Is the Heat going to miss Lebron James? Are you crazy? Any team would miss the greatest player on the planet.
But that does not mean the Heat are going to roll over and play dead. Let me remind you, Heat Nation, that the Miami Heat is a franchise that is all about winning. Throughout the last 19 years, this storied franchise has made the playoffs 16 times, won the Eastern Conference five times and earned three championship rings on their fingers, including one without King James.
Remember before Lebron brought his talents to South Beach? The Heat took on the Dallas Mavericks in 2006 with a young determined team that did not play as individuals but as a team. Wade, a young 23-year-old guard, and Haslem, then 25, gave the Heat the drive to win, and everyone else chipped in to grab the victory from the Mavs. The 2006 Heat played with an intensity we really haven’t seen since because the team became too “star” dependent. That has been a problem the last four years. If they pull it together as a team, perhaps we will see this again, even without Lebron James.
If the Spurs can do it, why can’t we? The Spurs is a team the Heat has to become in 2015. The Spurs won a championship as a team and did not become too dependent on one player as the Heat were in the 2014 NBA Finals. The Spurs were hungry and played with revenge as a team to claim what should have been rightful theirs: the NBA Championship. The Heat have to show the same intensity and hunger to win. I think they will. They have just as successful of an organization, from the front offices to the coaches, as the Spurs do to get back to the finals and to claim redemption.
The Heat can rely on Chris Bosh, a proven veteran who pulls down an average of 8.7 rebounds and adds 19.2 points per game for his career. Heat coach Eric Spolestra said, “He [Bosh] is our most important player, and he’s as steady and consistent as he always has been.” With James gone, Bosh will have to pick up the slack and he can. Bosh has proven he can be a leader with his time with the Toronto Raptors, and he has to do it again.
The Heat is now going to have to also really depend on Heat Lifers Dwayne Wade and Udonis Haslem to provide the much-needed leadership to this so-called “new team.” Adding Danny Granger, Josh McRoberts and Luol Deng will help improve their defense efficiency in rebounding, which ranked dead last, while also improving their passing. All these players are proven veterans who have played in the league for a long time and can provide a nucleus for an exciting team.
Are we going to miss Lebron? Yes. Are we going to struggle more? Yes. But if the Spurs can win a championship as a team, why can’t the Heat? Maybe it is another 2006.
