The Miami Heat have been cast in the role of super-villains all season and have reveled in it. Playing on the road, to packed houses of jeering opposition fans, they compiled the NBA’s best road record, developing scowls and an f-the-world attitude along the way.
But, is their villain tag really justified?
Lebron has been admonished plenty for ‘The Decision’, but he did give the money to charity after all and the free agency stir he created is often credited as the reason behind the surge in interest in the NBA this season.
So should we stop hating the Miami Heat? Absolutely not.
And here are the reasons why you should continue to hate the Heat and cheer for absolutely anyone else winning the NBA title.
They’re still a Ghidorah. What’s a Ghidorah?
A three-headed monster, as HoopData showed in their breakdown of Game 4, the Heat rely almost exclusively on Lebron, Wade and Bosh to generate offense.
This defies rule number one for team basketball that you need to involve all five guys on the court, in order to win.
They still don’t play together effectively.
If you like team-first basketball, then you have to hate that the Heat’s best players are still better as individuals than they are as a team.
Through the Heat’s first eight playoff games, when Bosh, Wade and James were on the floor together, they were only even with the opposition.
When, at least one of them was out of the game, Miami out-scored its opponents by 41 points, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
They travel… a lot.
Did you seen Lebron’s travel to make the Heat’s final basket in regulation in Game 4 against the Celtics?
See the video and breakdown here.
Apparently all three referees either swallowed their whistles or blacked out, at the exact same moment.
What annoys me most about these guys travelling, is that I know I would never get away with that move in my D-grade men’s league.
These guys are already blessed with amazing athleticism, strength, and size. I have to play by the rules, then why can’t they?
All the other teams are likable.
Chicago have Joakim Noah, but don’t hold that against them, you have to love their defensive intensity and Rose may be the most likable superstar going around.
If he isn’t, then maybe Durant is and who doesn’t admire the unlikely story of the Thunder’s Serge Ibaka, growing up in the war-torn Congo.
The Mavs are full of wily old vets and a history of bad luck that makes you think ‘wouldn’t it be nice if they finally won’.
Then, there are the Grizzlies, a hard-working and gritty team that you can’t help but admire.
They’re bullies.
Lebron, possibly the best player in the league, joined Wade, possibly the second-best player in the league, in order to win a title because it was too hard to do it on his own.
When the best and the second-best player join teams in the schoolyard it’s usually because they’re trying to be bullies.
The longer the Heat are frustrated in their goal to win a title, the more the pressure will mount and the more fun it will be to watch the bullies lose.
It’s fun to have a villain.
These guys are the best villains since the Bad Boy Pistons. Everyone is rooting against them.
The Celtics and the Lakers split the haters but everyone can get behind hating the Heat. Let us all be united in our hatred against these super-villains. And admire their basketball while we’re at it too.
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