What is wrong with Lebron James and the Miami Heat?
I see a lot of people blaming Lebron James for the Heat’s struggles; I see a lot of people blaming Dwayne Wade too. And the rest (and apparently Wade too) are blaming Coach Spoelstra for their troubles. So, who is to blame and what is wrong with this team? I blame Lebron, Wade, and Bosh for thinking this little experiment would work out. Their salaries increase every single year, and subsequently leave the Heat with little room for cap space flexibility. When 3 players that demand big bucks join forces you are going to be left with pretty average role players and a thin bench. That is just part of it.
The Heat should be glad they could convince quality guys like Mike Miller and Shane Battier to sign on at below market value. When guys take the easy way out, how often does it really end up working? Did you see Jordan call up Malone or Barkley and ask if they wanted to join forces to dominate the league? No. He wanted to prove he was better than every single last one of those guys. When Malone and Payton decided they wanted to join LA back in ’04 (at the expense of any bench whatsoever), how did that work out for those guys?
The reason the Heat joined together in the first place (because they were just nice guys wanting to win titles together), is the same reason this team is ill-prepared to win a championship. Most players that develop into champions start off losing and ultimately decide they are going to become the best in order to beat the best. I’ve never heard one NBA champion ultimately decide he wanted to join the guys he cannot beat. Nice guys don’t usually win the title in the NBA. The most ruthless guys in the league that want to win above all end up with all of the rings. Just ask Kobe, Jordan, Bird, Shaq, Garnett, Pierce, and Duncan.
So you guys can keep blaming Wade (a guy Lebron should have known was going to get old quick), Bosh (a guy that could’ve easily been replaced with 2 quality big men), and Coach Spoelstra (the last person to blame in my opinion) all you want. The real person to blame is all three of those guys. They should be blamed for thinking they could simply sign-up together and that would be good enough for multiple titles. They should be blamed for not having the foresight to see this thing through.
Even with Bosh, this team was not about to win it all, because the Spurs and OKC are much better all-around teams with deeper benches. You don’t see Durant and Duncan trying to get players to come to their teams. Those guys trusted good management to bring quality pieces to surround them. They built chemistry instead of trying to force it. They let their coaches coach instead of trying to coach their coaches (see Lebron and Wade both disrespecting their coach on YouTube). In the end, the smart and ruthless guys that want to win will always beat the scared and spineless guys who are out there just trying not to lose. Maybe next year Lebron… but I seriously doubt it. Regardless, we are all here to WITNESS, and it seems like that is what bothers you most.
By Rance Young
Follow Me on Twitter @behindthebets
