Miami Heat vs. Los Angeles Lakers: An Unnatural Rivalry

If the buzz on this site and throughout the web is any indication, the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers are on the verge of becoming the next great sports rivalry.

This is unusual, as the teams (as they are now constituted) have not played a single game against each other. 

In this regard, the Heat/Lakers rivalry is "unnatural."  It has not developed in the normal manner.

How are rivalries typically developed? 

This slideshow will discuss that very issue and, in doing so, show the unique nature of this growing rivalry.

I'll leave it for you, the reader, to decide whether the "unnatural rivalry" is a good thing or a bad thing for the NBA, and for sports in general.

Let's start by discussing what this rivalry is not.

The Geographic Rivalry

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MIAMI - OCTOBER 28: Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat drives past Wilson Chandler #21 of the New York Knicks at AmericanAirlines Arena on October 28, 2009 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or

Clearly, Miami vs. Los Angeles is not a geographic rivalry.  Sure, both cities are near beaches and places called "Hollywood," but that's not how a geographic rivalry is built.

Chicago vs. Green Bay.

Yankees vs. Mets.

Gators vs. Bulldogs.

Bruins vs. Trojans.

Those are geographic rivalries.

Miami's geographic rival should be the Magic but, despite the proximity (about four hours on the Turnpike) and the fact that they play in the same division, there really has never been a true rivalry between the teams.  Miami has a more intense rivalry with the Knicks, in part due to the many transplanted New Yorkers in South Florida.  But that rivalry hit its apex when Jeff Van Gundy had his ankle-lock on 'Zo, and its never reached that point since then.

By the same token, the Lakers' natural geographic rival is the Clippers.  But their relationship is marked by jealousy on one side, and (perhaps) pity on the other.  Not exactly the makings of a rivalry. 

So we can scratch geography off the list.

The Feud

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LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers guards Shaquille O'Neal #32 of the Phoenix Suns during the NBA game at Staples Center February 26, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and ag

A feud is a great basis for a rivalry in the NBA, which is the most personality-driven sports league.

The most obvious example from recent years has been Shaquille O'Neal vs. Kobe Bryant. 

There is no personal angle to Heat vs. Lakers that compares.

In fact, the opposite is true. 

Kobe Bryant recently teamed up with the Heat's "Big Three" in the Olympics.  By all accounts, they got along fine and formed something of a Mutual Admiration Society.

Now, I'm not saying there will be any pregame smooches like we used to see between Magic and Isaiah, but there really is no personal hatred here either.

So this isn't a feud rivalry by any means.

Historic Rivalry

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LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 17: Glen Davis #11 and Paul Pierce #34 of the Boston Celtics box out Pau Gasol #16 of the Los Angeles Lakers in Game Seven of the 2010 NBA Finals at Staples Center on June 17, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User ex

Historic rivalries—those produced by multiple playoff matchups—are clearly the best.

Lakers vs. Celtics is arguably one of the top five rivalries in sports, given all of their epic battles in the NBA Finals.

There have been others, such as Bulls vs. Pistons in the 90s, and 76ers vs. Celtics in the 80s.

The Heat and the Lakers have very little history.  Sure, there were some fierce matchups in 2004-2006, but those were more about Shaq and Kobe than they were about the franchises as a whole.

There is certainly reason to hope and believe that the Lakers and Heat will face each other in the Finals multiple times in the years to come, but building a rivalry on anticipation, rather than history, is somewhat of a "cart before the horse" approach, is it not?

For this rivalry, history has just begun.

Rivalry of Hype?

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MIAMI - JULY 09: LeBron James #6, Dwyane Wade #3 and Chris Bosh #1 of the Miami Heat speak after being introduced to fans during a welcome party at American Airlines Arena on July 9, 2010 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)

So what should we call this new Heat/Lakers rivalry?

An "Internet Rivalry"?  After all, without blogs, forums, and chatrooms, we might never experience the passion that already exists when the subject of these teams arises.

A "Manufactured Rivalry"?  That fits too, given that the rivalry is the product of a few weeks of free agency.

I think the best name is the "Rivalry of Hype." 

And I'm not sure that is a good thing.

Throughout the offseason, I've been intrigued by the level of anger expressed by Lakers fans when the subject of the new Heat team is brought up.  But, on some level, I understand it.

The Lakers franchise has spent years building its history, and has enjoyed recent success in the form of three consecutive conference titles and two consecutive championships.

Then, along comes this new kid in town with its shiny new free agents.

As a fan of the Miami Heat, even I have to acknowledge that all the team has earned at this point is front runner status for GM of the Year (Pat Riley).

The team has not earned, nor does it deserve, to be characterized as the Lakers' rival.  Not yet, anyway.

But you can't blame Heat fans exclusively for this situation.

The Hype Machine, which includes everything from ESPN to sites like B/R, has churned up this unnatural rivalry from the moment "The Decision" was made.

We all created this monster.

Now we can only hope that reality matches the expectations that the Hype Machine created.

If it does, this unnatural rivalry will become a Historic Rivalry (maybe with a dose or two of feud along the way).

That's the way it should be.