WWLD Summer

Time flies. I can't believe it's been four years already since the last WWLD summer. Once again, the biggest question of the summer is, "What Will LeBron James Do?" This will not be quite the emotional ride it was the last time around - unless you are a passionate Miami heat fan, which in and of itself might be an oxymoron given how flaky the heat fans usually are. Most of the NBA fans are watching this with a detached curiosity, almost daring LeBron to make this free agency the vulgar drama that it was the last time around. Unlike the last time when he was with the Cavaliers, he is the big, bad goliath now and the average fan doesn't have a dog in this fight. They are just waiting on the sidelines ready to pounce on him if he takes a mis-step. He better not make this a mess and subject us to another stupid "decision". If I was LeBron, I will keep this quick, clean, and quiet. As quiet as it possibly can be in today's twitter-fueled culture. It's already big news, but he cannot afford to mismanage it like he did last time.

As for what LeBron is actually going to do, obviously he has the world at his feet. It should be awesome to be the world's best at anything. LeBron is unquestionably the best basketball player in the world. The attention he demands and commands and the love he is going to get from teams coast-to-coast is going to be very flattering. The options are seemingly endless. There are rumors about how the clippers would be a great fit and how the rockets have all the talent in the world to surround him with. But seriously, does he really have that many options? Fans will have a field day if he goes to yet another team chasing a ring. You can call them haters all you want, but LeBron will be giving everybody even more reasons to hate if he goes to a third team in five years. It won't be illegal or even unethical by any stretch of the imagination, but it sure will be weird. It will be an unusual career path for a legendary athlete and will cheapen his legacy. Who exactly are we talking about here - the world's best basketball player or Jarrett Jack?

How many superstars, let alone legends, have played for three teams before they turn 30? I can't think of any. The closest I can think of in recent history is Shaquille O'Neal, who ended up playing for 6 teams and won his last championship in Miami in his early thirties. But even he was past 30 and had to move to Miami primarily because of the unusual drama with Kobe in LA. There have been cases of legends moving to other teams as they age and pursue that elusive ring or teams deciding to move away from aging superstars. Cases in point - Karl Malone and Charles Barkley in their old age or more recently, Peyton Manning. But Peyton had to relocate to Denver only because the colts decided to move on . Rarely does a legend move on his own from team to team in the prime of his career. LeBron will be pioneering a new trend if he does move, but it won't be the most endearing or legendary trend. If he goes to another team with a bunch of superstars, he will become the laughing stock again and rightfully so. NBA pros should be chasing LeBron for a ring, not the other way around. Given all that, I see only one of two destinations in reality for him. He either re-signs with the heat or shocks everybody and goes back to the Cleveland cavaliers.

He can sell the move to the cavs as a "home coming" and the fans will welcome him back with open arms, even the ones who burnt his jersey four years back. Cavs are considered a long-shot because they are a few years away from contending, but LeBron can take any four guys from the local YMCA to the second round of the Eastern conference playoffs. And the cavs talent ain't that bad - definitely young, but not bad. I would rather play with Kyrie Irving than Dwyane Wade at this stage of Wade's career. Granted, the cavs don't have Chris Bosh or a winning culture, but they do have the first pick in this year's draft and a bunch of young, under-achieving assets. LeBron can fix the culture just by showing up. I am not saying he would or he should go back to Cleveland but he could. Any other destination outside of Miami and Cleveland, he will lose a lot of face. The chances are, he will stay in Miami, but if Wade and Bosh pick up their expensive options, it's going to be very interesting and difficult for LeBron to stay. Miami would have no flexibility to improve in that case. Thats what makes this free agency fascinating. I still can't see him going to a new city, but then again, I have been wrong about his choices before and won't be surprised if I am wrong again.

King's Court

NBA has finally become the king's court. King James is now a champion and has put an end to a burning, 2-year debate about his true worth as a basketball player. His physical tools and basketball skill-set were never in question, but fans and experts alike questioned his will to win and mental fortitude to take and make shots in the clutch. Honestly, a lot of it was wishful thinking on the part of the fans as LeBron lost their support with the "decision" and they were rooting for him to fail more than they were convinced he was a "failure". It has taken a herculean effort from LeBron to win the championship and change that perception. If you think about it, it din't take long for him to win in Miami. The heat made it to the finals in his very first year in Miami and won the championship in year 2 - pretty impressive if you ask me.

But 3 things made this a rough 2 years for LeBron. The moment the big 3 came together, anything less than a championship was not going to be enough. So a finals appearance last year did nothing for them. Secondly, when LeBron stupidly insinuated they will win "not 6, not 7", but 8 championships, he had to get started from year 1 to get anywhere close to it. So a finals loss to Dallas last year sent the league into a anti-LeBron frenzy unlike anything we have seen before. Last but not the least, LeBron was tentative and ineffective at crucial times last season raising all kinds of question about his toughness. But year 2 changed everything. The guy had a phenomenal regular season and backed it up with a legendary post-season. He put up some ridiculous numbers and carried the heat in these playoffs. It was not an easy playoffs by any means and LeBron stepped up several times to push them over.

