Miami Niiice: Year One

MIAMI NIIICE:

YEAR ONE

The makings of what became the Miami Heat’s version of a big three whom I like to call the Miami NIIIce started a year before the moves happened. The whole year teams dumped cap space, traded and waived players, sign free agents, and geared up to enter the Lebron James sweepstakes. We all know how it went down but 3 things made this transition happen which were the success of the Boston Celtics with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen Joining Paul Pierce, The success of the Lakers after getting Pau Gasol, and the free agency on the horizon of both Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard. Pat Riley and Alonzo Mourning knew they had to hold their spot down. The Heat before the big three already was a championship team having one in the 05-06 season. D Wade as a rookie had made the Heat competitive at a time when Lebron James hype was running wild over the league and Bosh also played well under the radar in Toronto becoming an All-star and playing for gold medals. Lebron James was becoming one with his legend in Cleveland but lacked the help to get him over the hump, which is arguable to me.

Before Lebron brought his hype, Wade had seen his share of overexposure. Wade first experienced the light when Shaq was traded in a highly publicized trade involving the Lakers and Heat. That trade came after a lost in the finals, a bitter feud with management and it’s choice for face of the team, some guy named  Kobe Bryant. Wade also played with players humbling down from overgrown ego’s now playing the on their last legs of basketball to win a championship. The whole mix turned into a great and memorable run and catapulted Wade to superstar status. After a few slumping seasons and the 3 factors I mentioned earlier, the Heat knew they had to move.

When the move went down it seemed like the whole world would end. Skeptics yelled Lebron was chasing a ring, Legends said he can never say he was the man on the team, and Cleveland burned baby burned. As for me, I didn't dread it so much but I did say goodbye to the days of the killer assassin and understood the new era of competing super friends. Imagine the Justice League fighting the Avengers or Teen Titans versus The fantastic four. I miss the killer assassin days that produced stars like Jordan, Shaq, Reggie Miller, and others. I do understand the game is a lot younger but to me that makes for bad basketball that leads teams to need and overpay for veteran talent. The Heat did neither filling their team out with playable savvy veterans that wouldn't just be stiffs on the bench. 

The most over hyped off season ever led to a kind of strange thing, Miami started of horrible and looked like the pressure was getting to them. Every critic looked right when they called this a bad title chasing move, but eventually Miami steadied the buffs and rolled through the playoffs. The team to powerful to handle had yet to reach their potential and when they ran into the Dallas Mavericks, the Mavs showed it was their time and not the Miami Heat. The Heat had the talent and experience, but the new age era and death of the killer assassins ensured a league of players who sometimes mentally don't deliver in times of pressure. The Mavs weren't better than the Heat but they were more championship ready, having been disappointed so many times and after long careers, those players felt they might never have a shot like this again and that Lebron James wouldn't be enough to stop them from getting that championship. That isn't talent that is mindset and that type of now or never mindset is needed in the nba finals. Going into their second season the Heat faced a lock out but they finally had a chance to have both an off-season together and a long time to heal. When the season came close the Heat chomped at the bits and prepared to run wild.