Miami Heat: Titles Are Won On Hardwood, Not The Court Of Public Opinion

Being labeled as a favorite in any sport is a tricky thing. Once that status is bestowed the pressure of expectations becomes an additional foe on a championship quest.

The Miami Heat have been declared the favorites to win next season's NBA championship. Their situation is even more daunting because they haven't played a single game as a team.

The nucleus for a championship team is there with the recent signings of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, three of the game's top players.

There are still roster issues with the Heat. Fans of the team still feel this is secondary because they have fully bought into the notion of the Heat as next season's favorites and perhaps for years to come.

There is a party-like atmosphere surrounding the team and fans have every right to be excited. However, somewhere in the midst of the celebration people may have forgotten what it takes to really win a title.

James, Wade, and Bosh are a great starting point, but just because they suit up doesn't mean they are assured of a NBA title. Although the trio already has the glamour of a championship team, only Wade has proved he deserves it.

Wade's championship experience is proved by his 2006 NBA Finals' MVP award. Bosh and James have yet to prove they have the will to win in the postseason, let alone a championship.

James's failures in Cleveland have all but been forgotten in this new, perceived era of Miami Heat dominance. The fact that Bosh has been a postseason after-thought is a distant memory.

Yet this Miami Heat team, whose only display of chemistry so far was at their welcoming party, has been declared next season's favorites despite teams in Boston and Orlando who may be better.

Neither Boston or Orlando can match Miami's trio on paper. Can the Heat's potential stand next to what the Celtics and Magic have shown during the course of the last two postseasons?

The Celtics or Magic don't have the caliber of talent which exists in Miami's trio, but they don't have nearly as many questions to answer as the Heat does either.

Can a team who has yet to even settle on a permanent roster be considered favorites over the last two NBA Finals' representatives from the Eastern Conference, who return the majority of their teams intact?

Can a team who has yet to even settle on a line-up be considered as favorites over the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, who have also upgraded their roster this off-season?

It has been said that a player like Matt Barnes would solidify the Heat as next season's favorites, regardless of the Lakers, but does that move trump what the Lakers have done over the past three seasons?

The Lakers have participated in the last three NBA Finals, and return every single one of their top players, yet a Miami Heat team which has not fully materialized is suddenly the NBA's top team.

It may sound like I'm repeating myself, but that's necessary in order to understand the type of logic which has made what many consider to be knowledgeable analysts, disregard these facts.

I can understand Las Vegas picking the Heat to win a championship because many more fortunes have been lost than won in Sin City. Declaring Miami as title favorites can be very profitable should they fail.

But I can't understand observers who claim to have knowledge of the game installing the Heat as favorites, and no one is even sure how the team will respond when the games begin.

Of course we can speculate on what Miami will do once their fabeled trio takes the court, but until they do it's only speculation, unlike the proven results of the Magic, Celtics, and Lakers.

In the NBA it's not about where a team starts, but where they end up. Despite Miami's excitement about their future prospects, the Heat should at least play a game before the champagne bottles pop.