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Stars align and the sun shines on Miami Heat
Literally overnight, the Miami Heat became the most interesting, most famous, most envied, most targeted, most talented and most feared basketball team on the planet.
It would appear, by all indications and late-night reports stretching from ESPN to Newsday, that gangster Pat Riley has somehow landed LeBron James, too. Greedy and gluttonous and totally insatiable, he has reportedly persuaded three stars to align in sharing the ball, the stage, the glory and the championships.
Let that marinate. Any team in the league would have been thrilled to get either James or Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh for maximum millions. But Riley got all three of them for South Florida. And discounted.
Absurd. Flabbergasting. Insane. The other team in Florida might have Magic in its name, but Miami has it in its front office. You know how Heat owner Micky Arison likes to give his luxury liners epic names like Miracle, Conquest, Victory and Splendor? Now he gets to cruise on Champion-ship. All aboard! Enjoy the view and the throwing of confetti and the all-you-can-beat buffet.
And how about the King bowing? After building this breathtaking monument to ego, after piling me-me-me upon more me-me-me to build a mountain of hype that has no precedent in sports, and after preparing to plant his flag atop it with a dramatic flourish in a ridiculous made-for-TV moment on ESPN at 9 p.m. tonight, James then makes a decision that was unselfish and humbling?
This had to be so very hard for him. And brave. He has crushed his hometown of Akron, going from the most beloved person in Ohio's history to its most despised with just a few words and a signature. But he just told you that he values winning above all else. Above ego and glory and brand and money and commercials and hometown and fans and comfort and fame. It is an unprecedented decision being made by a reigning two-time Most Valuable Player in his prime.
And Wade didn't merely welcome it or embrace it upon arrival. He's the one who made the whole thing happen by recruiting for Riley, one of the world's best basketball players happily turned into a gopher to get around tampering charges and put this plan into place several weeks ago in a way Riley couldn't.
Wade's role in this can't be overstated. He already brought one title to Miami by doing all the heavy lifting, and now he just put down the foundation for many more. Wade was taking out student loans to pay for diapers as a broke college kid at Marquette, and Arison and Riley took him away from all that. He just repaid his debt by handing over a couple of winning lottery tickets.
Those who worry about how this kind of ego can share ought to remember that Wade wished and worked for this. He has a champion's confidence and a host's grace, so he isn't threatened by James' taking over his house; rather, he has put out the finest linens and washed the towels and asked him to please stay for a few championships. They've already agreed to share big things like the city, the spotlight, the stage and the money. How hard is it going to be to share something as small as the basketball?
It isn't as easy to rebuild teams as quickly as Riley makes it look again and again. Washington and Golden State and Atlanta and the Clippers have been irrelevant for decades, plural. But Riley is a 9 p.m. made-for-TV announcement away from building something that has no precedent in basketball's history. It would be the most perfect thing we've seen in South Florida sports since 1972, when the Dolphins went a season without losing. Riley invented the coach-as-runway-model with his Armani packaging, and copyrighted the Showtime Lakers, and now he'd somehow be creating something with more buzz and glitz than even the Heat team with Shaquille O'Neal that he coached to the title.
Worried about chemistry? That isn't much of an issue in this sport. Ron Artest never fit on the Lakers, chucking from outside with his power game, and all he did was win the last game played last season. The only champion Heat team was a herky-jerky mix that had teammates arguing on the court in the first round of the playoffs. Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were all The Man once, and it took them about three practices to learn how to share.
James, Wade and Bosh -- The Tri-nasty? The Beach Boyz? The Three Mi-egos? -- have figured out in their prime what it took Allen, Pierce and Garnett years of suffering to learn: It is easier to win with your legendary friend than it is to guard him.
Riley looks for inspiration in music and books, consulting generals and philosophers and poets, and he has an impressive library of persuasion he goes to in times of need. One of his most famous motivational speeches involved him dunking his manicured head into a big bucket of ice reserved for locker-room ankles. He was trying to show his players how much they should want winning, so he stayed under for an uncomfortable amount of time. Then, gasping, he came up and said they should want winning like they want that last breath.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote a poem about three wise men being guided by a beautiful, wonderful star.
It was called ``The Three Kings.''
Looks like they are bringing you their gifts, South Florida.
Enjoy the walk toward the light.
By Dan Le Batard
dlebatard@miamiherald.com
Full article on Miami Herald: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/08/1720934/stars-align-and-the-s...
It would appear, by all indications and late-night reports stretching from ESPN to Newsday, that gangster Pat Riley has somehow landed LeBron James, too. Greedy and gluttonous and totally insatiable, he has reportedly persuaded three stars to align in sharing the ball, the stage, the glory and the championships.
Let that marinate. Any team in the league would have been thrilled to get either James or Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh for maximum millions. But Riley got all three of them for South Florida. And discounted.
Absurd. Flabbergasting. Insane. The other team in Florida might have Magic in its name, but Miami has it in its front office. You know how Heat owner Micky Arison likes to give his luxury liners epic names like Miracle, Conquest, Victory and Splendor? Now he gets to cruise on Champion-ship. All aboard! Enjoy the view and the throwing of confetti and the all-you-can-beat buffet.
And how about the King bowing? After building this breathtaking monument to ego, after piling me-me-me upon more me-me-me to build a mountain of hype that has no precedent in sports, and after preparing to plant his flag atop it with a dramatic flourish in a ridiculous made-for-TV moment on ESPN at 9 p.m. tonight, James then makes a decision that was unselfish and humbling?
This had to be so very hard for him. And brave. He has crushed his hometown of Akron, going from the most beloved person in Ohio's history to its most despised with just a few words and a signature. But he just told you that he values winning above all else. Above ego and glory and brand and money and commercials and hometown and fans and comfort and fame. It is an unprecedented decision being made by a reigning two-time Most Valuable Player in his prime.
And Wade didn't merely welcome it or embrace it upon arrival. He's the one who made the whole thing happen by recruiting for Riley, one of the world's best basketball players happily turned into a gopher to get around tampering charges and put this plan into place several weeks ago in a way Riley couldn't.
Wade's role in this can't be overstated. He already brought one title to Miami by doing all the heavy lifting, and now he just put down the foundation for many more. Wade was taking out student loans to pay for diapers as a broke college kid at Marquette, and Arison and Riley took him away from all that. He just repaid his debt by handing over a couple of winning lottery tickets.
Those who worry about how this kind of ego can share ought to remember that Wade wished and worked for this. He has a champion's confidence and a host's grace, so he isn't threatened by James' taking over his house; rather, he has put out the finest linens and washed the towels and asked him to please stay for a few championships. They've already agreed to share big things like the city, the spotlight, the stage and the money. How hard is it going to be to share something as small as the basketball?
It isn't as easy to rebuild teams as quickly as Riley makes it look again and again. Washington and Golden State and Atlanta and the Clippers have been irrelevant for decades, plural. But Riley is a 9 p.m. made-for-TV announcement away from building something that has no precedent in basketball's history. It would be the most perfect thing we've seen in South Florida sports since 1972, when the Dolphins went a season without losing. Riley invented the coach-as-runway-model with his Armani packaging, and copyrighted the Showtime Lakers, and now he'd somehow be creating something with more buzz and glitz than even the Heat team with Shaquille O'Neal that he coached to the title.
Worried about chemistry? That isn't much of an issue in this sport. Ron Artest never fit on the Lakers, chucking from outside with his power game, and all he did was win the last game played last season. The only champion Heat team was a herky-jerky mix that had teammates arguing on the court in the first round of the playoffs. Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were all The Man once, and it took them about three practices to learn how to share.
James, Wade and Bosh -- The Tri-nasty? The Beach Boyz? The Three Mi-egos? -- have figured out in their prime what it took Allen, Pierce and Garnett years of suffering to learn: It is easier to win with your legendary friend than it is to guard him.
Riley looks for inspiration in music and books, consulting generals and philosophers and poets, and he has an impressive library of persuasion he goes to in times of need. One of his most famous motivational speeches involved him dunking his manicured head into a big bucket of ice reserved for locker-room ankles. He was trying to show his players how much they should want winning, so he stayed under for an uncomfortable amount of time. Then, gasping, he came up and said they should want winning like they want that last breath.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote a poem about three wise men being guided by a beautiful, wonderful star.
It was called ``The Three Kings.''
Looks like they are bringing you their gifts, South Florida.
Enjoy the walk toward the light.
By Dan Le Batard
dlebatard@miamiherald.com
Full article on Miami Herald: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/08/1720934/stars-align-and-the-s...
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Permalink Reply by Alex (MUL) on
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You were saying? LeBron text me this morning and told me what's up. ;)
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