NBA Finals 2011: Dallas Mavericks Beat the Heat in Miami; GuysNation Reacts

Talents were assembled in South Beach, and while a championship was won in Miami, it wasn’t by the HEAT, but rather the Dallas Mavericks, capturing their fourth victory in Game 6 of the series on the road.

By now, you likely know how the series went, with the Heat starting off strong and looking weaker and weaker as each game passed. They held victory in their grasp time and again and let it slip away with their inability to close out games. They were lead to that end by LeBron James, who frequently came up short in the final frame, often scoring fewer than five points in the fourth quarter.

And I think it’s great.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a huge LeBron James hater. Though I wish he had gone to play for the Knicks or the Nets, it doesn’t bother me that he went to Miami. In fact, later this week I’m going to be writing an article about how I think the media should stop their criticism of “The Decision,” a concept they brought about.

The Miami Heat is a basketball club with three stars and a bunch of other guys who are hoping to ride coattails to a championship. They’re not a real TEAM. Not yet, anyway.

They need to find their role players. They need to find guys who fit into spots because of their talents, not because they’re aging veterans who finally want to obtain the championship rings that might have eluded them thus far.

That’s not why Jason Kidd was on the Mavericks. He was there because of his skills. How many players were on the Heat simply because they came cheaply and could run up and down the floor while one of the Big 3 rested (or were trying to space out the timing of their fouls)?

Many an NBA analyst in the media spoke at length about how the Miami Heat were a great team when their backs were against the wall, but seemed to lack urgency in other situations. Did they not feel the urgency in Game 6 simply because it wasn’t a Game 7? Did they feel that their “story” was to be written to include that one final game, winner take all?

This isn’t a fairytale, and they didn’t get the chance to win it all. They came up short too many times and so they were forced to watch another team take the championship on their floor.

I don’t care either way about Dwayne Wade or Chris Bosh and whether or not they get a championship in the coming years. I would like to see LeBron James get a championship ring, simply because I get frustrated in hearing about how LeBron James will never be as good as Kobe Bryant, because LeBron can’t win a championship.

Kobe’s a great player, and he’s quite possibly better than LeBron, but the comparison shouldn’t necessarily involve championship rings, especially when Kobe got his ring with a lot of help from one of the most dominant big men in history. And while I know that Kobe won rings without Shaq, he got his championship swagger with O’Neal’s aid.

Getting LeBron a championship ring would help force people to come up with other comparisons, aside from just talking about rings. I wanted LeBron to get a ring for the same reasons I wanted Charles Barkley to get a ring, and Patrick Ewing and Karl Malone.

I just didn’t want to see it happen this year.

I didn’t want TEAM COLLUSION to walk away with the hardware. It would have seemed to spit in the face of “cheaters never prosper" and, although James / Wade / Bosh didn’t actually cheat, their pre-signing discussions felt dirty. Improper. 

And the fact that they didn’t come out of the whole situation as the ultimate victors just feels rewarding, especially when the team to defeat them was the Dallas Mavericks.

A team that is built around a man in Dirk Nowitzki, derided for his “soft” style of play and for not being able to win a championship when he got the Mavericks to the NBA Finals just a few short years ago and lost to the Miami Heat.

Maybe next year, Miami. I won’t be hoping for any sort of dynasty to start up in South Beach, but I’ll be satisfied if you come away with one championship.

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Because there’s such a variety of opinion on the topic of LeBron James and the Miami Heat’s quest to win another championship, bringing in two high priced star players to try to make it happen, I decided to contact the various contributors to GuysNation to see what their mindset was after hearing about the Dallas Mavericks defeating the Miami Heat 105 to 95 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to become champions.

Other GuysNation Reactions:

From the Squared-Circle Jerk:

"

I hate basketball – I think it’s the dumbest sport in the world. BUT…

As a Chicagoan, I watched with semi-curiosity when Lebron, Wade and Bosch pretended to want to be a part of our city and the Bulls. It was ridiculous – most of us knew the three had no interest in coming to Chicago, but those three had to pretend they were “free agents” in order to protect themselves from NBA charges of collusion.

When the “big dumb” announcement was made by LeBron last year, I sure as hell wasn’t shocked to hear “Miami Heat.” I snickered and said “Glad I didn’t waste an hour of my life watching it.”

