NBA Finals 2011: Miami Heat Deserve an Academy Award, Not a Championship

My wife won't let me watch basketball anymore.  Or, more specifically, she won't let me watch basketball games involving the Miami Heat.  So that pretty much takes away the NBA Finals.  I can't really say I blame her.

So I decided to conduct a little experiment.  I asked her to watch Game Three with me, and let me know when she saw something that looked like a fake foul.  I also asked her to let me know anytime she saw someone whining for a foul.  This experiment was actually much more enjoyable than I thought, but it had the results I thought it would.  

Watching the game, she almost jumped out of her seat when Dwayne Wade jumped towards the referee acting like he got pushed in the back.  I assured her that was par for the course for Wade.  I think she's still mad about how he got away with flopping like that.

As for the rest of the game, she couldn't stop talking about LeBron James.  Not in a good way.  At one point in the third quarter, she asked if LeBron has ever missed a shot and not wanted a foul called.  I almost fell to the floor laughing.  She just kept looking at me with a very puzzled face, and I realized she was actually asking a serious question.  

I had to explain that LeBron thinks he should be shooting 100 percent, and anytime he misses, he thinks there should be a foul called. Needless to say, she got so fed up with what she was seeing that she left the room.  

So that was the end of my experiment. However, it only proved the beginning of what's wrong with the Miami Heat.  Let me show you something, right out of the NBA referee rulebook, on when the referees are supposed to call technical fouls.  These rules are new this year.

Referees have been instructed to call technical fouls for:

1. Players making aggressive gestures, such as air punches, anywhere on the court

2. Demonstrative disagreement, such as when a player incredulously raises his hands, or smacks his own arm to demonstrate how he was fouled.

3. Running directly at an official to complain about a call.

4. Excessive inquiries about a call, even in a civilized tone.

Now I know all the teams do a little of the first one.  Aggressive gestures is a pretty broad term, and celebrations are part of the game.  I played basketball, and I understand the excitement that comes from dropping a big shot in a big game.  It's sometimes hard not to jump in the air or yell with excitement.

As for the second bullet, that's where the Heat go overboard, particularly LeBron.  He rarely misses a shot and doesn't turn to the ref looking for a foul.  I can't even count the number of times he throws up his hands or slaps his arms screaming at the ref that he was fouled after missing a shot.  

I don't know how to put this any simpler.  If you're not going to enforce the new rules, don't make them.  LeBron is not free from following these rules just because he brings in a lot of money.

As for running towards an official or making excessive inquiries, the Miami Heat are again guilty. LeBron spends so much time complaining to the referees that he is routinely running behind the play because he was on the other end of the court for so long.  

Don't believe me?  Watch Game Three again, and count how many times LeBron missed a shot, was off screen begging to the ref, and comes running back on defense late. You'll be blown away by how many times it happens.

To put it into simple terms, the Miami Heat and their flopping and begging ways are bad for the NBA. The sad thing is that the NBA has it in its head that the Heat winning, not earning, an NBA Championship is a good thing.  

All this is going to do is add fuel to a team that can't win on skill alone.  They need to get every call, every ticky-tack foul they can pull.  And Queen James is willing to beg his way to that NBA title.

And before you argue about the flopping, do me a favor and watch the videos.  They are so reminiscent of Premier League Soccer that it's actually embarrassing.