The 2013 NBA Finals were a pleasure. Although the outcome was yet another victory for things that are annoying, it was an incredible series and let's also remember that there are worse things than the Miami Heat. The Heat do try and do care. J.R. Smith is never winning an NBA Championship because he has no idea (I think he just opted out of his contract for next season...probably because he's "good").
This blog, instead of reporting, researching or predicting, has become mainly about moral judgments of players and teams relative to their respective sport. The Heat (and you, if you root for them) are lame for a few reasons...
Let's pretend you don't give a fuck about Cleveland and you take pleasure in watching bad things happen to people who've never had anything good happen to them. This takes away the sympathy factor of leaving Cleveland (the tougher and, subjectively, more noble job) for Miami (a fan base who doesn't care and a team that is stacked).
LeBron James is the best player in the league and is the best player since Michael Jordan. The Spurs showed really effectively what is so annoying about the Heat. The lesson of sports at a high level is that, even if you are born the most gifted athlete ever, you still have to learn to play smart and unselfishly to dominate and when you do, it's a beautiful thing.
I'm not saying that LeBron isn't a smart or unselfish player. He's probably the smartest player in the league and remarkably unselfish for how good he is. And, when pushed to his limits (as he has been the past two seasons), he has really been anything we've ever wanted him to be. So why root against the guy?
The decision LeBron made was this: He's the best player but he kept getting beaten by teams with players inferior to him but who have found a balance and an inner peace between one another. Instead of striving for that peace between him and his teammates, he decided to double (and triple) down on that all-encompassing talent and join with the closest thing to him in Wade. Wade, like LeBron, drags teams to the playoffs and beyond, and it looks impressive but it doesn't look pretty. That's because it's bad basketball. Him leaving Cleveland was not unselfish or leaving someone or some city that was holding him back, it was purely lazy and selfish. He is not over criticized for doing it. He's an incredible athlete with an incredible sports brain and he doubled down on the athleticism, secretly the less impressive of his two sides. Nobody cares if you're big and strong...Josh Smith is big and strong. Jumping high is not nearly as interesting as personal and team-wide evolution. I get the vibe that the real goal of the Heat is to prove that they don't have to do anything more than what they were born with to beat everyone. "I'm better than you and that's how it's gonna be." It's ingrained in my core to want to beat those guys.
It's a new demographic of sports fans who put up an "enlightened" front and taunt the general public when LeBron is still the best player in the league and plays as such. Fuck you people. You're not enlightened. The thing is, nobody relates to the Heat.
Oh really? You can really relate to being, by far, the most gifted person in the world at something? Wow that's really impressive. What is that thing, if you don't mind me asking?
The Heat are anti-progress and anti-beauty, period. They beat you with raw power and unrefined skill and smarts and they mug to the cameras the whole way. Most of us are mortal and deal with subtle to not-so-subtle slights from this type of person or entity in various arenas of life. Outside-of-Miami Heat fans nuzzle up to the tyrants instead of fighting back. Heat fans are Stephen from Django. They taunt their fellow man when the favorites win again. It's disgusting.
But I guess whatever, who cares...
NBA Draft
The Cavs have the number 1 overall pick and it's semi-exciting. This draft isn't very good, especially at the top, so it's about the worst draft since I've been alive to have won the lottery.
I have no idea what the Cavs are going to do, but they are going to regret NOT drafting Victor Oladipo. I say this because I think he's the best player in the draft and I'm almost positive the Cavs won't draft him.
"Upside" is not a thing. When has a tall guy with no skill become one of the best players in the league? Roy Hibbert is pretty good, but he was a late first rounder anyway. How many times has that guy been drafted and now you don't know how to spell their names?
I watched a lot of the Big Ten and not that much of anything else. I like Oladipo A LOT, Trey Burke a REGULAR AMOUNT and Cody Zeller NOT VERY MUCH AT ALL. And don't forget about Deshaun Thomas aka "Chuck City."
The draft is fun as shit and I'll be doing at poor job at work because I will be watching the draft instead of paying any attention to anything, but if you're looking for a way to predict who is going to be good, remember this if nothing else: Is this guy really good at basketball? Is he?!?! Not many are.
Enjoy Baseball Season.
