“I’ve decided to take my talents to South Beach.”
Remember this famous quote by the man who was supposed to elevate the Miami Heat to automatic perennial title contenders? That’s right, you guessed it. As LeBron James sat in his chair and announced his plans for the upcoming season in front of millions of viewers on “The Decision,” we already had the Heat in line for the single season wins record and a spot in the NBA Finals.
Not so fast.
The Heat have already lost six of their first 14 games and have been beaten by some mediocre teams as well as some bad ones. The biggest question surrounding the Heat heading into the season was how LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh or “the big three” would be able to share the rock. Who was going to be the leader? Well, thus far, it is pretty obvious that the way these guys are playing right now, they’re all better off alone.
LeBron has always been used to being “the guy” wherever he has been since high school; handling the ball in pressure situations, being the best player on the court every night, taking the last shot. The other problem here is that LeBron has never won anything in his NBA career. He quit on his Cavaliers teams multiple times and never showed up in the NBA Finals in 2007 against the Spurs.
The Heat’s biggest problem is that they lack the discipline and leadership necessary to be winners. LeBron has never taken his job as seriously as he should, Chris Bosh disappears in key situations, and they have a below average coach in Erik Spoelstra who has no business leading this team. They one emotional leader that the team has that is willing to be the one taking the difficult shot at the end of the game is Wade. But it’s hard for Wade to get all of these guys on the same page when he needs to be worrying about his own game too.
Spoelstra never should’ve been brought back to coach this team. Team President Pat Riley needs to step in and take over himself. His teams in the past have been known for their tenacity and discipline; the two most glaring holes for the Heat right now.
However, even with Riley at the helm of the Heat, I’m still not convinced they will win anything. The Eastern Conference is as strong as it’s been in years from top to bottom with the Magic, Celtics, Bulls, and Hawks all standing in the Heat’s way.
LeBron must’ve left his talents somwhere in Cleveland, because they’re certainly not in Miami.