It's a party in South Beach! The Miami Heat are back-to-back NBA champions after their Game 7 win last night over the Spurs. To no one's surprise, LeBron James won Finals MVP after a 37 point, 12 rebound showing in Game 7 that came complete with the clutch jumpers he has worked so hard at. So let's look back at the Heat's season, the Finals (mostly games 6 and 7) and the legacies after an epic 2012-2013 NBA season.
If the 2013 Heat are not on the short list for NBA's all time great teams, they're on the slightly longer list. NBA history points to Jordan's '96 Bulls, Larry's '86 Celtics and Magic's '87 Lakers as probably the three greatest teams of all time. But can the '13 Heat join a conversation with the Shaq-Kobe 2000 or 2001 Lakers, the Moses Malone-led '82 Sixers and the Bad Boy Pistons two championship teams? Probably. The NBA is at its strongest right now since the early 90s and maybe ever. With almost ten first rate superstars in the league, LeBron's '13 Heat come as a product of his best season (so far). Combine James with a second star in Dwyane Wade and lethal three-point shooting, this Heat team could challenge any NBA squad that's considered to be all time great.
And how about that Finals? Has their ever been more different emotional swings over the course of seven games? Between talking heads pressing countless "panic buttons" for both teams, Danny Green being prematurely named Finals MVP, Wade and Manu Ginobli turning in nightly Jeckyll and Hyde performances, and insane second half runs, this was already a historical Finals. But Tony Parker's crazy shot in Game 1 aside, this wasn't exactly hyper-entertaining. Sure the great players made it seem like we were watching close games when in reality games 2-5 were in blowout territory. But everything changed in games 6 and 7.
You know you're left for dead when your own fans start filing out, the yellow rope is around the court and the Larry O'Brien trophy is sitting in a tunnel. That's how close we came to a Spurs fifth championship and litany of questions about LeBron's 1-3 Finals record and the future of Miami's Big Three. But then came a delicious little sequence called: LeBron 3-Kawhi miss-Bosh board-Allen 3 to send Game 6 into overtime, where a headband-less LeBron carried the Heat through to Game 7 and avoiding a dramatic-for-the-wrong-reasons-ending and the label of Greatest Regular Season Team To Not Win A Championship. All the crap Ray Allen got for joining the Heat was wiped away with one of the greatest shots ever by one of the greatest shooters ever. Can i get a Jesus Shuttlesworth chant?
And of course we remember Game 7, which ended about 24 hours ago. Two great, yet exhausted teams playing with more heart than skill in possibly the biggest NBA game since 1998. It wasn't pretty, few Game 7s are, but with an all time performance from LeBron and a great sideshow from Wade and Shane Battier, the Heat outlasted the Spurs 95-88 to send Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich to their first Finals defeat. In the end, the Heat had the best player in the world. And in the NBA, that's one hell of an advantage.
So what's next for our Finals participants? The Heat will likely look similar next year. It's hard not to retain a core after two straight championships. Allen and Birdman will likely return to South Beach, while the same cannot be said for Mike Miller. Miami's summer will be more relaxing than every other team's, with a Greg Oden signing as the main free agency storyline. The Spurs next year will be old once again, although that wasn't a problem this year. The most uncertainty revolves around Ginobli, who clearly cannot be counted on consistently. One thing that San Antonio learned from this tough defeat: Kawhi Leonard is a stud. The quietest Spur did not flinch in these NBA Finals. He was the Spurs most consistent player and absolutely has star potential. But let's finish on a hot note with the Heat.
Take one look at the championship shirts. WHITE HOT is the resounding message. Although the shirt may be referring to summer temperatures in Miami, I see WHITE HOT as a bragging team laying claim to the league's best player. A guy who, with every season, ventures more into the Jordan-Russell superstar pantheon than anyone since MJ himself. Take on look at LeBron holding his two trophies. Not only is it good to be WHITE HOT, but it looks damn refreshing.
Just because the season is over, doesn't mean we are. Stay posted for a mock draft later this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment