Of course it does. That's why no one really cares about Garnett/Allen/Pierce coming together. Allen and Pierce were past their primes. Sure, they were still effective, but they we're clearly on the downside of their careers. And that's also why people hate the Heat. You have 3 of the top NBA players in the league coming together in the primes of their careers. When has that happened before? They're undermining the spirit of competition. No team in the NBA comes close to the Heat's level of talent.
Spare me the "ruin the league" crap, Pierce was only a year older than Wade and coming off 2 25 point+ seasons in a row. Wade, Bosh, and James are going into their 9th NBA seasons next year and have logged tons of minutes, don't pretend like they have 7 years of their prime left.
This was the 8th season for Bosh/Wade/Lebron. When Garnett/Allen/Pierce teamed up in 2008, that was Garnett's 13th season, Allen's 12th season, and Pierce's 10th season. I don't think Bosh/James/Wade have 7 years of overlapping prime left. But I wouldn't be surprised at 4-5 years. After that, I expect Wade's athleticism to start falling off. But until then, don't forget that they'll be taking weight off each other's shoulders.
wekko368-- you seem like a pretty good poster. But I'm not really following your line of thinking here. To paraphrase, what should LeBron have done? Should he have stayed in Cleveland? It is unlikely he would have won a title there, because the team was poorly constructed and had no wiggle room due to bad contracts. It is not like Dirk in Dallas, where he already had good teammates (and the best owner in basketball) or Tim or Kobe (same reasons). It is no like MJ in his early years because those teams didn't win so they could rebuild through the draft. Unless LeBron sat out a year to allow his team to get top picks, Cleveland wasn't getting any better. I guess you could argue that LeBron should have gone to Chicago or NY or something, but, honestly, people would still pick him apart for similar reasons once those teams became dominant (which they would-- anytime you add the best player in the league to a decent team it will dominate; see Shaq in 2000). He went to a mediocre, overperforming team (one great player, a bunch of role players) and, true, Bosh joined him, but we all know he would have received the same criticism even if Bosh didn't come. The bottom line is that the Heat play by the same cap rules as every other team and they are sacrificing depth by being so top-heavy. The ring or rings LeBron wins are as legitimate as any others, and in ten years when he retires as one of the all-time greats, no one will even consider the stuff that happened in 2010.
clippy, i dont think the heat are sacrificing depth. now that the league has seen how successful they are, i wouldnt be surprised if ring-chasing quality vets joined them. remember, even barkley signed the vet minimum with us so we could get pippen. things werent that bad for lebron in cleveland. dan gilbert was trying to surround lebron with adequate talent (shaq, jamison, mo williams, varejao), but the trades just weren't panning out. and to be honest, who was available that would've made a difference? i honestly don't care where lebron went. i just want there to be parity in the league. i dont think the league has ever seen a team with such a talent advantage over the rest.
No. Watching LeBron is fun and it is really easy for him, everytime he steps on the court he has a missmatch. That's why it SUCKS. This guy could have been one of the best maybe even the best but playing with Wade ends all the speculations for me. Come on, having Wade, Bosh and him in their PRIMES is unreal and too easy to win.
Wasn't Amare Stoudemire available at the trade deadline last season? He would have been an infinitely better pickup than the worthless and over the hill Jamison. Mo Williams was a choke artist. Shaq was 38 years old. Varejao was a nice piece, but he's a one dimensional energy/defense guy. Larry Hughes was the one shot they took at adding a legit all-star caliber player in his prime. Unfortunately, that didn't work out, largely because of injuries (he only played 36 games his first year in Cleveland). The one lottery pick they had during Lebron's time they spent on Luke freaking Jackson. There was the whole Boozer fiasco. The Cavs were just a horribly run team and there is no reason to think they would have ever turned it around. With just about any other star player, it would have been obvious how bad they were because they would have only been winning ~40 games a year.
LeBron is just like Shaq. Put him on any halfway decent team and they'll be the best team in the NBA. Heck, put him on one of worst teams (as the Cavs proved they were) and he'll make them a contender. I think people would have complained no matter where LeBron ended up. Say he had done the unthinkable and gone the Clippers-- with Lebron, Griff, and Gordon they would have been by far the most talented team in the league.
Didn't the Cavs offer Ilgauskaus, Hickson, and a 1st rounder for Amare? I thought after that died, they traded Ilgauskaus to the Wizards for Jamison?
Yeah, people would've complained, but it would've been more easily digested if he had gone to a team like NY or Miami without Bosh. Last season, NY made no secret that it was shedding salary so it could get 2 max free agents. So no one would've been surprised if a team did get 2 max free agents. But all of a sudden, Miami gets 3, and that put everyone in an uproar. While in hindsight that may be true, at the time, no one knew what kind of player Griffin was going to be. After all, he missed his entire rookie season to injury.
sounds like a bunch of sour grapes in here. whaa, whaa, whaa, miami got all the good players. did ya take a look at miami's previous 4 seasons? Three 1st round exits and one DNQ. Lebron comes in and takes them to the Finals...now tell me who's riding who's coat tails?
Tainted, no. Cheap, yes. There are at least 10 players in the league that you replace LeBron with and Heat remain the favorite to win it all.
How is this any different than Kobe, Karl Malone, Gary Payton and Shaq getting together on the same team? It isn't. And doesn't guarantee a championship. There is nothing tainted about it, they are three players who have worked hard to get where they are and all want a ring.
It would be cheap if Malone was at his prime as well. And imagine what would be fans' reaction if you have Kobe, Shaq, Malone at 25-28 playing together.
And yet throughout this season, you kept saying that Lebron and Wade couldn't play together and this team would be good, but not good enough to win a championship.
They got lucky, Celtics shot themselves in the foot. And Haslem made a timely comeback. Lakers would have been a big threat in finals as well. LeBron and Wade didn't really play well together. They just took turns to attack and won by talent gaps.
Five Stages Of Grief Denial and Isolation. At first, we tend to deny the loss has taken place, and may withdraw from our usual social contacts. This stage may last a few moments, or longer. Anger. The grieving person may then be furious at the person who inflicted the hurt (even if she's dead), or at the world, for letting it happen. He may be angry with himself for letting the event take place, even if, realistically, nothing could have stopped it. Bargaining. Now the grieving person may make bargains with God, asking, "If I do this, will you take away the loss?" Depression. The person feels numb, although anger and sadness may remain underneath. Acceptance. This is when the anger, sadness and mourning have tapered off. The person simply accepts the reality of the loss.
No way, not one player in the NBA can do what Lebron does for the Heat. He guards positions 1 to 5 for the Heat, and takes on the best player off the other team during the 4th quarter, or when the player is starting to heat up(J Terry). The Heat play with the Haslem, Wade, Lebron, Miller and Bosh lineup because Lebron can play PG, no other player in the league could takes Lebrons place in that lineup.