But, then, I saw the three hold their NBA Championship party that one night last summer – where the three walked out clapping hands with each other, the fans, acting like they won the championship before the season even started. Then I watched the “Triplet-O-Douche” celebrate after they beat the Celtics. Then, the “We already won” song hit the airwaves and pissed all of Chicago off…then I watched them celebrate like douchebags after they beat the Bulls…

With those visions in my head, all I can say is:

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!…

AHHHHH….

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

Wait…I know, I know…I’m being unprofessional here. I have journalistic integrity to uphold here…I should…

BWWAAAA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

Ahhh…ha ha…um….

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

"

From Sir M Hayes XIV:

"

A year ago we witnessed something that happens every year in every sport.  An athlete earned the right to go to whatever team he wanted.  A team he thought gave him the best chance to win, and he did. Hell, he even took LESS money to do so.  He also raised a very nice chunk of change for charity in the process. Unfortunately in what can only be classified as one of the worst decisions on how to go about making a “DECISION”, Lebron James effectively made himself public enemy #1 in the eyes of most NBA fans.  It was a bad choice, and in the long line of athletes making bad choices?  Its not even CLOSE to the same level as any one of a dozen acts of buffoonery to straight up criminality that has littered professional sports over time.  People just blindly and venomously hated James and the Heat by proxy, but really? It was Lebron.  And that was what this season and post season was built on.  It made for great games and a running storyline throughout the season… hell… I’m a paragraph in and I still haven’t even gotten to the basketball!

The  game that saw the Mavs hoist a trophy.  Miami sulked.  Cleveland rejoiced.  A scruffy German put his name up on the shortlist of greats.  Let the debates begin!  Best 7 foot shooter?  Best foreign born player?  Top 50 all time?  Top 20? Greatest athlete named Dirk??  It brought to a close a NBA season and playoffs that captivated and entertained.  Playoffs that were more talked about and more watched.  Ratings were up.  Coverage was up.  And really you can chalk that up to the Miami Heat and their all-star team.  Love them or hate them people wanted to watch them… and somehow the collective “Big 3″ in Miami couldn’t stand up to the Mavs and their long lanky German leader.  Dirk who, over the years, has felt similar burdens James has had all season of being widely criticized and scrutinized.  His heart and toughness questioned.  “Dirk’s soft”.  “Dirk’s not clutch”.  “Dirk can’t get it done.”  All things people have been laying on the crown of King James.  Until these finals. Where Dirk unceremoniously snatched the crown that was supposed to be Miami’s.  He and his TEAM worked harder, shot better, and didn’t give.  Fourth quarter deficits.  Injuries.  Illness.  They fought and scratched.  Even their coach said they weren’t the most athletic.  Not the fastest.  Couldn’t jump the highest… but they are the BEST.

"

From 4th Stooge:

"

Honestly, I’ve never cared about the NBA. If I watch basketball, it’s college ball b/c there seems to be more game skills involved and less hype, show, and pomp. NBA is more like watching tennis, shoot…go to the other end of the court…shoot again and repeat for 4 quarters.

However, I will admit that I was interested in this NBA championship. I gained an interest when Dallas came back to tie the series as I thought it would just be nothing but Miami. I began to watch some of one of the games on DirecTV’s ESPN 3D station and that was just awesome!!

These guys played with heart. They played like they wanted it, like they knew they had to win in order to win. And Dallas did just that and I’m very happy for them.

I was so disenchanted with LeBron James and his whole media storm of attention during the off-season. I didn’t give a rat’s ass where he’d play or if he played. And I still don’t. The television time that he stole from me I can never get back and I’m honestly happy to see him lose. Not just Miami, but Mr. James lost. I’m glad he sees it as a personal failure b/c I feel as if some sort of retribution has been paid to me for the shitstorm of antics he pulled last summer.

LeBron deserved to lose. I’m glad he did.

You never heard one word out of Dirk about playing with a very high fever. He just went out there and did what he was paid to do. Win. Maybe LeBron isn’t doing what he’s paid to do, or maybe Miami just isn’t paying him to win, rather…put butts in seats since the rest of Miami sports have a lot of empty seats.

"

More reactions to the outcome will be added here as they’re submitted from members of GuysNation.

The home version of this article also includes some polls in which you’ll want to voice your opinion regarding the outcome of the NBA Finals!