Changing of the Guard

Last summer, we all watched with great anticipation as ESPN broadcast “The Decision” so that they could be the first to share the news of where LeBron James would be signing his new contract. Approximately fifty minutes into the presentation we heard the now famous phrase, “I will be taking my talents to South Beach and joining the Miami Heat”. Immediately following the broadcast, the backlash began. Cleveland Cavalier fans burned LeBron jerseys. Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert sent out a very bitter letter to the Cleveland fans. New York Knicks fans felt betrayed (even though they were the ones that foolishly decided to flirt with him for three years). And NBA hall of famers such as Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and Larry Bird called him out publicly. The anti-LeBron era had officially begun. I will even admit that at this time, I wasn’t cheering for LeBron or the Miami Heat either. But give me a break. I am not the only one that was tired of seeing these guys (LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh) do interviews wearing their uniforms in July; especially since the season was still three months away.

Then the season began and Miami struggled to a 9-8 start including two early losses to the beast from the east Boston Celtics. And it wasn’t long before you began to hear the talk that this team of superstars James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh, would not be able to win the prize, at least not this year. Everybody outside of south Florida were beginning to cheer and everyone in south Florida began to ask for the termination of Erik Spoelstra. Then in early December, Miami makes its much anticipated trip to Cleveland to play the Cavaliers in front of a very hostile crowd and large police presence. In LeBron fashion, he puts on a show scoring 38 points in a 28 point win for Miami. Maybe if the Cleveland fans cheered for the Heat as loud as they booed LeBron, maybe the game would’ve been a little closer. Within the coming weeks, Miami would go on a 12 game winning streak and pretty much play up to expectations for the rest of the season. However, LeBron would find himself in the line of fire again late in the year as Miami would struggle to win close games and LeBron appeared indecisive in the closing seconds of key games. Every analyst viewed this as a huge issue for the Heat and claimed that it would be an issue going into the playoffs.

Now the postseason is among us and what a postseason it has been. We witnessed the Los Angeles Lakers get dominated in a 4 game sweep at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks; including losing the decisive game by 36 points. And to add insult to injury, the closer of all closers Kobe Bryant, who is normally the NBA version of Mariano Rivera in the fourth quarter, looked a lot like Byung-Hyun Kim in the 2001 World Series. There was also noise being made on the other side of the map as well as the eastern conferences surest team over the last few years, the Boston Celtics, saw their dynasty put on hold at the hands of the Miami Heat. And in the closing moments of the clinching game, LeBron silenced his critics that question his clutch-ness. With the score tied at 87, LeBron hits two 3 pointers, slams a monster dunk, and gets to the rim for a driving layup just for the fun of it, permanently ending any hope that the Celtics had of returning the series to Boston.

The HEAT is officially on in Miami. When LeBron announced his decision to join the Heat, Dan Gilbert, in his very angry letter, vowed that the Cavaliers would win a title before the Heat. Well Mr. Gilbert, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this year’s title is Miami’s to lose. Nothing against the Dallas Nowitzki’s and Rose and the Blue Devils, but the Heat have been the only team that has looked like a championship team this entire playoffs and they have two players that can be handed the ball in clutch situations and one of them still has a point to make as he gets closer to his destination. Entering this season, LeBron said that he was taking mental notes on every one that was taking shots at him. Well Jordan, Barkley, and Bird, your postcards are already in the mail and it reads “How ya like me now?!?!?!?!?”