Not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven and hey I’m not just up here blowing smoke at none of these fans … I’m about business and we believe we can win multiple championships….
(Heat’s welcome party for LeBron, YouTube, July 10, 2010)
I was among those who ridiculed LeBron James after he failed to deliver the Miami Heat a championship in his first season three years ago. After all, this was hardly an auspicious start to the run of seven or more championships he so famously promised.
Now, though, he has delivered two-consecutive championships. Moreover, in doing so, he has demonstrated such innervating and enabling leadership (on and off the court) that even I am beginning to believe he might deliver, well, not five, not six, not seven, but maybe three or four.
Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs looked so formidable sweeping the Memphis Grizzles to make this NBA Finals that I was moved to make this blasphemous prediction:
LeBron James, the league’s current MVP, is leading his team, the Miami Heat, in a do-or-die series against the Indiana Pacers for the sacrificial honor of facing the indomitable San Antonio Spurs in this year’s NBA Finals.
But even if he were to lead them pass Indiana and San Antonio, LeBron would be rewarded with only his second ring. Which means that he would have to win at least three more (perhaps even in three-peat fashion) to be a serious contender in these apples2oranges comparisons [with Jordan, Magic, Bird, Russell as the greatest players of all time].
(“Coach Phil Jackson on Michael vs. Kobe,” The iPINIONS Journal, May 30, 2013)
So, in the grand scheme of NBA greats, LeBron clearly has a way to go. For now, though, here’s to him and his Miami Heat for defeating (the perennially underrated) Tim Duncan and his San Antonio Spurs in what might go down in history as the best seven-game finals ever.
Certainly, game six of this series will go down as the most thrilling ever: not least because, having dominated the entire game and leading by 6 points with only 20 seconds to go, the Spurs seemed so assured of victory that Heat fans were already coming out of their American Airlines Arena like cicadas coming out of their 17-year hibernation. (And I imagine those watching at home were already changing the channel or turning off their TV sets in disgust.)
Yet, before you knew it, two spectacular three pointers from LeBron and Ray Allen forced the game into overtime, which the Heat went on to win 103-100, setting up last night’s crowning game seven.
So, frankly, all that’s left to say is that the Heat really deserve better fans.
The street celebration erupted in the closing seconds of the Heat’s 95-88 win over the San Antonio Spurs. It was a winner-takes-all final game that brought fans streaming into the area around the American Airlines Arena to exchange high-fives, blow whistles and scream themselves hoarse.
(Associated Press, June 21, 2013)
Boy, with fans like these…. Obviously, when it comes to Miami, “fair weather” refers to more than the climate.
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