According to this map, nobody likes the Miami Heat, except the people living in Florida and the people who actively want their opponents to lose. The reasons for that are pretty clear. Contrary to what the Heat's fans would like to believe, nobody's "hatin'". A team like that just take the fun out of sports, unless they are losing.
See, watching sports is a highly emotional activity. When your team hits the floor, their fate is decided by a bunch of factors that are both scientific, chaotic and intangible. You don't know what's going to happen until the final buzzer. You're not supposed to. A team like the Miami Heat, build through big dollars and free agency is deliberately trying to control as many of these factors as it can. A team like that is supposed to win, especially in the weaker of the two NBA conferences.
If the Miami Heat wins, it's normal. It was supposed to happen. They are built to win. They have an abnormal amount of superstars (three) and have a depth that shows a great understanding of basketball. Their bench is full of clutch shooters who can play defense, tough rebounders and glue guys who specializes in keeping their team together. Nobody is ever surprised when they win. What's fun and unpredictable about the Heat is when they lose.
Part of that comes from the fact they don't have a nemesis. Magic Johnson's Lakers had Larry Bird's Celtics. Michael Jordan's Bulls had Patrick Ewing's Knicks, Hakeem Olajuwon's Rockets and Clyde Drexler's Trail Blazers. None of them could really measure up, but they all could put up a fight. The Bulls were the kings of the jungle. Even the Shaq and Kobe Lakers had the San Antonio Spurs to measure up to. In the present day NBA, whoever is going up against the Heat is an underdog. Nothing is more fun as a sports fan than to root for the underdog.
The conference finals is equal 2-2 right now, between the Heat and the Indiana Pacers. That is the most fun basketball has been this year, because finally, somebody is holding up to Goliath. Watching LeBron James and his pals crush the youthful, brash Milwakee Bucks in the first round was a non-event. Watching them outlast the tough, courageous Chicago Bulls in round 2 was heartbreaking, because despite playing with passion and grit, the depleted Bulls kept coming up short. But now the Pacers are right in the Heat's face and you gotta like it.
What's so great about it is that they don't have a superstar, at least not yet. Paul George is slowly emerging into one and give us quick peaks at what the downside of LeBron's career will look like in a few years (problems with quick, athletic wings). Roy Hibbert, despite being clutch and efficient is still just a very good role player. Same for George Hill and Lance Stephenson. They are blue collar America going after the richer, more advantaged kids.
The Heat are half victim of their ambition and half caught in an adversity conundrum. In the lack of adversity, they have become adversity for everybody else. It's especially true now that the favorite contenders in the Western conference have all fallen. The Lakers, who tried to emulate their business model were a pathetic farce all-season and illustrated the need for chemistry in the building of a team. The Oklahoma City Thunder suffered a quick elimination due to the Russell Westbrook injury, which showed the shortcomings of their current lineup and last but not least, the Clippers crumbled shamefully in the first round, after the greatest regular season in the franchise's existence.
In the 2013 playoffs, the Miami Heat showed they were a team. They are not a dysfunctional machine built with money and arrogance. Other teams tried to stack the cards this season, but the Heat showed experience and chemistry in handling the intangibles. Only problem is that there is nobody else to hate. They have figured it out, won a championship last year and whatever success comes from now on will be a boring repetition of what is expected. I hope the Heat loses to the Pacers or to the San Antonio Spurs, but I don't hate them. I just like basketball more than I like them.
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