LeBron James, Miami Heat: We Are Witnessing the Beginning of a Dynasty
When was the last time we saw one team dominate an entire sporting league?
In professional basketball, despite having only eight different champions crowned in the past two decades, there hasn't been a true NBA dynasty since the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s. That team won six titles between 1991 and 1998, and it possibly only took that long because their star player decided that playing mediocre baseball was a better option for a season.
The closest a team has come to that was the San Antonio Spurs when they won four championships between 1999 and 2007. They didn't have a dynamic and electrifying star player like the Bulls had for that decade, but they did have proper balance amongst two or three key players that enabled them to win those championships. The chemistry between those players was unmatched by just about every team in the league.
Now that we enter a new decade, it might be a time for a team to take another shot at becoming the next dynasty. The Los Angeles Lakers were in the midst after making it to three title series and winning two of them but then began to show their age down the road after a sweep in the 2011 semifinals to the Dallas Mavericks. That Lakers team certainly didn't have the look of any dynasty we have seen.
Even in the NBA, it is still extremely difficult for any team to win several championships over a short span of time. However, with the young talent of the Miami Heat finally beginning to come together and showing signs of a team that might be unstoppable, there could be a dynasty brewing in South Beach.
With Dwyane Wade signing for six years and LeBron James and Chris Bosh signing for five, the next few years could be dominated by a team that no one outside of Miami wants to see win. Even though Wade will be 35 by the time his contract runs out; James and Bosh would only be 31 after serving their time with the Heat. The prospect of each of these players gaining experience in the postseason would be a quality that would only make this team even more dangerous.
Rather than experience, today they thrive on athleticism and talent. Over the past two series against the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, they somehow managed to only need 10 games to advance past two of the most dangerous teams in the league. Against a Celtics team that had won a title only three seasons ago and facing a Bulls team with the reigning MVP, the Heat were able to win each series in five games with three players scoring over 75 percent of the team's overall points total.
They won those games because they were able to wear those teams down by the fourth quarter. By keeping the game close for the first three quarters, Miami was methodically wearing their opponent down over the course of the contest. In nearly every fourth quarter in their recent series against the Bulls, the Heat were able to stage late comebacks because Chicago had already been worn out by attempting to keep up with Miami's athleticism for 36 minutes.
In their first season playing together, they were able to secure 58 wins despite playing without their two main producers off the bench for the majority of the season. Miami has had to rely on Joel Anthony and Mario Chalmers as its sixth and seventh men all year long and have still had no problems for most of the way thanks to the overall work of the Big Three. With every obstacle that has surfaced for the Heat this year, the Big Three has picked up the pieces.
Now after a tumultuous season, the Heat are only four games away from a title in only the Big Three's first season together. They have taken out the teams that were thought to have run away with the Eastern Conference crown and have silenced their critics for the time being. The preseason expectations were seeing the Heat win a title, but even without one, this postseason run was quite entertaining and unexpected from Miami.
Especially the clutchness of LeBron James, which has suddenly become one of the most entertaining displays of basketball to watch. In fact, pretty much every player included in the Big Three has made a big shot one time or another during this postseason run. Wade has provided his usual late-game prowess, Bosh has hit shots down the stretch and James has emerged as one of the league's most clutch performers after impressive work against Boston and Chicago.
Since we have seen just what this team is capable of, we can gauge just how well they'll play for the next five years they'll play together. With James proving he can be clutch, he has just added another dimension to an already volatile Heat team. The Heat struggled in the regular season with closing out games, but have now proven that they are completely capable of being one of the league's most dangerous fourth-quarter teams.
Suddenly, the weak spot of the Heat just became the strongest.
In this year's postseason, Miami has had to overcome some of the league's most athletic players in the 76ers">Philadelphia 76ers, the most seasoned in Boston and the best in Chicago. The Heat have made easy work of each team and now face their toughest test yet with a revenge-minded Dallas Mavericks squad.
Both teams match up very well, but the advantage still lies with the Heat thanks to the momentum they are riding in on after two of their best series in franchise history.
After needing only five games to beat up on both Boston and Chicago, it's getting tougher to bet against this team. With James and Wade's athleticism and clutch play and Chris Bosh having one of the better postseasons of his career, we could be witnessing the start of a dynasty. At first we didn't want to believe that James' promise of winning multiple titles was true, but what's not to believe when we know that they are completely capable of doing just that?
With not even a complete postseason under their belts as a team, the Big Three of the Heat have done more work than most newly formed teams ever have. Their blueprint follows in the footsteps of the 2008 Boston Celtics, a team that had won in its first year with its newly formed Big Three. For a while, it appeared that this particular experiment would be a failure until we realized that there was actually a postseason to go along with the regular season.
So far in these playoffs, James has led the way for the Heat averaging 26 points, nine rebounds and six assists per game with too many huge buckets to list. Dwyane Wade has poured in a modest 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists per game, while Chris Bosh has chipped in 19 points and nine rebounds.
Aside from those three, the team has also gotten key contributions from Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller and Joel Anthony.
The trio of Wade, Bosh and James has proved time and time again this postseason that you can't judge a team just by their work in the regular season because they could be completely different in the playoffs. In only one year together, they have made great strides and progress that we couldn't have imagined prior to the start of the season. On a roster where athleticism thrives, the Heat have many years to continue to work on their chemistry and cohesiveness.
As much as we don't want to admit it, this team is extremely dominant. They have had to overcome many obstacles and have done so and are now only a few games away from their first title as a team despite playing less than 100 games together. With three of the best players composing the core, the Heat have proved once again that this experiment is a success and will be for teams that can find the right chemistry between three stars.
With a championship this season, we will then witness the birth of a dynasty. The Heat have done the necessary work of your average dynasty by beating the best and showing up in late-game situations and now need to follow through with a title if they want to be dubbed a dynasty in the making.
After watching Dwyane Wade and LeBron James light up the hardwood floor this season, the prospect of a dynasty no longer sounds far-fetched for the Heat after an average regular season. A title this year would help the team break the ice and ease the tension around the organization dealing with these players winning a championship in their time together.
After all, this is what they came here for. A championship in their first season would be a nice start, but being recognized as a dynasty is what they look to be known as when they finish.
You can follow John Friel on twitter @JohnFtheheatgod
