Written by: Alan Ni
First of all, I would just like to say that Kobe got robbed in the ESPY’s Wednesday night for Best Male Athlete.
Now that I got that out of the way, let’s talk basketball.
3-4 years ago, those infamous free agent talks started. Perhaps the biggest question was, “Where will LeBron James go?” The people in the Big Apple have been preparing for the arrival of King James for God knows how long. The club started clearing cap space way before 2010 just for him and it really started to look like that LeBron was headed for New York. Honestly, even I was expecting him to become a Knick. But, it just goes to show that really “anything can happen in the NBA.” The one hour special, all the free agent talks, all that hype. It all led to one answer. Miami Heat. Before I forget, he’s going to be joined by Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Wait, what? Yeah, Pat Riley pulled it off. Again. Next: Potential Trouble in Paradise… Of course, this is perhaps one of the biggest transactions the league has seen in some time and brings up a lot of questions. What are the expectations? What will the rest of the team look like? Who’s going to be the coach? And the most important question, what’s going to be the nickname of this new trio?
I already see people jumping on the bandwagon just like they did when Boston got their “Big Three.” And what bothers me is that they are completely ignoring the best team in the NBA. I mean, the Lakers are still the back-to-back champions, are they not? Believe it or not, the Lakers got better. Yes, again. Last season, they brought in Ron Artest, who played a pivotal role in their championship run this year. Now, Mitch Kupchak has worked his magic again. He managed to re-sign Fisher and also sign Steve Blake, which is obviously an upgrade over Jordan Farmar. Not to mention he also drafted two of the hottest rookies in the league right now in Derrick Caracter and Devin Ebanks.
Ever since, LeBron made his decision, people are talking Miami Heat dynasty and so on. But, let’s get one thing clear; until the Heat can figure out the rest of their roster, there are no guarantees. Even if they do get a decent bench, there are still questions to be answered. Can LeBron face the fact that he’s not going to be the star of the team anymore? The Miami Heat will always be Dwyane Wade’s team, the arena will always be Dwyane Wade’s house. I hope he thought of those things when he decided to leave his beloved fans in Cleveland.
So before you start jumping on the Heat bandwagon, think about it. Dwayne Wade and LeBron James are both superstar caliber players, but will they be willing to give up stats and maybe even MVPs in order to function as a unit? So, until the Heat play the Lakers and soundly defeat the Lakers, let’s not get carried away.