Things started going LeBron's and Heat's way when he clearly established himself as the Heat's alpha-dog. DWade was the Scottie Pippen this season and that clarity unleashed LeBron in both tangible and intangible ways. The Heat coaching staff deserves some credit too since I am sure they rolled the ball LeBron's way this season during some situations where the ball would have probably gone to Wade last year. One of the funniest chants targeted at LeBron last year was when they shouted "Scottie Pippen" at his face. I was not even sure who should feel more insulted by it - LeBron or Scottie! Pippen is one of the all-time greats in this game and his name was routinely used as an insult. That tells you how talented LeBron is and how impactful Michael Jordan was as Pippen's teammate. A determined LeBron at the wheel this year was just unstoppable and the thunder and Durant had no answers for him in the finals.

LeBron is now a champion and winning shuts up a lot of people. The question now is, will the so-called haters disappear? I don't think so. They will be quiet and won't be able to trash-talk as much, but they are not going to wake up tomorrow and become LeBron fans. I am a LeBron-hater myself and I still don't want him to win any more titles with this heat team. Ironically, we became haters only because we loved his game more than LeBron himself. I wanted him to stay in Cleveland and I was convinced he could have won a championship there with any front-office with half a brain. In fact, it was LeBron who didn't think he could win in Cleveland. I had more faith in LeBron's game and his future in Cleveland than LeBron himself and I was upset at him only because he quit on the Cavs and ganged up with other stars in Miami. So how much of a hater am I? The haters are going nowhere. But the NBA should be a little concerned about some people not watching the NBA now since the biggest story in all of sports over the last 2 years is now history.

The other interesting question is, are we staring at a dynasty here?  My gut says no. I would have been more willing to bestow dynastic powers on the thunder if they had won the championship, but the heat don't look like a dynasty to me. I am not sure if this is just wishful thinking on my part, but I do feel like they had a few lucky breaks go their way in the east this season and their salary cap situation is obviously not great either. Given LeBron's immense talents and with Wade in his supporting cast, this can easily become the next dynasty, but I don't see a big gap between them and the other contenders. The thunder and even the bulls and the pacers will be chasing them with all they got, not to mention teams like the Lakers and the Spurs. Next year will be the key to see where LeBron takes them and how the thunder improve and take the next step. Also, dynasties have been hard to come by in the NBA since the days of the Spurs and the Shaq-Kobe Lakers. LeBron can change it all, but he has to show us he is a dynastic star.

Another NBA season is in the books now. It was indeed fun. The end result was what I expected and dreaded at the beginning of the season. The enduring image of this season will be LeBron's game 6 at Boston. Thats when he took the next step and eventually cemented his legacy with a finals MVP to go with his regular season MVP, first team all-NBA, and first team all-defensive awards. Great season by a great player. It took him a while to get here, but the information age and the twitter generation made it feel longer than it actually was. LeBron owns the NBA right now. He is no fluke and we may never see another LeBron in the future. It is must-see TV when an athletic freak with immense talent wins it all and claims his rightful place at the top of his sport. But MJ has set the bar so high, LeBron's chase of greatness has only started and will continue next year. Where he goes from here will be as fascinating a story as how he got here. And we will all be watching and following this journey.

The Heat is on!

For all of us Heat-haters, the heat is really on. The Bron-Wade show is in full swing now as the Indiana Pacers seem to have unintentionally hit the activate button on them. Things looked bleak for Miami as the Heat lost Chris Bosh to injury. They then lost 2 playoff games at home and on the road to go down 1-2 to the Pacers. Wade couldn't throw a stone into the ocean standing on south beach, but he could scream at his coach in public causing a minor scandal. All the talk was about him and how he was injured and possibly close to being "done". One hack even wrote about how he is a 30 year-old going on a 33 year-old body because of all the reckless forays in to the paint throughout his career. He has always played like a bigger Allen Iverson, but it looked like all the injuries were beginning to catch up to him. Slowly, the talk about breaking up the big-3 started creeping in and it might have even become a reality if the upstart Pacers eliminated them in the conference semis.

But game 4 against the Pacers might have turned the entire history of the Miami Heat around. Suddenly, Wade started playing like a 30 year-old in a 25 year-old body after starting the game horribly. And for the first time ever, LeBron and Wade were completely in sync and playing off of each other. They have traditionally been taking turns on offense and just watching the other guy do his thing if it was not his turn. Not anymore. They are blending very well and setting each other up like never before. The Heat have not lost ever since. 3 straight wins against the Pacers and another one against the Celtics in the conference finals. Suddenly, Wade could do no wrong - except for the pink pants in the presser, and LeBron of course has not done much wrong all season. The Pacers were not mature or talented enough to challenge the Heat. And now it looks like the Celtics are not young or talented enough for that task. LeBron is literally laughing at their faces like they are some JV team. Of course, this is the playoffs and the momentum can swing with every game. And I sure hope it swings Boston's way after game 2.

