On the night of June 21st, the Miami Heat were crowned the 2012 NBA World Champions after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 4 games to 1. For the next day or so, talking heads will give out all sorts of reason and analysis as to why the series turned out the way it did. But when it comes down to it, none of that matters because we all know the real reason why the Heat came out on top.
It's because the referees and the league screwed over Oklahoma City and gave Miami all the breaks in a sort of Yellow Brick Road to their second championship in franchise history.
Of course.
It's because the referees and the league screwed over Oklahoma City and gave Miami all the breaks in a sort of Yellow Brick Road to their second championship in franchise history.
Of course.
No, it isn't because the Miami Heat just happened to be the superior team in this series. No, that would be absurd. It wasn't because of LeBron James leading what became his team by being consistently dominant throughout the playoffs. It's not because a man that plays like Magic but is built like Malone took charge and put up performances that associate him with the greats.
LeBron? The guy that is only the 8th player in NBA history (Like, the whole history. All 66 years of it.) to have 3 or more Regular Season MVPs and now a championship? LeBron? The guy that came through each time his team fell behind in a series? The one that racked up 40, 18, and 9 when they trailed the Pacers 1-2? The one that put up 45, 15, and 5 when they trailed the Celtics 2-3 (a performance only bested by Wilt Chamberlain only 47 years ago)? The one that lead the charge when his team started the Finals 0-1, finishing the series with a triple-double in the clincher (a feat only done by Duncan, Bird, Worthy, and Magic twice)? Nah, it's not him.
LeBron? The guy that is only the 8th player in NBA history (Like, the whole history. All 66 years of it.) to have 3 or more Regular Season MVPs and now a championship? LeBron? The guy that came through each time his team fell behind in a series? The one that racked up 40, 18, and 9 when they trailed the Pacers 1-2? The one that put up 45, 15, and 5 when they trailed the Celtics 2-3 (a performance only bested by Wilt Chamberlain only 47 years ago)? The one that lead the charge when his team started the Finals 0-1, finishing the series with a triple-double in the clincher (a feat only done by Duncan, Bird, Worthy, and Magic twice)? Nah, it's not him.
It's not because the Heat made the necessary adjustments throughout the series, such as starting Bosh, or putting LeBron on Durant, or having Battier bother OKC's big man. Naw, it wasn't that. It wasn't because Oklahoma City didn't seem to make the right adjustments in the series. Not because they didn't utilize their interior presence of Perkins and Ibaka to impose their will, and ended up getting swallowed up by a small lineup. It's not because Durant found himself in foul trouble in multiple games during the playoffs.
It's not because Miami's role players came through in the series to aid a Big Three that was at the top of its game throughout. What would make you think contributions from guys like Chalmers (12 in Game 1, 25 in Game 4, 10 in Game 5) , Battier (17 each in Games 1 & 2, 11 in Game 5), and Mike Miller (23 in Game 5) would have any bearing on the outcome of the series? To think that Oklahoma City lacking a third scoring option in three of their four Finals losses (Harden struggling in Game 3 & 4, Westbrook in Game 5) would be one of the possible reasons for the series' outcome is so outrageous.
It's not because the Heat came into the series with memories of last year deep in there mind. Not because they took those mistakes from last year and applied them to how they carried themselves this time around. Naw.
Not because Oklahoma City, while being a young and athletic squad, faced this motivated buzzsaw and found themselves slightly in over their heads. It wasn't because this incredibly young team making their first appearance on this stage simply fell into a long line of young franchises that had their parades rained on due to a lack of a veteran or veterans that could contribute greatly to the cause. The Thunder had Derek Fisher off the bench and Kendrick Perkins starting while most teams in recent history that won in their first trip to the Finals had more dominant vets than that, like the '94 Rockets with Hakeem, the '99 Spurs with David Robinson, the 2000 Lakers with Shaq and Ron Harper, the 2004 Pistons with four of their five starters, the 2006 Heat with Shaq (again) and Alonzo and Antoine and Payton, and the 2008 Celtics with Pierce, Garnett, and Allen. But still, that can't be a reason behind their loss.
Not because Oklahoma City, while being a young and athletic squad, faced this motivated buzzsaw and found themselves slightly in over their heads. It wasn't because this incredibly young team making their first appearance on this stage simply fell into a long line of young franchises that had their parades rained on due to a lack of a veteran or veterans that could contribute greatly to the cause. The Thunder had Derek Fisher off the bench and Kendrick Perkins starting while most teams in recent history that won in their first trip to the Finals had more dominant vets than that, like the '94 Rockets with Hakeem, the '99 Spurs with David Robinson, the 2000 Lakers with Shaq and Ron Harper, the 2004 Pistons with four of their five starters, the 2006 Heat with Shaq (again) and Alonzo and Antoine and Payton, and the 2008 Celtics with Pierce, Garnett, and Allen. But still, that can't be a reason behind their loss.
No, the Heat won the NBA Finals because the National Basketball Association and the referees they hired played the part of puppeteers from headquarters in New York City and from their three positions on the court, respectively.
It's clearly because the referees were screwing over, not screwing up. What do you mean refereeing is a difficult job? What do you mean it's humans making subjective calls based off of what they see in the heat of the moment from a vantage point on the court that is not always ideal? Naw, screw that. Those refs are getting paid. They love LeBron and the Heatles so much that they decided to give them all the calls. All of them. All. Of. Them. Any mistake made by the ref was the result of compensation, not because they just did a bad job.
Everyone in the league office is getting paid. Duh. Clearly the league is rigging games in favor of one team for reasons that are unclear. They denied LeBron a championship on two occaisions, but this time they decided to give him one because ????. Can't you see? The league picks the winners every year. One owner is pre-determined to win it all, while the other 29 owners sit back, say nothing, and watch all the money that most of the teams aren't making roll in.
It's all a conspiracy, and it unfolded right before your eyes.
Everyone in the league office is getting paid. Duh. Clearly the league is rigging games in favor of one team for reasons that are unclear. They denied LeBron a championship on two occaisions, but this time they decided to give him one because ????. Can't you see? The league picks the winners every year. One owner is pre-determined to win it all, while the other 29 owners sit back, say nothing, and watch all the money that most of the teams aren't making roll in.
It's all a conspiracy, and it unfolded right before your eyes.
If it isn't clear by now, I make all of the above statements with the utmost sarcasm. Personally, I feel that things turned out the way it did because one great team beat out another great team in a short, but entertaining, series. There are numerous reasons at play as to why the series turned out the way it did, including many I didn't even mention. I strongly, strongly, believe that cheating is not one of them. Assuming this championship is tainted or that there is foulplay involved in the series' outcome is, in my opinion, disrespectful to the hard work that these teams and their players and staff put in on a daily basis. Trying to peg the outcome of these finals or any other games on refereeing or league involvement is akin to losing a video game that you aren't good at and saying the computer is cheating. It's trying to find a go-to reason for something that is complex and essentially random in nature.
My point is not to make LeBron critics like him or the Heat. It's okay to want them to lose. Even for me, as a Bulls fan, I'm hoping for their downfall every time Miami and Chicago face off. However, I reached my boiling point about all the LeBron hate because people were so busy talking out of the side of their neck just to disparage anything that he or his team had done. All I want is perspective. If one wants to criticize LeBron, or anyone else for that matter, at least have facts to back it up.
That's all.
That's all.
Lastly, instead of trying to find conspiracies where there aren't, why not just enjoy the game for what it is? We are in the midst of a new era of exciting basketball. To think that what you see from the stands or on your TV screen is not organic is only doing a disservice to yourself.
