It probably goes without saying that I will talk about the moment when Dallas led Miami by eight points with about four minutes left in Game 6. That sequence rages in my mind. And the thing is, I don't know exactly how I feel about it. I know how I SHOULD feel about it. I know how I WANT to feel about it. But ...
... it's just a bit more complicated than I expected, I guess.
You already know that Dallas beat Miami in six games in the NBA Finals. And, if you care about such things, you already know that this makes me happy. Dallas played an amazing series. Dirk Nowitzki is such an amazing player -- unstoppable. Jason Terry was remarkable, especially in the last two games. JJ Barea, well, what's really left to say? If you ever had a vivid and horrible nightmare about losing a basketball game, Barea was the guy making the winning shot. But this particular post is not about Dallas. It is about Miami. It is about LeBron.
With Dallas up eight points in the decisive Game 6, Miami needed a hero ... was holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night ... he's gotta be strong ... he's gotta be fast ... well, you know the song. The Heat played thoroughly uninspired basketball all night, precisely the opposite of what you might have expected from a supremely talented team on the brink of elimination. Well, it wasn't ALL uninspired, I suppose. In the first quarter LeBron James came out as if ready to prove his point, scored nine in the first four minutes, and Miami built up a lead. But that was about it. The lead vanished quickly and, from Dallas' standpoint, easily. Then the Mavericks built a 12-point lead in the second quarter and squandered it only because Dirk Nowitzki, for seemingly the first time in months, couldn't make a shot.
Dallas held the lead basically the whole third quarter, pushing it to nine on a jumper by Ian Mahinmi at the buzzer. The Mavericks played good basketball. But, no mistaking it: Miami played with a faint heartbeat.
And in the fourth quarter, Miami's players seemed lifeless. The crowd seemed lifeless. The game seemed lifeless. This thrilling series seemed about to end with a spiritless thud. The entire "Taking My Talents To South Beach" experience -- when LeBron James decided to chill with a couple of friends down in Miami and win a nice easy championship -- all of a sudden seemed as sturdy as Papier-mache and as innovative as those Zune iPod knockoffs. Someone on Miami had to grab this thing, unleash some fury, make the game ALIVE again. Fortunately for Miami, the Heat happens to have two of the best basketball players on planet earth. At times, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are THE two best basketball players on earth.
Wade, though, couldn't do it this time. This just wasn't his night. He has grabbed these moments many times through the years -- heck IN THIS SERIES he has grabbed these moments so many times -- but on this night he dribbled the ball off his foot, he missed all of his three-point jump shots, he just did not have it.
And so ... it was to be LeBron. It had to be LeBron.
That's why the sequence with four minutes left will stay with me for a long time. Miami needed a basket of course -- being down eight with four minutes left is not life-threatening in the NBA, as we have seen time and again, but it is not ideal either. Anyway as much as the points, Miami needed a changing moment. LeBron James is breathtakingly good at making such moments.
Here's what LeBron James did instead: he stood outside the arc about 25 feet away from the basket. He did not move. And the two times the ball was passed to him, he passed it away instantly ... as if playing hot-potato.
There was absolutely no other explanation that made any sense: LeBron James did not want the basketball.
I honestly could not believe what I was seeing. Maybe I should have expected it. Maybe I should have seen it coming. After all, I had seen LeBron James quit during the final minutes of his Cleveland career when the Cavaliers lost to Boston in the playoffs. I had heard him tell Cleveland fans that they expected too much of him. I had seen him take what looked like the easiest road to a championship when he signed on with Wade and Chris Bosh down in Miami. I had seen the disappearing acts he'd been pulling in the fourth quarters of this NBA Finals. Heck, throughout this game he seemed only moderately engaged. Still ... I did not see this coming.
"Why isn't he moving?" I shouted at he screen.
"Did you see how quickly he passed the ball away?" I shouted when the ball came around to him the first time.
"Oh no, he doesn't want it," I shouted the second the time the ball came around to him.
