A Primer On LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, the Miami Heat and drinking
We won't belabor these arguments in painstaking detail, honestly; first of all, most of the people associated with this website have some tie to the Miami area, so emotions can run high. Secondly, many trees have been killed and bandwiths (can you pluralize that?) have been taken up discussing the new big trio in Miami (annoying when announcers and writers call it "South Beach;" American Airlines Arena is nowhere near South Beach. They should call it "downtown" or "Brickell" if they truly wanted to be accurate/confuse people).
Basic premise here is this: this fall, the Heat will be on TV a lot. Opening night on TNT? Expect it to be them vs. someone (Lakers, Cavs, Celtics, Magic, maybe even Thunder). Expect them to be in a majority of Wednesday night (ESPN), Thursday night (TNT), Friday night (ESPN) and Sunday afternoon (ABC) telecasts. The Lakers are the champs, indeed, and haven't really lost anyone -- but this is unequivocally the story of the 2010-11 NBA season and beyond. So, often you'll be at a bar and the Heat will be on TV. What are the talking points you should pursue in this situation? Here's a basic summary.
Assuming You Are In Favor Of What The Heat Did
1. "It's all about the cheddar anyway." Indeed. This overly-generic statement will get you a lot of head nods and the opportunity to switch to another topic, which sometimes is all you need.
2. "It gave him the best chance to get a ring." It did, indeed. (You could possibly argue the Chicago Bulls here as well. Rose, Noah, Deng, Boozer is a good core.) Ultimately, in team sports, you are measured by championships; LeBron even said that on his TV special. (Ironically, one of the only guys without a title who still is held in high regard for his sport and position is Miami icon Dan Marino.)
3. "It will make basketball more fun." It will. The East has three legitimately good teams: Boston, Orlando and Miami. Miami has a shitty bench; Orlando only has 1 or 2 stars. Orlando started talking crap already; there is no way Stan Van Gundy is a big Pat Riley fan. Boston gets ignored in these discussions, but they're the team that's made 2 of the last 3 Finals from the East. They're also "The Previous Big Three." They also have a relatively good track record against LeBron and Bosh; not Wade so much, though.
4. "If you lived in Cleveland for seven years, you'd want to go to South Beach too." Again, Brickell area -- but point taken.
5. "Greatness must come in threes in the NBA, and this is the next version." Again, valid. Parker/Ginobili/Duncan. Bryant/O'Neal/Fisher; Bryant/Gasol/Fisher(Bynum). Bird/McHale/Parrish. Magic/Worthy/Kareem. Michael/Scottie/Dennis(Kerr/etc.)
6. "Evil is good for sports." If you think the Heat are evil -- they're not, really, they're just participating in a business model most sports organizations do as well -- you still have to like evil in sports. Baseball wouldn't be fun without the Yankees. Premier League wouldn't be as fun without Man U. The Patriots draw mad ire in the NFL; that's fun for most. (Raiders did the same thing before they became a shell of themselves.) You need a team that people have strong opinions about. That's a better way of saying it.
Assuming You Are Not In Favor Of These Moves
1. The Karma Issue: Will karma catch up with the Heat because of LeBron Cleveland Steaming his home area?
2. The Bench Issue: What happens if these dudes get hurt or in foul trouble?
3. The Center Issue: Right now Dexter Pittman is likely guarding centers for the Heat. He's overweight and a rookie. That might not end up well.
4. The Legacy Issue: Jordan, Bird, Magic, Kobe, Duncan -- they all stayed with their original teams and grinded out titles based on what came up around them, etc. is LeBron's legacy as GOAT completely shot now?
5. The Ball-Sharing ("That's What She Said") Issue: How can three guys who are used to averaging 24 PPG + co-exist in an offense run by a generally middling young coach?
6. The Evil Is Universally Bad Issue: If you believe the Heat are evil -- again, they're not; they're realistic -- perhaps you believe evil is universally bad.
7. The YES WE DID Issue: Was it legitimate for the Heat to call out Obama's slogan in introducing their triumvirate? Perhaps 'twas odd:
8. The Wrestling Parallel Issue: This feels a good deal like a wrestling angle in some respects. Perhaps even this one...
9. The Sweetness Issue: Remember that Saturday afternoon game a few years ago, Heat vs. Cavs, where Wade and Bron both dropped 40 each? Epic duel. Unfortunately, I can't find video of it presently because every search mechanism I try is clogged by the current events of those two men. The argument goes: wouldn't it be sweeter for each of them -- and for us as fans -- to see them win titles by having to do that? Having to go against each other in epic fashion? Indeed. Now, the flip side is simple: we've never seen the much-vaunted, semi-longed-for NBA Finals of Kobe vs. Bron, and this situation gives us the best chance for that to happen in June 2011. That would go back to the "good things" column.
Additional talking points? Holler at us in the comments.
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