I have mixed feelings about how I feel about Lebron leaving Cleveland. I think it’s a safe bet that Craig Ehlo and Ricky Davis aren't the most hated Cavaliers anymore. I thought I could go the route that Dan Gilbert went and totally bash James but he lost all credibility when he said the Cavs would win a title. If they couldn't win with James why would Gilbert think they would win with him?
The words "quit", "gave up" and "couldn't deliver" come into mind when I think of Lebron James. I don't agree that he owed the Cavaliers anything. It's not like any other team wouldn't have jumped through the same hoops while James played there. What bothers me is how he always talked about his loyalty to the city of Cleveland or more specifically Akron. This wasn't the case of a great basketball player leaving a team that showed him nothing but support and love. Dozens of beloved athletes left loyal franchises. Shaq left Orlando to go play in LA for similar reasons and nobody threw Shaq under the bus like they have James and Tim Duncan almost left San Antonio to go to Orlando. This was a case of a hometown town kid betraying his hometown. I remember Chris Webber, while a member of the Sacramento Kings grew frustrated with reporters constantly asking about his personal life specifically his relationship with Tyra Banks and said "I play basketball for the Sacramento Kings I don't live for the Sacramento Kings" In other words my only connections and loyalty to this city is purely basketball related and nothing more. James seemed to put out the opposite vibe. When Jim Grey finished asking James about biting his finger nails and finally asked him where he was going to sign James said "I am taking my talents to South Beach" Not to the Miami Heat to play basketball but to South Beach(by the way the American Airlines Arena is not in South Beach). This whole free agency leave was handled very poorly and was extremely classes. The Cleveland Cavalier beat writer, Brian Windhorst described the one hour televised broadcast of "The Decision" as "rubbing it in to the fans of Cleveland"
During last season Lebron said "When I came here to the Cavalier organization, my goal was to win a championship and I won't stop until I've done that." That's when the words "quit" and "give up" pop into my head. He didn't betray the Cleveland organization he betrayed the city of Cleveland and himself.
Winning a championship in Cleveland was supposed to be his destiny and by not fulfilling that his image and/or legacy will be forever tainted. This kind of betrayal is not going to end well for Lebron James. It reminds me of when John Locke decided that he was no longer going to the push the button. He betrayed the one thing that mattered to him - the island or more specifically the hatch. Lebron claimed that winning a championship in Cleveland was the only thing that mattered to him - and making tons of money. For those of you who haven't seen Lost it didn't turn out well for John Locke just like Lebron's decision to betray his destiny to win a ring in Cleveland won't end well for him. I'd be happy to let Lebron know that he made the wrong choice. He reads my blog right? The Miami Heat will not win a championship as currently constructed for several reasons.
Reason Number One - No Cohesiveness
Lebron and Wade both need the ball to be effective. It's not as simple as letting them take turns dominating the ball - that method would be a disaster and would render both players ineffective. You have to one of them play off the ball. Wade is the best choice to fill this role and probably the only one willing to attempt it. If he can play off the ball and effectively use screens and hit the open shot ala Ray Allen or Rip Hamilton, then this team would be very good. Sadly Wade's style of play is not meant for that style. What we have is a conundrum and lays the root of the problem. If they limit Wade to playing off the ball and/or being a spot up shooter then he is no longer D-Wade. He wouldn't even be a Ray Allen or Rip Hamilton. Now instead of three "superstars" you have Lebron James and Chris Bosh and a poor man's version of Ray Allen/Rip Hamilton. Chris Bosh may be the most overrated player in the NBA. Often players are overrated because they are putting up great numbers on a lousy team. Chris Bosh played on a lousy team and only averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds for his career. Those are respectable numbers but in Miami he will get less touches and have to share the rebounding with Lebron James - those numbers will be drop and be closer to 15 points and 8 rebounds. A player that only averages 15 and 8 isn't worth the hype or the contract that Bosh has received. He would be worth it if he brought something else to the table like Kevin Garnett's defensive intensity or Pau Gasol's offensive fluidity, but he doesn't and he won’t.
Kobe Bryant was asked what he thought about Lebron, Bosh and Wade all signing together and he said "You put a group of guys like that together, it's obviously extremely formidable. You look at the Celtics and what they were able to do with their big three, absolutely they're a threat."