It was mind-blowing. LeBron James is almost 27 years old, and he has been a mega-monster-superstar in the NBA for eight years, and he proudly calls himself King, and he has played in so many big games, and he has had so many big moments, and here he was running away from this moment as fast as he could. He passed the ball away twice, fast as he could, then Mario Chalmers was left to turn over the ball. Nowitzki made a jumper. Dallas led by 10. And the game was over.
This should have made me very happy. After all, I spent the entire NBA season rooting against LeBron James and the Miami Heat. I rooted against the Heat with a joyous zeal. People often asked me why -- some lectured me about it. That's OK. I'm sure I can put the reasons into words if necessary. I rooted against the Heat because I was ticked off at LeBron for quitting on the Cavaliers at the end of last season. I rooted against the Heat because I was ticked off at LeBron for making a mockery of Cleveland and how much the fans there loved him. I rooted against the Heat because something about three buddies deciding to get together in an exotic locale and dominate the NBA seemed like a plot for a bad James Bond movie. I rooted against the Heat because I do not like anyone cutting in line. But the truth is, it didn't come down to reasons or words. I rooted against the Heat because it was fun. I've not really despised a team in a long, long time.
But in despising the Heat, I came to admire them too. That's how it can go with Sports Hate (what I have come to call Clemenate). I truly believe that in a weird way I admired John Elway more than any of his biggest fans because I watched him gut my teams again and again and again. When the Heat played well, damn, they were breathtaking. They were like the Globetrotters in real time. To watch the Heat dismantle and discombobulate the Celtics in the fourth quarter ... to see the Heat turn the Bulls inside out ... to see the Heat transform every turnover in to a dunk and every loose pass into a turnover ... to watch James take over games at will on both ends of the floor ... to watch Wade slip over and under and around and through defenders like Gale Sayers on a punt return ... to watch Bosh make that soft and sweet jumper whenever needed ... oh, yes, they could be so good.
And so, while I should have been happy when the Mavericks put away the game, while I should have been happy when the Heat went down at home in Game 6 with barely a whimper, while I should have been happy when LeBron James batted away the ball in the moment not unlike Yosemite Sam trying to give away the stick of dynamite, well, the truth is I had mixed feelings. I actually felt kind of felt cheated. You know that scene in "A League Of Their Own," when Dottie says: "It just got too hard, you know?"
That's what I think happened to LeBron James. I don't know that. I can't know that. The only person on earth who can really know for sure is LeBron James. But it sure looked that way. The Heat, with James playing the lead role, had exemplified arrogance and glamour and talent and brilliance. They mocked the doubters. They bragged that with their talent this season was either championship or failure. They told us so. But in Game 6, with the game getting away, with Dallas' team of 30-somethings who had never won championships tasting blood, with the minds of their home crowd apparently off to the next thing (and on South Beach, there's always a next thing) well, it just got too hard, you know?
And Lebron James refused to even catch the ball much less take on the moment ...
And the Heat faded away ...
In a weird way, that fading away kind of tempered my joy. It even made me a little sad. Oh, sure, I'm glad Dallas won. I'm glad Miami lost. I'm glad Dirk Nowitzki won a championship -- he's one of the great players in NBA history. And I'm glad that The Decision Season did not end with LeBron James holding a trophy above his head. That would have been a tough one to take.
But, the way it ended made me feel like the whole season of rooting against Miami was kind of pointless. Sure, the Heat came close. Sure, the Heat overwhelmed teams at times. Sure the Heat got to the brink of the most brazen championship in recent memory. But, then it got too hard. After the game, Chris Bosh offered that most cliche of concessions: "They wanted it more than we did." But in this case, those words carried with them a little shock value. Really? They wanted it more? As a friend says: "Then what was the point of any of this?"
The way it ended make me feel like this Miami Heat team, with LeBron James playing the lead, wasn't really good enough to be worth my disdain.
This puts what I'm feeling in to words perfectly. I wanted so bad to hate Miami, but I was at least expecting some sort of effort. I'm not even an NBA fan.
ReplyDeleteSome like it hot and some sweat when the heat is on.
