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| Look at that face. :) |
It's about damn time.
After nine long and painful years, LeBron James can finally call himself a 'champion'. The coronation of the self-proclaimed King couldn't have been more theatrical. In 44 minutes, he had 26 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds; a rare triple-double feat. It was a total team effort for Miami Heat, of course, as they drained 14 three-pointers (half of which came courtesy of Mike Miller) and just dominated the entire game in every way possible.
It is personally hard to write about the triumphs and jubilations of a man I have come to despise ever since publicly ditching the team that drafted him, in the worst way possible: a planned nationally televised special event. With The Decision, LeBron instantly became the most hated player and the Miami Heat the most detestable NBA team. The Decision was a terrible idea. I hated him even more with 'not 5.. not 6.. not 7..'. Although there is no denying of LeBron's talent, that move tarnished his image and left a sour taste in the mouth of many basketball fans, including me. I’m not even a Cleveland fan, either. God only knows how they felt. So it was especially entertaining to see Miami Heat lose the 2011 NBA championship to the Dallas Mavericks and LeBron James choking on top of it. It was like Christmas in June.
Arming themselves with the humiliation of last year's failed Finals run, the Miami Heat came blaring into the new (shortened) season with invigorated hearts and a whole new mindset. LeBron was dropping insane, jaw-dropping figures. However we may question his loyalty, there was one thing about LeBron James even the haters cannot doubt: his enormous talent. Dwayne Wade proved to be indispensable and played an optimal role. Chris Bosh, despite nagging injury, has stepped up as Heat's go-to big man, occasionally playing off-position. Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers also joined in the party to add additional offensive and defensive cover for the team. Despite James being the center of the hoopla, it became apparent that the Heat were playing team basketball. Hell, even Mike Miller showed up when it mattered the most! There is also the matter of guidance from coach Erik Spoelstra, who is quick to come up with crucial in-game adjustments in rotation, defense and offense.
Which brings me to the important lesson the last two NBA seasons has taught me: No matter how stacked your team is, if you don’t buck up and become a disciplined player, you don’t win. (I'm looking at you, Andrew Bynum!) Talent alone doesn’t win championships (Kobe Bryant), you have to have a competent supporting cast (MWP and the rest of the Lakers bench) and be totally focused on doing what it takes to win instead of being focused on not getting blamed for losses (Pau Gasol). James corrected his errors this year and his supporting cast stepped up way more than expected. Something the Lakers has extremely lacked for the last two seasons. (Just felt the need to throw some Lakers references in there.)
That being said, I congratulate LeBron James and the Miami Heat (plus all their fans) for winning this year's title. We can all say we were witnesses to another historical NBA and sports moment. LeBron had one of the best playoffs run ever by any player: 11 double doubles, multiple triple doubles, big games, clutch moments and he capped it all off with a championship victory. And although I would probably never like him, it is but proper to recognize LeBron's tremendous talent and ability as a basketball player (and I heard he's a nice fellow as well). I also particularly liked the LeBron James I heard on the post-game press conference today, saying how all the past issues and harsh scrutinies have humbled him as a person.
Congratulations are in order for the Oklahoma City Thunder, too. They are such a young team, but already showing great talents in their roster. Suffice to say that we are going to see more of them in the coming years. It's always exciting and entertaining when new rivalries are born in the league.
It has been yet again another exciting basketball season for the NBA. Forget that flopping was an all-time high this year or that referees were simply awful with their calls (and non-calls). In the end, they only add spice to the already colorful and beautiful world of the sport we all come to love.
(Meet the kid that inspired the title for this post HERE.)
