layups or draws enough
contact to win over even the most lopsided referees. He may not be the smartest
guy in the room, but his aggressive mindset and competitive desire is something
that I have actually started to doubt in one of my favorite athletes in the
world, one Kevin Durant.
KD is far too passive for his own good. I used to be amazed
by his slightly underwhelming but very efficient stat lines. I feel like every
time I check he’s about 9 of 18 from the field with about 25 points while
Westbrook takes 30 shots to drop 40 points and is a selfish player. Maybe that’s
because after Durant passes up at least two or three opportunities to drive the
lane and assert his dominance, Westbrook is the only guy who knows someone is
going to have to try something. If Durant is a true leader he will do something
other than take a reluctant jump shot because he’s wide open. On the rare
occasion when Durant treats us by dropping his head and deciding that he wants
something, he has humiliated the likes of Andrew Bynum or Chris Bosh in the
past few weeks alone. I agree that Westbrook should not be ball hogging but
when all else fails, someone has to take matters into his own hands, and it
should be the three time scoring champion prodigy instead of his hot headed
point guard. Durant is one adrenaline shot away from being immortal, and I need
to see that happen before I can excuse him from disappointing losses like the
past four. It seems crazy with the incredible fourth quarter performances in
games one and two, but Durant’s passiveness actually holds this team back. His
individual performances were very impressive, but there was just something
missing. It was as if he was playing hard in a pickup game, as opposed to a series
with a championship on the line. Difficult to explain, but so easy to see next
to players like James, Wade, and Westbrook, who were all willing to die out
there on the court if necessary. Sure, Durant’s willingness to not be the main
guy on every possession is a part of what makes him both unique and great, but
it also allows the rest of the offense to fall apart without someone to get
them back on track. Lenient parents are great for well-behaved kids, but
Westbrook has the tendency to misbehave. With him going crazy, Harden
disappearing for games at a time, and big men who cannot create a decent shot
for themselves, Durant has to know when to put the kids to bed and clean up the
mess himself.
That does it for the Xs and Os, but like I said earlier, the
fans here interest me more because those battles will continue to be fought in
the aftermath of a less competitive contest between the actual teams involved.
The debate leaves me with one ongoing question that can be interpreted
differently by fans with very different opinions. Two criticisms awarded to
people in my position are “hater” and “band-wagoner”. The term hater is the
undeveloped mind’s name for someone who wants any outcome that is not in your
best interest. It is also a hasty defense used by fans of a team whose star
player is disliked by the majority of people outside of their city. I
sympathize with this as a Yankees fan who has had to support A-Rod for eight
years or so. Rather than acknowledge all there is to dislike about my third
baseman, it would be much easier to dismiss all conflicting opinions as haters.
Sadly, I see the Boston fan’s point and while he is still my guy, I cannot
pretend that he does not deserve what comes his way. As for the Thunder
bandwagon, I and many like me have been rooting for the team that plays against
the Heat ever since this modern roster came together. A bandwagon fan is one
who switches teams to pretend as if his/her favorite team won it all. This is
not the case here and rooting for whoever plays against your team is perfectly
fine. As a Yankee fan with a healthy
amount of Red Sox friends, I do not exactly consider it some sort of bandwagon
when they root for my every opponent. On the other hand, newborn Miami fans are
not frontrunners because they showed up as soon as Lebron did. If he was a
child’s favorite player and that kid grew up watching and idolizing him without
ever taking a strong liking to his/her home team, then of course they will
gravitate to the Heat with their new and exciting roster. Also, some people
just love greatness and dominance. I root for Tiger Woods because he is the
strongest knot that keeps my interest in golf intact. Perhaps some people view
the Heat as the thing that keeps them watching basketball. Both the pro and anti-Heat
motivations are noble enough causes and neither should receive criticism for
that group’s respectable beliefs.
From the Facebook back and forth to ongoing ESPN debates, I only
have one question to anyone with an opinion on the matter. Of course champions
are champions, but for the first time in history anything short of a
championship is an absolute disgrace. Sure, every sport has its favorites, but
in this league one team has the weight of the world on their shoulders. I am
not pitying the Heat; the stunts they pulled in assembling this team deserve
nothing more than the burden of an eight championship minimum. It is simply a
fact that the requirements from these players exceed any in the history of
professional sports. With all that said, I want to know if this team impresses
you. When USA basketball won gold in Beijing, did that impress you? To me, our
NBA all-star team beating countries with maybe one decent NBA player is great,
but it is not overly impressive. It is more of a necessity, the cost of being a
huge favorite. If Magic Johnson and Karl Malone joined Michael Jordan in
Chicago to win more championships, that would not impress me either. It would
have been pretty awesome for Bulls fans or for Mailman fans who wanted to
finally see the big guy get a ring, but nothing special in the grand scheme of
things because it would be expected and a pretty obvious outcome. So do the
Heat impress you, or did they just avoid disaster this season? That is what I
really want to know from anyone willing to comment on any Facebook post this is
shared on, as well as your thoughts on the series in general, because I
personally am leaning towards the latter. In my opinion, the Heat are the first
team in history to dodge a bullet by winning a championship.
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