Miami Heat: King James, Dwyane Wade, the Jordan Principle and a New Era

Starting out with a prospects-paltry 9-8 record through November, the Miami Heat appeared to be suffering from the stigma of other alpha-star dominated teams —i.e., the late-90s Rockets, the mid-00s Nets — simply put, theirs a ton of statistical gusto but little idea how to put it all together.

Now with a red-hot 12-game win streak Miami seems to have figured something out, and it flies in the face of historical proof and the lurking superstitions that so much talent cancels itself out, hence is doomed to failure. 

The Big question is:  Can two 30-7-6 juggernauts, and another 20 and 10 player, all in their prime-or-getting-there-time, sacrifice and balance their on-court persona and output?  Mid-November?  Not really.  From then to now?  Looking great.  But what's the difference?

Okay, let's forget minutes, points or actual time with the ball in their hands, James, Wade and Bosh are the self-proclaimed 20-'Lev Dream Team, wanting the spotlight, the pressure and the ring, right?

Consider that each of these players were the main, main dogs on their respective teams before being brought together, then one gold-medal-winning relationship-hatching Summer Olympics later, they believe they can win it all, again.  Not a bad chain of thought, but this crew didn't seem like the settle-into-a-role-players that championship teams are comprised of.  

Look at the '08 Celtics for example, they brought it home, but their players, despite household names like Garnett, Allen and Pierce, were more so a collection of crafty role-players in the strictly-about-winning phase of their careers.  Not that James, Wade and Bosh aren't focused winners.  They've harnessed the league's attention in that category, with the former two hitting enough game-winning buckets to fill a SportsCenter broadcast.  But can this team specialize?  Meaning can they figure exactly where the pieces should fit.

In recent memory the Celts '08 Title Run featured the timely long distance shooting of Ray Allen, the suffocating D of the Big Ticket and the leadership and clutch ability of Paul Pierce.  Learn well Miami, these are the pieces that fit.  Yet Bosh isn’t close to the defensive beast Garnett is, and though Pierce and Allen are all-around players, their mash-up is, in fundamental leadership aspects like MJ and Reggie Miller, while James and Wade are MJ-squared.  

For you comparison-haters out there, I'm just alluding to the comparable stats and on-court persona's of James and Wade to his Airness.

It still may be a head-scratching analogy, but it is undeniable that King James and DWade’s talent alone would land them on the Second-Team All-NBA squad year-after-year, while their drive, determination and late-game heroics makes them Hall-of-Famers-in-waiting.  This is, for lack of a better phrase, the Jordan Principle — all the heart, talent, flexibility and focus required to be a lasting champion — knowing exactly how to win day-in-day out.

The problem here is that Michael never had to play on a team with anyone close to himself —Pippen was always groomed to be a side-kick, one of the best ever residing in the Hall of Fame —but if MJ had, say played with Karl Malone, would that have worked out?  One would have deferred, likely the guy that still doesn't have any trophies.

So is that barrier in itself to true mutualism between the Heat stars.  James can't deny Wade's proven ability to succeed at the absolute highest level of the sport: the NBA Finals.  Which also reminds LJ of his own shortcomings against the Spurs in '07.

But with a face-card  win streak at hand it appears that Miami has found some intangible glue that's keeping this team gelled, fiery and focused — and I think I know what it is.

Right now in Miami it's all grand and confusing — know one knowing that better than Coach Spoelstra — but it's a necessary experiment in the realm of West-Chamberlain-Goodrich or Johnson-Scott-Worthy — at their absolute peaks mind you — and those teams notched four trophies all together.  But two court-certified Jordan molds?  Two supremely clutch and demanding players?  All I know is that Gail Goodrich was no Mr. Logo and Byron Scott would barely have sported a double-digit average without Magic.  But we're talking West-West and Magic-Magic, relatively, and it’s never really been done.

True, Bosh is a terror when he wants to be, a solid mid-range shooter, post-demon and lengthy board-artist and shot-swatter, but he'll slip into a talented, indispensable role.  Simply put, Bosh is not in the same league as James and Wade, who have carried their respective teams to the Finals — to championships.  It's truly in their hands.

Winning it all in the NBA nowadays, with so many crafty and do-or-die veterans, sees experience and poise greatly outpacing sheer drive, talent and the every so often "One-Year Wonder".

Examples? Without the security and know-how blanket of Shaq, the Heat and Wade wouldn't have one the title and Finals MVP respectively; the Lakers' and Kobe wouldn't have one the last two titles without blood-and-guts losses to the Celtics and the Suns.  Likewise, the '00 Lakers probably wouldn't have hoisted the Larry O'Brien without Grant, Harper and, of course, Phil.

But that's a recap, what we're really talking about here is the historically remote possibility of two mega-stars — arguably the number 1 and 2 players in the L — creating, in a sense, a double-Jordan atmosphere where a nightly explosion by one or two stars, or both, is not only possible and likely, but expected and needed for a championship run.

During this current streak you see Wade spear-heading most games.  Perhaps James deferring to Veteran Heat Captain Wade may be more about recognition and personal respect, but for the team to work Lebron has to reclaim his Kingly tendencies more often than not.

Here's a quick rundown of James and Wades head-to-head on-court strengths and weaknesses.

1.)  Ball-handling:  Wade is better, more fluid and assured, also James is almost averaging four — yikes! — four turnovers-a-game.  Wades a point guard, James is a Power-Point-Shooting-Small-Forward (just ask the NBA).

2.) Open-court:  This is really a toss-up. Both players thrive here, able to get any position in the lane they want and finish with authority.

3.)  Passing ability:  Lebron here; because he's tall, sees the court better and seems to make split-second decisions with a tad bit more tenacity, but Wade is no slouch either, and knows how to make the right play at the right time

4.)  Clutch:  This is dead-even in my opinion for the simple fact that one player practically led his team to the 'ship by himself and the other to the Finals, literally. 

All in all, this is an on-going story that will play out exactly as these two mega-gamers want, and, once again, no offense to Bosh, but the outcome of this season is in the King and DWade's hands.  They've had a rough start under the bright lights, the expectations and the consequences of losing.

But this team now seems to be thriving on the halting and brutal challenges, whole-heartedly confronting the NBA’s failed superstar-squad past and burning spotlight, with the kind of bravado and poise precedents require — much like a fearless 24-year-old  leading his team to championship, or an 18-year-old No. 1 Draft Pick without any doubts.