ReplyDeleteHas any superstar athlete fallen farther than Lebron James? The closest comparisons I can think of are Brett Favre and Tiger Woods... but an athlete, in his prime, with no injuries, seemingly all the talent in the world... visibly shrinking in a game of vital importance, appearing too afraid to even try... I've never seen anything like it.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't just LeBron. The whole team seemed clueless. They just didn't know what to do. Did you hear what their coach was telling them during a timeout? He said they had to play with mental stability. What the hell does that mean? Can you imagine Pat Riley or Phil Jackson telling that to one of their teams in the fourth quarter of a title game? No. He'd be screaming at them to attack the basket with Nowitzki and Chandler in foul trouble. He'd be designing plays to get Bosh open in the middle. He'd be yelling at them to acquire some balls. Did Miami even call a time out in the last four minutes? It wasn't just LeBron.
ReplyDeleteAbout 98 percent off topic . . .
ReplyDeleteAnyone wanting a football fix should check out Queensland v New South Wales, rugby league, to be played in Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday night at 8pm local time — converts to 6am Wednesday, New York time.
Apparently this year it's being broadcast live to the US for the first time. No idea what channel.
This is the pinnacle of rugby league; bigger than international matches, bigger than their World Cup.
Each year they play a three-match series; this is match 2 of this year's series; Queensland won game 1.
Rugby league is the most simple form of oval-ball football on the planet; shouldn't take more than ten minutes for a viewer to pick up the rules.
What you'll see in this game is two teams belting the snot out of each other in a high-paced game. There'll be plenty of blood, two or three, maybe more, concussions, a serious injury or two, a handful of minor skirmishes and probably an all-in brawl. These guys will do anything short of murder the opposition to win.
Nobody, absolutely nobody, will quit. In game 1, f'rinstance, Willie Tonga of Queensland partially dislocated his shoulder in the 17th minute, refused to come off and saw out the complete game. His season is now over as the 63 minutes he played with the dodgy shoulder pretty much ruined it.
Great fun and fascinating viewing.
NOTE: do not confuse this brand of rugby with rugby union; the sort played in Invictus. This one is way better . . . like baseball compared with softball.
— Graphite
Great take, Joe. But I think you, along with nearly everyone else, is giving Wade way too much of a pass. He missed shots. He dribbled balls off his foot. He missed key free throws and turned the ball over in do-or-die game-ending possessions. He scored about 8 total points in the Bulls series. Plus, he was the one mocking Dirk's illness and then, like a six-year-old, having the gall to deny that he did what was clearly on a videotape.
ReplyDeleteI think this reference will skew way too young for the audience here, but it strikes me that Wade and Lebron are like Tony and Sid from the U.K. version of Skins. Wade drags Lebron into all sorts of trouble he doesn't need ("Hey, come play in Miami! Let's throw a championship parade in July! Let's make fun of Dirk having a cold!"), and Lebron takes the heat (no pun intended) for everything while Golden Boy Wade skates by with a "He does everything right but couldn't do it himself."
Gil, you had me at "hello" with this rugby business.
ReplyDeleteOh, what's that? You didn't say "hello"?
That sequence at the end bothered me as well. That was, without a doubt, the most pathetic crunch time possession I have ever seen. At least twice, if not more, a player had a wide open look and passed the ball instead. It's as though no one wanted to be the guy to miss a shot there, and then it ends with a ball trickling off of Wade's legs (IIRC). That was just sad.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mr. Redeye above. For the last 3 games, maybe more I don't remember, LeBron would bring the ball up court, dish it off to someone on the wing, and then head off to the side and stand out beyond the 3 point line. That's all he did. It was as if he was Derek Fisher or somebody like that, waiting for some playmaker to kick the ball out to him for an open three. That's great for Derek Fisher or Robert Horry or any of those clutch post-season 3pt shooters, but it's not great for the consensus best player in the world.
ReplyDeleteSpoelstra sucked this series. I think it was clear that LeBron was getting passive in the 4th quarter of the last few games, but every time LeBron got the ball, it seemed that it was up to him to drive to the basket to make something happen. Is that a play? Did Spoelstra draw it up like that? "LeBron, when you get the ball 25 feet from the basket, just do whatever you feel like. Don't worry about that quadruple-team the Mavs will throw at you, or the 7-footer the Mavs have waiting for you under the basket."
