How Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh Changed the NBA

Have you ever seen an old film called Bridge Over the River Kwai? Alec Guinness plays 

Colonel Nicholson , whose British company are taken prisoners, along with Americans, by the Japanese during World War II in Western Thailand .

After being given the task of building a bridge, Nicholson balks at the fact that his officers would have to do manual labour, which was against the Geneva Convention. The Japanese had to dish out some harsh punishments, but, eventually, Nicholson gets his way (the Japanese were on a deadline) and the officers are allowed to only supervise.

A triumphant Guinness gets right into the spirit of building the bridge, even if it is just to keep up morale. He had the bridge relocated, as the first site was poor, and also made his officers redesign the bridge, because the initial design was inferior.

The prisoners of war are driven to complete this bridge on time by the Colonel, and even the Japanese lend a hand. Nicholson allows his junior officers to do manual labour.

One morning he was shocked to find that Americans allies had come to blow the bridge. He even tries to save the bridge, but in the end he pushes the detonator after proclaiming, “what have I done?” in reference to the fact that he had just spent time building a bridge that strengthens the enemy’s position.

This is the same question every fan who suddenly hates the Miami Heat needs to ask themselves. What have you done? What are you doing? Should we not encourage team play and deplore the single-minded, do it yourself attitude that is predominant among athletes these days?

Every summer one statement is common among free agents: Show me the money! What Wade and friends have done is historical and hopefully it will shape the NBA in the future. If all players adopt this way of thinking, there will be no need for another lockout.

NBA owners are tired of shackling themselves to huge, long-term contracts, like the one Joe Johnson just received from the Atlanta Hawks, even though it may seem to be their choice.

According to Lang Whitaker of Slam magazine, the Hawks had two options, pay Johnson whatever it took to retain him, or let him walk and try to replace him with only $7 million.

Where can you find a four-time All-Star for that kind of money?

Not a lot of options here, so Atlanta showed Johnson the money ($120 over six years) and he took it.  Now he has to find a way to win with a team that got swept out of the last playoffs by double digit losses.

James, Bosh, and Wade have changed that way of thinking. It is not hard to imagine their respective teams would have done the same thing as Atlanta did, and it would have been more deserving. 

Instead, they started talking to each other.  They realized that they could achieve a lot more as a team, rather than as individuals.

"You become a superstar individually, but you become a champion with a team and I understand that," said James. "I understand the history of the game."

James is in a prime position to be aware of this. He just spent seven years learning this lesson. Sure the circumstances in which he left Cleveland are indefensible, but he gave that organisation numerous chances to obtain some help.

At one point Phoenix wanted to send Amar'e Stoudemire to Cleveland , but the Cavaliers front office refused to part with promising forward JJ Hickson. The same JJ Hickson that was rarely played during the last Playoffs!

"LeBron James needs to go to another team with two superstars already so he can win a championship," said Cavalier owner Dan Gilbert. This might be sour grapes, more aimed as an insult to James, but it is sad that Gilbert has only just come to this conclusion. According to LeBron, Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen, Magic had James Worthy, and Kobe Bryant has Pau Gasol.

For the last few years these three new Heat players have been the man on their teams, putting up great statistics, but always coming up short —way short in some cases.

Everyone loves a story where the hero eventually triumphs over adversity, but in real life, sometimes you have to cut your losses and move on.

Kevin Garnett on the Celtics proves this. Had he teamed with another elite player years ago, anywhere, he might have created a dynasty. Now he is just teasing Celtic fans on one leg.

Is it a coincidence that Wade and his friends started thinking about teaming up two years ago when they were on the USA team? The same summer Garnett joined the Celtics? Maybe, but here we are two years later.

"The only thing that may change is the points per game," said James. "The way you see me and D-Wade approach the game every night and have that never-say-die attitude will not change. We don't have to have the pressure of scoring 30 every night or shooting a high percentage or logging long minutes and worrying about our team suffering because of that."

What’s not to love about that? They can rely on each other and play less minutes. This could only mean that, instead of playing eleven years, they can play well into their thirties effectively.   Especially for Wade, who is injury prone, playing fewer minutes should help his longevity.

Maybe it is the fact that they chose to play in Miami because the general consensus is that if LeBron had joined the Bulls, he might still be everyone’s (except Cleveland) favourite athlete. Obviously the way he announced his decision left a lot to be admired.

"The advice that he received on this was poor," said David Stern. "The performance was fine. His honesty and his integrity, I think, shined through. But this decision was ill-conceived."

Maybe James wanted to recreate an experience he missed while in high school as he went straight to the NBA. Every summer top recruits call press conferences to let the nation know which college they will be attending. And just like Cleveland fans, someone always gets upset (see Duke fans when Harrison Barnes chose their rivals UNC).

However as it is the NBA this was on a larger scale.

Maybe next year, when another 2003 draftee, Carmelo Anthony, is playing the field, instead of talking to every team that can afford him, seek out the top free agents, then find a team. Sure you have to deal with the salary cap, but it is not hard to imagine when the Heat start winning, any monetary losses by LeBron and friends will be made up in endorsement deals.