King Lame

I’ll be honest, I didn’t watch very many NBA regular season games this year. The draw wasn’t there for me until the Knicks started to become relevant. What I do know is that the NBA Finals that were just played were one of the most competitive that I can remember. It’s been since the 2004 Pistons won it that I’ve watched an NBA Finals in its entirety – until this year.

Like most of America, I tuned in to see the Heat fall. Aside from the normal “root for the underdog” sentiment that accompanies a series without a natural rooting interest, I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to see Lebron James lose again.



You could've left Cleveland the right way, but you chose to stroke your ego. I'm glad Scott Van Pelt stole your chair! You're not the King of anything outside of Akron, Oho!



Rewind to the previous offseason. I was actually OK with him signing with another team. I would have been very surprised if he had returned to the Cavs. But he didn’t, and that’s where my rooting interest in the 2011 NBA Finals was born. Lebron orchestrated “The Decision” on ESPN to announce his decision to sign with the Heat. Even if it was not his idea, he OK’d it.

The message: “I’m so important and special that I get to beat my chest about where I’m going to sign.”

Adding insult to injury, Miami had a post-championship-like celebration shortly thereafter in which they showcased their two marquee free agents, along with Dwayne Wade. It wasn’t bad enough that they were celebrating in advance, but they were preemptively declaring themselves a team of three. We had to hear Lebron declare that the Heat would win “multiple championships….not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6, not 7” NBA titles. Pretty ballsy for a guy who hadn’t yet won one.  And I thought everyone knew the sports cliché “you take it one at a time.”



Photos from the 2011 Miami Heat Pre-season NBA Championship Celebration. The still shot does not accurately capture the awkward head nods as they strutted down the aisle. I really used to like Dwayne Wade too. I was behind them all the way when him and Shaq took it down.



It’s laughable that Lebron has even been compared to Jordan at any point. There was a player who reminded me of Jordan in this series, but he’s big and goofy and plays for the Mavs.



Goofy, you say?



When I think of Michael Jordan, I think of a player who was at his best when the game was on the line. Jordan put numbers up, and littered the highlight reel. Lebron does the same, but when the pressure is on, they are night and day. Dwayne Wade is more of a Michael Jordan than Lebron could ever be.  I bet I could list 10 players more Jordan-like than Lebron.

Just in case you forgot. I mean seriously....Lebron's not even close.

I’m smart enough to know that this has only bought the basketball world a year before they have to gear up against the Heat again. It’s unlikely that the Heat will be denied an NBA title for the time that the “Big Three” are intact.

When they finally do win one, one thing is for sure – it won’t be Lebron carrying them there.

Something they have in common --- Jordan also counted up to 6 NBA Championships. The difference --- they were championships he actually had won.

AFTERTHOUGHT

I had no idea that Dirk Nowitzki was that good. I knew that he was a superstar, but I never thought of him as a “hands-down” clutch performer. I always pigeon-holed him along with the Mavs normal mantra of scoring big without playing defense. I was wrong. Not only is Dirk a superstar offensive player, but he played stellar defense and cemented his status in history as a clutch player. When he’s on a roll, he’s as indefensible as any player in the league, including the 3 guys on the evil Heat. Kudos to Dirk, J-Kidd, and the Mavs!