You'd think Spoelstra would have drawn up some specific plays - screens, pick and rolls, double screens - I don't know, anything, to try and get LeBron open. Instead, it just seemed like they were hoping LeBron would do something on his own. Clearly, that's not LeBron's strength. So in essence, Spoelstra played right into LeBron's weakness.
LeBron James's performance should end, once and for all, any comparisons with Michael Jordan. How many times, with the Bulls down by eight with four minutes to go in the fourth quarter, playoffs or no playoffs, flu or no flu, did Michael take the ball and ram it down his opponents' throats? The whole arena knew what was going to happen. Michael was going to get the ball and score - outside, inside - it just didn't matter. Michael could be quintuple-teamed, but he still was going to score, and the Bulls were going to win.
ReplyDeleteWe talk all the time about athletic ability. But there's a huge mental component to playing sports. Attitude, focus, lots of things. James doesn't have it. Never has, never will. When it's easy? Sure, he can score and do amazing things with the basketball. But not when it's hard.
The news about Clarence Clemons, who suffered a stroke last night, was the only thing that held me back from unabashed joy. I went to ESPNCleveland.com, ohio.com, cleveland.com, just trying to get a reaction -- every one of them had the Indians losing as their lead story (though ten minutes later, Cleveland.com posted a link with the perfect headline -- "Dallas Mavericks take their talents to South Beach, leave with NBA championship, 105-95").
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect, Joe (and you get tons of my respect as I have rarely found someone who mimics my thoughts and feelings so closely. Are you sure we aren't related?) I think you are taking the easy way out in your feelings. I don't think the let down is about the playoffs at all but instead has to do with a non-hater trying to be a hater. LeBron deserves scorn, I agree, but Joe, you are no hateful person and spending an entire year hating LeBron and all he stands for has, well, been a let down now that the Heat lost and lost in basically the same way that LeBron's Cavs teams lost the last few years -- without a fight.
ReplyDeleteThis was a truly cathartic experience. Like when that punk kid cuts in line and gets called out for it then sent to the back of the line. As Dan Gilbert put it, there are no shortcuts. It couldn't have ended any better. A win in South Beach and talent brought to the area in the form of a beastly German. I hope the King of Irony never gets his ring.
ReplyDeleteAll the talk of the Heat saying that they'll be back in the Finals next season reminds me of another Miami team that went to the Championship in the 1st season with a Superstar, only to never return: the Dolphins with Dan Marino.
ReplyDeleteI hope the Bulls, Hawks, or other Up and Coming East teams keep the Heat away from the Finals until LeBronRon is long gone.
While I agree with Joe's take on Lebron James performance in game 6 last night, I disagree with the take on Miami's previous brilliance. The Bulls-Heat series was not that much different from the Heat-Mavericks series. The Mavericks forced the Heat to play from behind, which exposed their tendency to quit playing as a team, and the Mavericks got major unexpected contributions from a few veterans. If the Bulls, young and playoff inexperienced as they are, had gotten just a few key shots out of a Korver or other veteran off the bench, they would have pushed the Heat further, if not outright beat them. When the Heat are playing at full tilt, they are an intimidating defensive team. But after 82 games and a long playoff run, they still have not figured out how to play half court offense, especially under pressure.
ReplyDeleteI have a less complicated view than Joe. I hated Miami all year. Now the year is ended. So I feel a little flat. Happy with the result but it's finished - until next season.
ReplyDeleteI would really like more focus on how well the Mavs & Dirk played and less on Miami.
ReplyDeleteIf anything, this shows the NBA statheads why Rose was a real MVP, and Lebron was not.
ReplyDeleteJason Kidd has a title. Everything would be right in the world of the NBA, if only Grant Hill could win one, too.
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ReplyDeleteFor all the talk about Dirk, I too am most happy for Kidd, who is on my list of best players that had never won a title.
ReplyDeleteThis series turned in game 2, when the Heat started celebrating after a mid 4th quarter basket and then just quit playing-and lost.
When the going got tough, the Mavs found another gear, while the Heat in general, and Lebron in particular, folded.
Congrats to the Mavericks!
