LeBron James, NBA Playoffs 2011: Miami Heat Winning Is Good for League
Dominance is good for sports.
Tiger. Check.
The Yankees. Check.
The Lakers, Celtics, Duke, the list goes on and on of elite people and organizations that increase the popularity of their respective sports.
The Miami Heat took a significant step in adding their name to the aforementioned list with their overtime victory over the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night.
Led by two of the best players in the league, along with a third who can take over games when needed, Miami has quickly assembled a dynasty in the making and has, so far, thwarted any challenge sent their way.
It would be a good thing for the sport if the Miami Heat won the NBA Championship this year.
Although most believed it would take a full season to develop chemistry, establish a firm pecking order within the Big 3 and wait a calendar year for the incumbent Celtics and Lakers to fossilize, that has not been the case for Miami.
The team is now five victories away from proving the doubters wrong and starting to validate their outlandish claims of six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11…
The NBA has an incredible amount of momentum in its favor. The doldrum period of the early 2000s has now been replaced by an upbeat atmosphere with incredible television production featuring stars that are at or nearing their primes.
Aside from the locomotive train known as the NFL, the NBA has a sizable following that rivals any other league today. This following is split into two factions with much different mentalities regarding the sport they watch.
There is a firm audience that will always root against the top dog, regardless of the sport in question. Their fervor, probably deeply rooted in some psychological condition that I would never understand, does not disappear no matter what the circumstances of the sport are.
They are the league pass purchasers: they can instantly cite Rik Smits career stats.
But what happens is that after watching thousands of hours of the sport, they want something new. Something unexpected. An underdog, if you will, to topple the team that has been winning games for years and years.
Why would you want to watch the end of the same movie over and over again?
The audience that does come and go, however, is the casual one that is only captivated by true greatness. The droves of people, who, for whatever reason, flock to see Tiger hit a perfect drive, or Jordan hit the improbable shot, fly away just as fast when their heroes of the moment have run their course.
Although they are not as passionate or knowledgeable, they mean the same in ratings points and advertising revenue for a league that is in need of a major overhaul of their financial structure.
This is who the league, and most successful leagues, market themselves to. This is their target audience. Why bother catering to fans who are voluntarily willing to watch the Timberwolves and Kings on a Wednesday night? The league has these people, and always will.
America loves the stars. Fans love the sport. Rare athletes and teams combine the two in a way that creates a polarizing atmosphere and nothing but drama. If the Heat dominate the sport for the next five to 10 years with their trio of “superstars,” the league will be more than happy to continue to deal with the PR backlash of "The Decision."
They may even pick it up as a series.