As a LeBron fan turned LeBron hater since the day he took his talents to south beach, these are some scary times. When Chris Bosh got injured and the Pacers gave them a lot of trouble, it seemed like this was going to be another lost season for the Heat. You never want teams to lose because of injuries, but it was only Bosh who was injured and the world wants LeBron to lose. Now, it looks like Bosh's injury has brought the Wade and Bron closer and made them scary good. The only hope now is for the Spurs or Thunder to beat them in the finals just like the Mavs did last year. Spurs are the better team, but I feel like the young Thunder team might give the Heat more trouble. Even as a Suns fan, I have a lot of respect for Tim Duncan, coach Pop and the Spurs. I wouldn't mind them winning another ring as the Duncan era comes to an end. But now, I want the Thunder to advance just because I think they will match-up well with the Heat. Whoever makes it, I will be rooting for them against the Heat. The hatred for the Heat is way down from last year, but the dislike for LeBron still continues.

LeBron won the MVP this season, but he is actually having one of the least appreciated, best statistical seasons ever. Nobody really cares to sing his praises all that much because this is LBJ post "The Decision". This guy on the court is just amazing. There is nothing he can't do. I am totally surprised at how easily and thoroughly he has made the Heat his team. Dwyane Wade is a top-5 talent in this league and LeBron makes him look like a much-inferior side-kick. I was wrong about LeBron when he moved to the Heat. I predicted that he would take a back-seat to Wade in scoring while dominating every other category. But LeBron is so good that he is dominating everything on both ends of the floor including scoring without really trying to be selfish. Even he was saying that the big-3 wouldn't win too many MVPs because they had to share everything. Well, LeBron just won his 3-Rd and neither the other 2 nor the rest of the league could do anything to prevent it. All that he is missing right now is a ring and the question is, can the Heat pull it off this year? I think it gets much tougher if they don't seal the deal this post-season. I still don't want them to win. I have not forgotten or forgiven "The Decision" and neither has America for the most part. Lets see if the basketball gods have forgiven him.

Best of 3

The NBA finals is now down to a best of 3 series. Thats good news for the Dallas fans since the Mavs won game 4 to tie things up. But the bad news is, they got to play 2 of the 3 in Miami. Not the toughest place to play, but these are still finals games on the road and are no joke. May be the Mavs look for some poetic justice here. In 2006, they chocked away the home court to Wade and the Heat. They came from ahead to lose after a 2-0 start to the series. May be now, they win it all in Miami on Wade's home court and erase some bad memories. They had a lot of complaints back then about some serious home-cooking served by the referees to D-Wade. Dallas thought they couldn't even breathe on Wade without being whistled for a foul that entire series. Some agreed that it was the best treatment a superstar got from the NBA officials since MJ retired. The scary part for Dallas is that Wade has really stepped up his game lately in these Finals. And going back to Miami, he will be a load to handle in those games 6 and 7. Mavs better be prepared.

As Wade asserts his influence on his team and this series, LeBron has faded into the background and almost the oblivion in game 4. 8 points in game 4 is not king-like for sure. He is getting a lot of attention in the media and also some trash-talking from DeShawn Stevenson. I don't know why DeShawn is yapping and adding fuel to LeBron's fire. He did the same back in his Washington days and is now compensating for his boss Mark Cuban, who has surprisingly gone quiet this playoffs. Now the media is talking about this game 5 as being the biggest game of LeBron's career. He is expected to come out firing on all cylinders. Honestly, I find all this criticism a little over the top. Granted, the standards for LeBron are high, but isn't this the whole point of becoming the "big 3", so that one of them can afford to have nights like this? Especially when the other 2 are going great like Wade and Bosh were in game 4 - Wade had 32 and Bosh had 24. This is not the same as LeBron scoring 8 for a Cleveland team where he was the only scorer.

Actually, I expected a lot of such nights for LeBron with the Heat. I thought LeBron would be their best player all-around, but Wade would be the premier scorer for them. It turns out that I under-estimated LeBron's effectiveness as a scorer. He surprised me by becoming option number 1 for the Heat throughout the season and leading them in scoring by more than a point over Wade - known as a more prolific scorer. I guess he raised the bar higher for himself by being such a consistent scorer throughout the season and this is not the time to be dropping just 8 points! It would be interesting to see how he responds. The media is putting all sorts of pressure on him, but Wade has got it going right now and the last thing LeBron should try and do is hog the ball to save his image. This game 5 might very well be decided on how Miami and LeBron react to these criticisms. As for Nowitzki, he will be there for Dallas in game 5 - sick or not, fever or not. And he will be very interested in finding out which LeBron shows up just like us. This finals just keeps getting better!