I agree with @Eric Cox (and not at all meant to criticize this post in particular - there is much to explore re: James and the difference in his O and D between the East Finals and this series, and Joe was explicit that this was the intent of the post) - too much talk about how the Heat lost, and not enough about how Dallas won. It reminds me of when Detroit beat the Shaq/Kobe/Malone/Payton Lakers - the stories were all about how the Lakers lost, but in truth, Detroit won handily because they were the better team, and thereafter they had an extended run atop the NBA before aging.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure the Mavs will enjoy such a long run given the age of key pieces (especially Kidd), but for this series at least, the Mavs won because they were the better team. This was evident all playoffs, but even when they swept the Lakers, people talked about how the Lakers lost rather than how impressive the Mavs looked. This was a very good basketball team. And I'm not a Mavs fan by any stretch.
Yeah, the Mavs were the better team, but everyone's talking about Miami losing because they were the story of the year. LeBron's silly show, dissing Cleveland, the outraged reaction from Cavs fans, LeBron joining Bosh and Wade to win a title, it was all designed so they could just walk to a title. And it didn't happen, so the reasons it didn't happen became the story. With the talent they had, they should have run the Mavs off the court, but their coaches couldn't design a system to take advantage of that talent and the talent couldn't find the guts for a one-man performance. That was the story.
ReplyDeleteIt's very sad. I don't hate LBJ because unlike everyone else, I prefer to enjoy once in a lifetime talents. But there is no defending what he did, if he really refused to even touch the ball at the end. Still though, I'm not going to hate him for it.
ReplyDeleteAnd my gut tells me next year the Heat win 65+.
Well said Joe. And as a fellow Cleveland fan...Browns moreso than Cavs, LeBron proved to be the same gutless wonder passing the ball off that he was when he ran out of Ohio to announce he was leaving. Truly pathetic.
ReplyDeleteI believe LeBron has some issues that we are only seeing when the pressure is turned up and things aren't going well. He almost wants to back off so as to not be seen as the reason for poor play - but by backing off, the poor play is assured. We saw this last year when he was tiring of caring the heavy load in Cleveland for sure. Even that sore right elbow deal during the playoffs last season seemed fishy to me. One minute he'd be gripping his elbow like it was painful and then he'd shoot a 24' jumper as if it was no problem.
ReplyDeleteHe seems like someone who loves the limelight when he's playing strong and moving up the ladder of success. Now that he thinks he's reached a pinnacle he's not so sure if he has what it takes to prove that he belongs.
Joe, I think your description of the Heat at their best ("When the Heat played well, damn, they were breathtaking. They were like the Globetrotters in real time.") is uncharacteristically lazy. Miami earned the No. 2 seed in the East and home-court in the Finals through the league's third-best DEFENSE, and that only got better through the Eastern playoffs. Beyond James and Wade finally getting small sample sizes on their side, through the 3-point shooting that clinched series vs. Boston and Chicago, the Heat won because -- especially with the ridiculous athleticism present in the Miller/James/Wade/Bosh/Haslem crunch time lineup employed vs. the Bulls -- opponents just couldn't score. Yes, the Heat will always have tremendous dunks simply by having James and Wade on their roster, but during the stretch when they appeared unbeatable, it was because their defense was almost impenetrable. Implying the Heat are just a bunch of high-flyers speaks a lot more to our constructed image of the Heat than it does to anything that actually happened on the floor.
ReplyDeleteLebron = C-Webb, Western finals, 2002. He will *never* want that shot unless there's major changes in his personality.
ReplyDeleteYeah, LeBron's just like C-Webb, except for the part about being the best player in basketball three years running and not only wanting -- but also making -- "that shot" in the very situation (conference finals) that you describe. If you can really assess LeBron's personality from watching him play basketball on TV, you have very marketable skills and should be doing more important things than commenting on a sports blog.
ReplyDeleteI mostly prefer to enjoy once in a lifetime talents!
ReplyDeleteMiami Ram
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ReplyDeleteReally Valuable information and Nice Blog.
ReplyDeleteKia Weston
I would really like more focus on how well the Mavs & Dirk played and less on Miami
ReplyDeleteMiami Mitsubishi Dealer