Kobe makes a valid point and he would know better than most about how formidable a big three like that can be. But Kobe is forgetting a couple of key differences between the 2008 Celtics, who the Heat patterned themselves after
Reason Number Two - Coaching
One of the biggest differences between the Celtics and the Heat will be the coaching. Doc Rivers is one of the more underrated coaches in the NBA and did everything right that year. As a former player he understood superstar’s agendas and how to work with their egos. He also had Tom Thibodeau to orchestrate that stifling defense. Spoelstra won't be able to figure out how to fix the aforementioned conundrum with Wade or how to maintain Chris Bosh's output and when he fails at this it will blow up in his face and the team will turn on him. But in all honestly Pat Riley will yank the coach halfway through the season, believing he can get another championship ring and then when he fails he will go back to greasing his hair and sitting in his 10,000 dollar suits up in the press box to avoid any embarrassment
Reason Number Three - No Leadership
Garnett came to Boston with one agenda and that was to win a championship. He turned the Celtics into everything that he thought a championship team needed to be in order to win. He was the team's leader and held every single Celtic accountable and made every one of them play like a champion. Dwyane Wade is the only one remotely capable of fulfilling this leadership role and that is purely by default. It isn't because he is a natural born leader like Magic Johnson or Kevin Garnett but it’s because he is the only one who has won a championship. He might have been the best player on the 2006 Heat team that won the championship but the team leaders were clearly Shaq and Alonzo. Wade is not the type of leader that every championship team needs. (See Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Avery Johnson/Tim Duncan, Shaq, Garnett, Derek Fisher/Kobe Bryant- 2009 & 2010 version)
Lebron has clearly shown that he can't lead a team. He routinely disappears in clutch situations, abandons his team after playoff losses and according to Dan Gilbert quit on his team in last year’s playoffs. Chris Bosh can lead them in making YouTube videos but that is about it.
Reason Number Four - No Ubuntu
"Ubuntu" which translates to "I am because we are" was the rallying cry for the Celtics to build team unity and Garnett and Doc Rivers made sure that this happened. Paul Peirce wanted to stamp himself in Celtic lore and realized the only way to do that was to win, which isn't a bad thing by any means, but he was willing to let Garnett take over as the team leader because Peirce put winning as a team above himself. Lebron could be likened to Peirce in the fact that he knows that his legacy is going to be tied to winning championships and thinks he is the greatest player in the NBA, but I doubt he is willing to make the same sacrifices as Pierce made to win. Lebron is only willing to win if he can win on his own terms and his terms do not include sacrificing his personal accolades in order to win a championship. Maybe he should ask Kobe how that worked out. Chris Bosh just cares about making All-Star teams, being on national television or more importantly being out of Toronto. So two-thirds of the "big three" are in Miami for the wrong reason - themselves. Bosh is there to get himself into the limelight and Lebron is there to make sure he doesn't go down as the greatest basketball player to never win a title.
This will be like the movie "Remember The Titans" when they didn't like each other. We all know the scene were Gerry Bertier approached Julius and ripped him a new one for playing selfish football and leaving his teammates behind and Julius responded by saying "You want me to wear myself out for the team? What team!!?” I can honestly imagine Wade having this conversation with both James and Bosh.
If 2/3 of the big three are out to get their own then there is no way that they are going to get role players to step up and bring their game to another level for the team. What team!!
If 2/3 of the "big three" are out to get their own then there is no way that the they are going to get role players to step up and bring their game to another level for the team. What team!!
This team reminds me more of the 2004 Lakers than the 2008 Celtics. That Lakers team didn't make it through training camp without Kobe pouting and sitting out the first game to prove a point. By the way nobody remembers what point he was trying to prove or even if he did prove one. I am going to give the Heat more credit and say that they will make it to Thanksgiving before their egos take over the team and they all want to kill each other and demand trades.Reason Number Five - No Depth
The 2008 Celtics had Sam Cassell, PJ Brown and James Posey still effective veterans who knew how to win. The 2004 Lakers had used up veterans who were ineffective like Horace Grant, Byron Russell, Rick Fox and Brian Shaw. The Celtics also had Rajon Rondo, Eddie House, Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe and Tony Allen to round out the roster. The Lakers outside of Malone, Gary Payton (who wasn't any better than Rondo), Kobe and Shaq had Devean George, Stanislav Medvedenko, Rick Fox, Derek Fisher and Kareem Rush.
Despite all of that the Lakers would have won the 2004 Championship despite having no team chemistry, Kobe reaching new levels of arrogance and selfishness, and the entire team on the verge of murdering each other, if Karl Malone wouldn't have gotten hurt. Since he did get hurt the Lakers had to start Stanislav Medvedenko at power forward and lost. Chris and Wade average a combined 25 missed games due to injuries a season and have never played a full season of basketball so expect similar results. The Heat will be lucky to be able to have a supporting cast as good as the 2004 Lakers and won't even come close to that 2008 Celtics teams or any of the Spurs teams that had their own version of the big three.
During this year’s NBA Finals it was the role players who decided the outcome of the Finals since the refs randomly picked one of the team’s star players to get in immediate foul trouble. It was Derek Fisher performance in Game 3, specifically in the 4th quarter that won that game. In Game 4 it was the disgusting but impressive play of Nate Robinson and the drooling idiot Big Baby that won that game. In Game 7 it was the stellar play of Ron Artest and the lack of Kendrick Perkins for the Celtics that decided the game.
The Miami Heat will have none of these things. Wade and James will struggle playing together and fail to establish a game plan that maximizes both of their talents or at least doesn't limit one of their games. A big reason for this will be because they lack the proper coach that it takes to win, until Pat Riley stabs Erik Spoelstra in the back and takes over. They will have either a lack of a leader or too many players trying to be leaders that the team won't establish an identity or any cohesiveness. There are too many separate agendas and egos on this team and only one ball for them to play like a championship team.
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