It’s official; Lebron James has announced his intentions to sign with the Miami Heat, joining fellow superstars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Cleveland is heartbroken, Miami is ecstatic, and the rest of the NBA general managers are pulling their hair out trying to think of ways to compete with a team as good as or better than when Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman hooked up over a decade ago in Chicago. What does this all mean? Well, let’s take a look from the perspective of a couple of different franchises.
Miami- So, how many years are all of these guys going to be there for sure? Five? Well, then that’s how many years they should win the NBA Championship. This is, without a doubt, the best team in the league, and even minor disagreements in roles probably won’t slow them down enough to cause significant damage. Add on the fact that Pat Riley is twice the coach that Mike Brown is, and you’ve got someone to raise the level of Lebron’s game and maturity even higher. For all we know, Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley could develop into talented role-players, which make this team even more dangerous. Miamisty, Dyiami, Dynasty, call it what you want…this team is going to be good.
Cleveland- See: The Drive, The Shot, Art Modell. You can add “The Decision” right up there with the list of things that have crushed the spirits of Clevelanders in the past. It’s been awhile, but let’s go back to the years B.L. (Before Lebron). Remember what the Cavaliers were then? Terrible. You know what they’ll be now? Mediocre. Lebron made this team what they were. Do you know what happens when you take the ice cream out of the milkshake? You get milk. The Cavs will be starting from scratch, and that doesn’t bode well for teams in Cleveland (See: Cleveland Browns Rejoining the NFL).
Everyone Else- No, I’m not putting the Knicks or Nets into their own category. The Knicks, other than Amare Stoudemire (who has his own issues), are no better than the Cavs. Lebron wants to win, and New York isn’t the place to do it. The Nets, other than Jay-Z being buddies with Lebron, didn’t have enough to offer either. As for the rest of the teams in the NBA, see if they can make a trophy for second place. With Miami’s new lineup, second place is as good as gold. Quite honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Phil Jackson change his mind and decide to retire for good. He has firsthand knowledge of what a team like Miami can accomplish; he coached one. The odds of Jackson completing another three-peat just took a major hit, and I just don’t know if he is up for the challenge.
Many times throughout this post, I have christened the Miami Heat as the next pro sports dynasty. I realize that it’s not a done deal; they still have to go out and prove that they are the best. However, we’re talking about three Olympic gold medalists on one team. We’re talking about guys ranked 2nd, 5th, and 9th in the league in scoring last season on one team. We’re talking about arguably the best shooting guard, small forward, and power forward in the league on one team. If they aren’t the next dynasty, something will have gone terribly wrong.
Now, this is addressed to Cleveland fans. I know that you are probably clearing all of your Lebron/Cavaliers memorabilia off of your mantels, but remember this before you accuse Lebron of being a traitor: everyone wants to win. He gave it all he had, and the truth was that Cleveland didn’t give him enough support to win it all. Some say that it will hurt his legacy if he wins with two other superstars by his side. Well, there is another way to think of it. Does it hurt his legacy more to win three or four or five titles with a superstar cast, or to stay “loyal” to Cleveland and never win anything at all? Neil Kinnock once said “Loyalty is a fine quality, but in excess it fills political graveyards.” The same is true in professional sports.
– K. Becks
