The Heat Hears The Hate
Well, that didn’t take long. Four games in — a stinker against the Boston Celtics followed by three dominant performances versus the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic and the New Jersey Nets — and LeBron James had heard enough negative reaction from all citizens of the Planet Earth that he came close to uttering to the two words that the Fonz was never able to. And despite his pseudo-defiant Nike commercial, where he rhetorically asked, “What should I do?” you can tell that deep down he’s actually thinking, “Oh man, what the fuck should I do?”
So far, the media coverage has been in lockstep, trying to paint the Heat as a besieged group of superstars who’ve filled the role of villains without actually being bad guys. And while the players will eventually emerge from their cocoons and begin appearing on gossip pages as well as sports pages, for now they are still keeping themselves sequestered until the fan rancor dies down. Prudently, I think.
Boston on opening night was a straight madhouse. With Celtics fans breathing down their necks, Heat players were disorganized and their boyish coaching placeholder Erik Spoelstra looked like he’d eaten some bad chowder. Meanwhile, Bosh crumpled and Wade wilted under the physical duress of Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo. Neither was factor in the final outcome. Despite the meerkat-iness of his teammates, James did what James has been known to do: he took the game over in spectacular fashion, transforming the team into the Cleveland Cavaliers circa six months ago. And just like that team, they lost in Boston. Score: 88–80.
The next two games were angry beat-downs, with the James and Wade taking turns playing “the Man”. Clearly, the double-barrel attack is a ways off, if it ever even manifests itself. It’s tough for two guys to take 30 shots apiece, unless you consider Kobe Bryant and his ego to be two guys.
The Heat’s home opener against the Sixers was a not-as-close-as-it-looks 97–87 win. The crowd welcomed the team to the tune of “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins. (As if there would be a more appropriate song for Miami, a cultural Mecca that peaked in 1981.) The Heat players showed boundless energy, eagerly playing the hammer to Philly’s nail.
But the result of the Magic game, a 96–70 Heat win? Now, that was a shocker. After all, Orlando was supposed to challenge the Heat. They would be the People’s Champions, the homegrown team. The crowd was nasty, and not surprisingly, the Heat players were defensive afterward, offering monosyllabic responses to the overheated reporters, before retreating to their hotel rooms. So you knew it was coming — James’s “I’ve made mistakes” moment — but you didn’t know when.
James’s mea culpa, which he repeatedly swore was unnecessary, began to emerge after the Heat’s complete obliteration of the New Jersey Nets, a “team” in name only. I’m not saying the Nets are awful but I will offer that when your best player is a twin named Brook Lopez, the chances of you being beaten both regularly and thoroughly are pretty great.
With their new Russian owner/Bond villain doppelganger Mikhail Prohkorov looking on from his skybox, the Nets were very competitive until the opening tip, eventually losing 101–78. Finally, the Heat’s super trio were evenly overwhelming, taking turns scoring at will, rebounding and playing inspired defense. Even Bosh, who has been charitably referred to as Ringo Starr, but is actually closer to a more coordinated Samwise Gamgee, was forceful in calling for the ball.
Say this for the Nets fans, though: they are a determined lot, relentlessly hurling abuse at the Heat. Their most personal vitriol was directed at James specifically. Every time he touched the ball the crowd howled, an effort that lasted the entire game. Usually, the fans don’t even stay in the arena the entire game.
It must have been unsettling for the Heat players as a hint of things to come, because New Jersey is as dispirited a fan base as it gets. The Nets fans have been like a whipped dog since Kidd, RJ and K-Mart left town. And with their screechy new coach Avery Johnson, respectability is still a long ways away. The only time Michael Jordan ever visited during the playoffs he was treated like a returning hero. The look on his face during warm-ups was a mixture of surprise and disgust.
After the Nets game, James emerged from the visitor’s locker room, which resembles a charmless concrete bunker, and quietly admitted the he had some real regrets about the way his TV extravaganza, “The Decision,” was handled.
“If I had to go back on it,” he said slowly, grudgingly, “I probably would do it a little bit different.”
He’s almost ready to admit the obvious. Not quite. But then again, there are 25 more cities to visit. Including Cleveland.
Tony Gervino is a New York City-based editor and writer obsessed with honing his bio to make him sound quirky. He can also be found here.
Photo by achihm, via Flickr.