What does this phrase even mean? Last time I checked, every team pays its players to buy their services, and every team is subject to the same collective bargaining agreement. The fact that Miami was formed by 3 players who decided to play together in free agency-- while each taking a small discount in salary while doing do-- does not make the Miami team any more "bought" than any other team. Dim-witted people like to throw around empty slogans.
I feel like Miami is by far the cheapest big three. Every other "big three" had to give something up to get to where they were. Boston traded away a potential stud in Al Jefferson and the number 5 pick to get KG and Ray Allen. The Rockets accumulated assets for forever to get Harden and then signed Dwight because of Harden and Parsons, a player they drafted. Miami did almost NO work. That's why it feels cheap to me.
that being said there's a difference in drafting+developing players vs building in free agency. the spurs are successful largely due to their incredible drafting, while Miami is successful due to player acquisitions via free agency...thus why most people dislike that the heat are successful is because they didn't "earn" the players they got, and basically bypassed the organizational model of drafting and developing their players
So Boston tanking their way to a high pick, failing to win the lottery, and trading the #5 pick for Ray Allen is "work" and make it less cheap? Miami did "work" by 1) patiently maintaining cap space, and 2) having the kind of team culture (led by the likes of Pat Riley, Alonzo Mourning and Wade) that are attractive to free agents.
I find Boston fans to be the most loyal and silly at the same time. It's terrific to see a fan base get so passionate about its team, and also pathetically sad at times that they live so vicariously through them. Judas... oh, please. He gave them several great years and had every right to leave. So did Johnny Damon, and Wes Welker, and all the other "traitors." And a Celtics fan angered at the Heat's Big 3 arrangement? Umm, OK.
How behind is the Rockets? After watching the 3 final games, I saw no chance that Rockets become a champion competitor in 1 or 2 years. Months ago I proposed to trade beard for Leonard + Diaw but laughed by some clutch fans. Now see what they did in the finals - they both are core players - one guard lbj the whole game and scored 29 pts; the other achieved +20, the most +- person in Spurs. Now in NBA, Spurs and Heats are far better than others. Thunder, Clippers, Pacers, Warriors, Grizzles and Mavericks are behind. Rockets cannot even put itself in this list.
Too much bagage as said before. Dwight and Harden are not serious characters on and off the court. Dwight has grown up a lot but that is not saying much
as heat & spurs have shown, you cant count on just the starting 5 to win a championship, it takes the entire starters & bench to do so.
They were built in two very different ways. KG was a proud superstar that tried to win i3ig forever while toiling in Minnesota. Those Celtics were also a humble team despite their tenaciousness, and rallied around the word "unbuntu", which means "I am because we are." KG admitted that he never would've agreed to join i3oston had he been younger because he had always wanted his team, the Wolves, to hoist that trophy. Only upon reaching his 30s and entering the twilight of his i3asketball life did he allow himself to entertain the idea of being more selfish with his career. Meanwhile the Heatles involved 3 of the league's greatest players as well as its greatest, LeBron, making a secret agreement to join forces in their collective primes. Yes, I think they took the cowardly way out (i3ird, Magic, and MJ never would've bolted for South i3each). The entire league is still trying to play catch up aside from OKC and those impossibly unyielding Spurs. Call me a hater if you want, but I think LeBron and his super friends took think easiest road there was. Still, I understand how sweet it would be to join two of your friends in Miami in order to give the NBA a history lesson. The latter almost makes it forgivable. And yet what makes the Heat truly difficult to root is their utterly annoying showcasing of hubris. I'm talking about "The Decision", and the way they were and still are always gloating. I'm talking about, "We didn't come here to win one championship, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven...". Don't do that. Don't upset the i3asketball Gods. On top of that there's the excessive dirty plays and cheap shots that they take during games despite being the more talented team. They'd literally assembled a surefire multi-championship caliber squad, and yet they insisted on rubbing everyone's face in it. I find that disrespectful, and thus would relish seeing these never say die Spurs have their vengeance. The "i3uilt not i3ought" tagline is catchy enough and works. Actually it appears to have worked better than expected as, Lord knows, it's even gotten under the skin of a few Houston Heat fans. i3oston fans trump Miami fans all day everyday. i3oston fans are also rarely sad as we're too busy enjoying the duck boats on parade. Who are you to label us? As for Judas Shuttlesworth, that was an awesome play on words. KG, Ray, and Paul had agreed to stay together and then Ray gets in one tiff too many with Rondo and goes running to LeBron for more rings without talking to the i3oys about his plans. I say dance with the girl that brought you there Judas. Furthermore Damon and Wes are not seen as traitors in i3eantown. On the contrary, they're loved for their hard word and respected for getting paid. We appreciate Ray, but don't respect how thing's ended. Ray allowed Rondo to get under his skin, it became personal, and he ultimately decided to leave a team that was counting on him high and dry.
So if the Rockets win a title are we going to complain about us not drafting or developing Dwight Howard
It was stupid then, it's stupid now. Trading an all nba first teamer for a couple of roleplayers based on one good game (did you happen to see the previous 2? that's the thing with roleplayers, consistency) is just plain stupid. It's reminiscent of how people point out when Jeremy Lamb and Steven Adams have a good game that OKC won that trade...
Not at all. They wouldn't have come together all at once thus making their union extraordinarily easy, and all future i3ig 3s are now actually a necessity. I'm not against super teams mind you. I just don't like them gift wrapped and cocksure. The only thing worse than a poor loser in sports is a poor winner.
