LeBron's Kingdom Will Reign Over Miami: Expect the Heat To Rely on James Most
It's Wade's team. It's Riley's team. It's Micky Arison's team. These are the remarks you get from people who don't understand basketball. People who have yet to truly be exposed to all that is LeBron James.
When you live in South Florida it's easy to sometimes forget about other teams and players outside of your market. You gather all your information and insight from SportsCenter highlights and commentary. You hear that LeBron failed to win it all again, and therefore you just make the assumption that he's no good. That he's a choker.
Time for a reality check. LeBron is the best player in this league, and he hasn't even reached his full potential. You are talking about a two-time MVP that is still just 25 years of age. That's unheard of in the history of sports. He was voted the league's best player twice, and he still has more than 11-12 years of basketball ahead of him.
People point out the flaws or deficiencies in LeBron's career as signs that his legacy has already been predetermined as that of an underachiever. What they should do is take the time to see all that he has actually accomplished.
LeBron was an All-Star at 19 years of age. He led his team to the NBA Finals as a 22-year-old. He may not have won it that year, but to even reach such a plateau when you're that young and have so little talent around you is an accomplishment in itself.
James is an athletic specimen. There has never been anything like him in the history of the NBA. You're talking about a guy that is as big and strong as a power forward yet as quick as a point guard. He has an incredible vertical leap and at times seems as though he can touch the top of the backboard if he actually wanted to. Simply stated there is nothing that James can't do on a basketball court.
Now that he is in Miami, people begin to chime in on how he couldn't win it alone. How he trampled the heart of Cleveland fans by leaving the way that he did. Worst of all is the comment that he is now on Dwyane Wade's team.
Folks I'm here to tell you that last part is complete fiction.
Wade is and will always be my favorite player in the NBA, still even he is no match for LeBron. Wade is 28 and will be 30 before you know it. Meanwhile James is younger, and hasn't missed as many games due to injuries as Wade has. Furthermore LeBron led a talentless team to 60-plus wins on multiple occasions. This is also something Wade has never accomplished.
James will be the one that runs the half-court sets. He's the one that will have the ball in his hands to do as he pleases.
Bless Wade's heart for doing so much despite only being 6'3", meanwhile James can do the same stuff but makes it look effortlessly. That's what the casual observer will miss. You can look and compare numbers/stats all you want, but if you really analyze and breakdown a game you will see why James has only shown flashes of how dominant he can be.
You take any team in the NBA and put Wade on it and it's going to be a decent team. Now take that same squad remove Wade, add James, and you'd have a much better team. That's what it all boils down to. LeBron is just better than Wade.
People in Miami are infatuated with Wade. He was our best player since his rookie or sophomore season. He led the Heat to an NBA title, and has made countless highlights in a Miami uniform. For these reasons fans in South Florida will always hold Wade in high regards. However Pat Riley would have traded Wade and his talents for LeBron's in a second.
Every game that LeBron plays from here on out will only serve as proof that he is indeed the best player on this team. By seasons end there won't even be a dispute over who's the best player in the entire league let alone Miami. The amount of national attention and exposure that James will get this season shall enable him to put to rest any doubts about his abilities on the court.
What Wade and Riley pulled off should be commended. They managed to get a guy that is bigger and better than either of them to join Miami. It's equivalent to RC Cola coming out and announcing that they have acquired the Coca-Cola company.
The reason why it didn't matter where LeBron went is that in the end he knew it would be his team. He and Wade are friends, and James respects his game but LeBron won't take a back seat to anybody. Not Wade, not Chris Bosh, and not anyone else in the league.
This doesn't mean that he will set out to hog the ball and the limelight. That's not his style. Well maybe the limelight but he doesn't demand the ball and hoist shots up all day like Kobe Bryant. James truly is more Magic than Michael. He can control a game without really taking too many shots.
James is the only player in the NBA with a realistic chance of ever recording a quintuple-double. He is also the only one capable of averaging a triple-double for an entire season. These things might not happen but if there is one person capable of accomplishing it, then it would be James.
In the next six years James is going to win multiple titles on his team. One which he will be leading and in control of. Wade and Bosh will be the best sidekicks in the league, and this is what James envisioned when he signed with Miami.
Hate the guy for being egotistical, despise him for making dumb choices and ridicule him for not having won a title yet, all that said, he's still the best in the league and it's not even close.
