Miami Heat Tapped As Most Hated Team In NBA
The Miami Heat's Dream Team, LeBron, Dwayne and Chris (If you don't know their last names by now, please go read something else) made a reserved, understated entrance in Miami. Just a few billion or so fans gathered for an intimate little get together earlier this year beneath the jumbo TV screens at the American Airlines Arena, and immediately the whole world ganged up on the team, the fans, the town, the sea cows in Biscayne Bay. And the hatred hasn't stopped coming. I say hatred, because it was made official today in USA Today. A front page sports headline in the paper - that is distributed across the entire USA! - read, "The Miami Heat: The New Team America Already Loves To Hate." Ouch. What did we do to deserve such vitriol? There have been a few unassuming remarks by the Dream Team. After arriving in Miami, Lebron, just a regular guy who was followed around by TV news helicopters all day, told the crowd at the Triple-A that "We're going to make - not just the NBA - but the world know that the Heat is back!" Someone has a problem with that? What's to hate about these unpretentious fellas? The night before, Lebron, who refers to himself modestly as "King James," said it was a "real humbling experience" to be in the position of having been courted by six NBA teams. That unabashed humility was revealed for all to see on an hour-long, prime-time ESPN special during which LeBron announced that he would dump Cleveland (what's not to dump?) in favor of South Beach. Okay, so <b>...</b>