Remember when Shaq joined Kobe in LA some time ago? The hype that surrounded that acquisition was just nuts. Now, the Miami Heat have gone and done their best to outdo the Lakers and my God, it looks like they've done it.
Even crazier is the reaction they drew from the Cleveland Cavaliers regarding signing their former all-star point guard who was widely regarded as not just the greatest basketball player to ever play in Cleveland but possibly the greatest athlete to ever call Cleveland home.
It's also usually unlikely for a team president, owner, majority owner or coach to come out and make public a feud they have with any player (or former player).
But that is exactly what Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, wasted no time at all doing right after his greatest player ever jet Cleveland for the greener (and warmer) pastures of Miami, Fla.
In a letter to Cavs fans everywhere, Gilbert went nuts. He said he felt betrayed and angered by the decision LeBron James made when he decided to sign with Miami.
Just now, Gilbert goes into all kinds of accusations (some of them are probably true) about how James gave up on the rest of his team during their second-round playoff series last month against the Boston Celtics.
Cleveland had a two-games-to-one lead in that series but did not win it. Gilbert goes on to say things I've never heard from a team about one of its best players. The weirdest part is that Gilbert ended his rant suggesting that Cleveland will win a title before James does.
Television commentators suggested that Gilbert had a little too much wine before writing all that.What he probably doesn't realize is that James has his choice of what he wants to do. Obviously for a guy of his skill, he is likely going to want to go where he thinks he has the best chance of winning a basketball championship.
After playing in Cleveland for the first seven years of his career, it was quite clear that it wasn't going to happen in Cleveland.
No one in Miami is going to get much of a grace period after all this settles, least of all, not James himself, who if he keeps going at his current pace, may end up being the greatest of all time in the NBA.
Now he's just elevated to new levels of scrutiny-up until now that probably wasn't even possible. Miami did a good thing here. They signed James and two other top-notch players, now they have nothing to worry about until the season starts up again.
If they haven't won the title by 2012, then start worrying.
Now the question is: How many NBA titles are the Miami Heat going to win now?
As of sometime last Thursday, it seems like that is the question. No other sports team has ever made three huge signings all at the same time. The only thing these three signings don't have particularly much of is experience.
There have actually been more Chris Bosh naysayers voicing their opinions than I've ever heard before. He was one of the best, if not the best player on his former team, the Raptors, but it's pretty clear he can't win a title on his own.
LeBron James has everything you can think of in his favour-except the experience. He may not be better than Kobe Bryant just yet, but he does have a huge size advantage as seen on his numerous slam dunk and layups on his highlight reels.
Miami held a flashy little news conference Thursday to announce their three signings. It was funny listening to them talk like little kids and talk about how they will pretty much own the NBA from hereon in. James even suggested they are going to win one, two... six, seven titles together.
It's like when the University of Notre Dame's football program welcomed promising young quarterback Jimmy Clausen to Â鶹´«Ã½AV Bend several years ago. This kid had even higher hopes then the school did. He was driven to a press conference that espn broadcast, in a stretch limousine, sporting spikey blond hair and boldly claimed that it was his intention to win four NCAA Division-I national championships-one for each year of his eligibility at Notre Dame.
Where is he now?
He's in the NFL at the age of 22 but hasn't played a down yet, and of course did not win a championship with the Fighting Irish. Didn't even win a Bowl game.
Assuming the Heat threesome can get things going early next season, is there anyone out there that will be able to beat them?
Chicago's got a pretty strong team going for them. Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose are young enough and talented enough. The Lakers are still going to be the team to beat, having won back-to-back titles, and Boston can only get better.
It's going to be interesting to see how the Heat stacks up against some of the more experienced teams, but at least they've got a stronger group then they've ever had before.
Miami wasn't quite done after making the three signings. After the weekend, news broke that they went after Lakers' point guard Derek Fisher.
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