Miami Heat: Future NBA Dynasty's Takeover Has Just Begun
To quote Jim Mandich "awwwwright Miami," the time has come at last. There is no more hype, there is no more waiting, it's time.
Looking back on the summer that was it's been a pretty amazing roller coaster. At times it appeared as though the Heat could potentially swing and miss big in free agency.
There were rumors Dwyane Wade would leave for Chicago and that LeBron James would head to New York or stay in Cleveland. Chris Bosh would then decide which star to align with.
ESPN was leading the way with the James to Chicago coverage and Bulls fans flooded the websites proclaiming that the second coming of Jordan was well on his way to the Windy City. Meanwhile Knicks fans were doing their fair share of predictions on how they would rebuild their franchise.
Pat Riley sure did the pole penetrating this time around.
The first two dominoes fell on July 6 as Wade had returned to sunny South Florida and announced, along with Bosh, that they would be joining the Heat. Then the following day we were treated to the sweetest words Heat fans have ever heard, that of course being "I'm taking my talents to South Beach."
Then we got the backlash.
Media, fans, owners, former players, even your fourth grade Phys Ed teacher all criticized the "Decision." Based on the amount of bad press and ill will, one would have thought that James had raped someone and then thrown them out of a window.
In Cleveland they burned jerseys, meanwhile in Miami it was all smiles. There was Bosh speaking Spanish at the Heat introduction. James was saying he expected seven rings, and Wade had the county named after him.
We don't mind being the bad guys in Miami. We love Tony Montana and we loved the brash talking Hurricanes. So now it seems we're the Evil Empire or New World Order. That's fine by us, we look good in black.
It's pretty obvious that only Heat fans enjoyed this summer to such extremes, but we have every right to. Every single team and fan base would have wished their team had done the same.
Magic fans would have said adios to Dwight Howard and the Lakers would have gladly traded away Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Ron Artest for these three.
Go ahead Miami, puff out your chest and bang on it a bit. "King Kong ain't got poop on us." Neither does the "Black Garden Snake" for that matter.
The amount of talent which Pat "The Godfather" Riley has assembled is still beyond most peoples imagination. Still it will be there on display in just a couple days.
Their eyes will "Witness" the dominance for the next eight months. The "Greatest Show On Earth" will be coming to a city near you, be sure to get your tickets while they last.
In essence it almost seems planned for Wade to miss the preseason and rest, while dealing with his personal legal matters. This gave James and Bosh a chance to get acquainted with their new team. It also prevented from the surprise factor being ruined.
Come tip off we'll all be treated to a never before seen extravaganza. Two of the league's top three players will be sharing the court. The third one has looked as though he is going to be more dominant and efficient than ever.
This feeling of knowing that we got all three of them was incredible at first. Then it subsided somewhat as the summer progressed, but now Heat fans, now is the time that you will finally realize how fortunate we were.
Miami got three of the league's absolute best players and they're all still in or entering their prime. This is not something that has ever occurred before. I'll take James and Wade over Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen without thinking twice.
What's scary is that these three stars are going to be more determined and hungrier than ever before. This is going to be LeBron 11.0 version. You've never seen anything like it.
Miami managed all this while staying under the salary cap. The Lakers meanwhile are spending almost $40 million more on their roster.
It's time for more people to start acknowledging that these guys put their own egos behind doing what all sports fans ask for, "To care about the game and winning more than the money."
While James may have mishandled his hour-long special, he still raised almost $3 million for a great cause. Would you rather him have just announced it via twitter or a Cavaliers press conference? Then no one would have gained except LeBron's image. I'll take $3 million for kids over appeasing owner Dan Gilbert.
We're the miscasted hero that at first gets portrayed as a villain. People like to say "who's Batman and who's Robin" well it's more like Wade is Spiderman, James is Wolverine and Bosh is a few months of Creatine away from being the Hulk.
These guys are the "Super Friends" only Marvel style. And just like their comic book counterparts, these guys have all been misrepresented thus far.
In time as the titles and accolades begin to pile up then the greater acceptance and recognition will occur. Then we'll see who has the last laugh.
Until that time we'll be doing more than enough celebrating in Miami to drown out all the resentment and bitterness.
Get ready Heat fans we're entering a whole new stratosphere this week. This is the stuff we'll be talking to our kids about when we're old. It's our very own "Murderers Row" and "Showtime Lakers" all rolled into one.
Just get your beer and popcorn ready for Tuesday night. As Rick James would say, "It's a celebration bitches."
