Judgment Day is upon us, Heat fans.
No, not in the biblical sense.
Not in the “Rise of the Machines” sense.
On Christmas Day, Miami Heat fans will finally get their chance to pass judgment on LeBron James.
Sure, they’ve already voice their opinions and displeasure with how LeBron chose to leave the Heat. The lack of communication with Heat president Pat Riley. The announcement in Sports Illustrated. The apparent lack of a “Thank You” to the fans. A reaction that has been stewing for six months finally gets its chance to be let out.
Now Heat fans are back in the spotlight, as the question on whether LeBron will be cheered or booed before and during the game. Heat guard Dwyane Wade voiced his opinion about how fans should react to LeBron’s return, and he thinks we should appreciative of him.
And he’s right.
The Heat have already announced that they were going to produce a video for LeBron when the Cleveland Cavaliers come to American Airlines Arena on Christmas Day, similar to what they did for Joel Anthony and Mike Miller last season. Maybe they’ll throw in a couple of Polaroid’s of James Jones. The Heat are doing this as a token of appreciation for the four years that LeBron was in Heat uniform.
Not to mention it’s probably their way of getting out in front of any negative reaction the live crowd might shower down on him.
I get why fans are upset. It’s like a bad breakup: you did everything you could to be “The One”. You showered him with love and appreciation, and told him you would always be there. But then he left. Broke your hearts. Left you for the hideous ex-girlfriend who screwed it up last time. Plus where she lives is kind of disgusting.
But is that something that overshadows the last for seasons? You’re upset at him for not being loyal to Miami? This is the same guy that left the team located within an hour of his home town by announcing his decision on national television! He didn’t notify them in advance; they found out when you did! What about that screams “loyal” about him? LeBron is clearly only looking to make the best decision for LeBron.
He didn’t leave for Miami because he loved the area or the people; it was so he could chase a title. Instead of having the guts to stick it out in Cleveland, working to make himself and his teammates better, he decided to run to his buddy – who also happened to be his chief rival – in attempt to achieve his goal. He was a mercenary. He simply made a business transaction.
Have you ever thought that if New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Anchorage, Helsinki, or Mars had the same financial flexibility that the Heat had in the summer of 2010, would LeBron probably have gone to any of those places? Think that through. It wasn’t about what the city of Miami had to offer; it was the cap flexibility the Heat had to offer. He didn’t choose the Heat because of its storied tradition; he chose it because Wade wasn’t going anywhere. He chose it because an All-Star like Chris Bosh was more than willing to be third wheel for a super-team in Miami. LeBron actually tried to recruit Bosh to Cleveland just days before the decision! The chance to sign three max guys probably helped the Heat’s case a whole lot.
This summer, LeBron did exactly what he did in 2010: saw the landscape of the team and the league and realized that maybe he needed more help. Wade was struggling with injuries and maintenance programs, while Shane Battier was retiring, Ray Allen possibly doing the same, and a supporting cast that made LeBron wonder if he milked it for all it was worth.
So now with his mission accomplished, LeBron went back to Cleveland playing with house money. He has two championship rings to go along with his four MVP trophies. The “Can’t win the big one” narrative is no more. All winning in Ohio does is make him a local God. The hero that finally brought a championship to Northeast Ohio. But if he doesn’t? Oh well, he still got his, and that is all that matters to LeBron. His three Finals losses are three more than Michael Jordan had; one more than Kobe Bryant and Larry Bird. He can’t chase those legends anymore, so now the pressure is off. He also understands that the Cavaliers won’t get the same type of media dissection that the Heat had to endure in 2010, as now the “Going Home” narrative is cute and cuddly and everyone loves the little guy fighting for the brass ring.
And what about Heat fans? With those magical words “I’m taking my talents to South Beach”, Heat fans went from a non-entity in the basketball universe to its epicenter for four straight years. To outsiders, we were undeserving of sitting on the basketball throne because of late-arriving crowds, not attending games, leaving early, and being in the crowd just to be seen rhetoric that Miami fans have been criticized for as long as I can remember.
Yes, when the media and basketball purists criticized LeBron for running to Wade and Bosh, we rallied behind him. We helped point out that Jordan had Scottie Pippen, Bird had Robert Parish and Kevin McHale, and Magic had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy. We embraced him when everyone was ready to cast him as the villain. And since Miami loves being the villain, whether it’s in a “Scarface” type way, or a Miami Hurricanes football kind of way, we were ready for that role. To defend LeBron was a sword we were willing to fall on.
LeBron gave us that right to be on the throne; that right to puff our chests out.
LeBron made Miami a basketball town.
LeBron made Miami a big deal.
Then he left. Gone, without much of a goodbye, if you believed a large portion of social media and local radio stations – even though he did. What does everyone want? A full-paged ad? Billboards? A mix-tape? A simple picture on his Instagram account for his millions of followers to see isn’t good enough? Newsflash: HE DIDN’T EVEN THANK CLEVELAND WHEN HE LEFT THE FIRST TIME! A month went by without a peep, until he had a charity event in Akron, and even then he only thanked Akron. Another week went by before he finally acknowledged Cleveland’s existence – probably more of a result of his camp pointing out that he has a lot of business and charitable interests in Northeast Ohio, that it would be wise to thank them.
He ignored Riley for weeks, then made him fly to Las Vegas for a face-to-face that has the image of Riley begging. How dare he make Pat Riley beg! Again, does LeBron strike you as the kind of guy that could look someone in the eye and tell them what they don’t want to hear? Remember how Dan Gilbert and the Cavs found out he was leaving in 2010? LeBron clearly just makes his decisions, then lets the chips fall where they may.
But how does Riley respond? No angry letter in comic sans. No feeding the angry beast of his fan base. Just make some statements and go on with his job. Try to rebuild as best as possible.
Which brings us to Christmas. Riley and the Heat making a statement that they still will celebrate what LeBron and the Heat did the last four years. He was a major reason for Miami celebrating four consecutive Finals appearance and two championships. Sure, guys hit big shots after big shots over that run. But LeBron put the Heat on his back, doing a lot of the heavy lifting, proving his worth time and again. He helped give Heat Nation something to be proud of.
Sports is a business, and LeBron is a businessman. His portion of the transaction is now completed. He got what he wanted out of the deal.
And so did Heat fans. Miami took in someone willing to betray his home state to chase the ultimate prize and basked in the glory of his victories. We drank Ohio’s tears and didn’t care. All that mattered is the spotlight was on us. We got exactly what we wanted out of the transaction. We just wanted more. We wanted to gloat and party.
Now it’s gone.
So you can dislike the way it ended, dislike the way LeBron handled his business. You can boo him every time he touches the ball on Christmas Day, like I will admittedly do. Because he’s not on the Heat, and because he’s wearing another team’s laundry. Because that’s the thing left in sports that we can hold on to: cheering the home team and booing the other guys.
What happens before the game is a different story entirely.
But LeBron James made us relevant in the basketball world, Heat fans.
LeBron James made us the happiest we could have ever imagined as Heat fans.
For that, he deserves our gratitude before the game starts. He deserves the appreciation for all those moments that they will show in that video.
Judgment Day is upon us, Heat fans. How we react will speak volumes to the sports world.
Applaud.