Miami’s Full Team Effort Clinches NBA Title
It all worked out quite well for the Miami Heat, didn’t it? Like a symphony orchestra playing a run of sold out shows, it saved its best performance for the finale. It was a magnum opus on offense, with every piece contributing to an offensive concerto we had not seen in an NBA Finals game in a long time.
The best players in the orchestra were at their best on Thursday night in Miami, with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh playing seamlessly together in what they hoped would be their final performance of the season. Even the players in the proverbial back row were at their absolute best. Veteran basketball musicians Shane Battier and Mike Miller had a tremendous ending to the season, with Miller playing through a bad back and putting together the performance of a lifetime.
James had guaranteed success and delivered the MVP worthy series everyone had expected for so long. But it was Bosh and role players like Battier, Miller, Mario Chalmers that kept Miami cohesive and so very dangerous. Instant offense was coming from so many sources that even a sound defensive team like Oklahoma City was powerless to defend it.
It was a sweet ending for James, even if it was “about damn time.” All the criticism that James faced centered around his lack of a championship. All that is now moot and we can take a step back and perhaps appreciate his greatness, his athleticism, his incredible body control. ”You know, my dream has become a reality now, and it’s the best feeling I ever had,” James said. “I put a lot of hard work and dedication in it, and hard work pays off. It’s a great moment for myself.”
The championship was perhaps even sweeter for the conductor of this finely tuned orchestra, Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra. He had spent 17 years with the team and had finally reached the top of his profession as a head coach. Nothing but a title was good enough for Spoelstra’s detractors and he faced the rumors of losing his job by putting in ungodly hours in the video room, breaking down every minute of tape and every individual matchup and scouting report even though his team had more talent than any other in the league.
All the hard work, all the rehearsals, all the sweat and hours put in are now all worth it for James and his teammates. A lifetime of dedication to basketball has finally resulted in the ultimate payoff for James and his cohorts. For one day, let’s forget about dynastic predictions. Let’s focus on a group of basketball players which put up a team-wide offensive performance of the ages to be crowned champions. Sweet, sweet music indeed.
