Whitlocked!
By hogmaninla
An Unfortunate Thing Happened On the Way to “My Crappy Life” Today
Just as LeBron James had predicted in his post game news conference for the large group of us out there that were rooting against the Miami Heat during the NBA Finals, I was still happy they had lost. There was even a spring in my step and a smile on my face while I managed to weed through the early part of my day. LeBron was wrong; my ordinary life didn’t seem so crappy after all. Then a horrible thing happened…Whitlock happened! Yep, Jason Whitlock happened and turned my great day into a crappy day. The unfortunate thing is he used LeBron James as the linchpin to make it happen.
When given a platform to make fools of ourselves, most will follow through. Don’t believe me? Turn on any reality show and watch the human experience unfold; Darwinism at it’s finest. Not enough? Watch LeBron James pout then stick his foot in his mouth during any post game press conference after a loss. Need more? You can always log on to Foxsports.com to read Jason Whitlock’s daily column.
Whitlock has become a shock jock sports journalist with dwindling credibility with each opinion piece he writes. His latest manifesto is titled “Heat should pull the plug on Big Three”. Whitlock writes that the Miami Heat’s season is a failure and the Heat organization should trade LeBron James as soon as possible, “before it dies of friendly fire. Now it’s time to move on before they inflict further damage on their reputations.”
REALLY???
This is when my day was turned upside down. This is when I was “Whitlocked”! My happy feelings from cheering against LeBron James and winning were turned to backing the Miami Heat and LeBron James because of Whitlock. I hate being Whitlocked!
Getting to Game 6 of the NBA Finals means the Heat has to blow up their roster because they lost? Because the Heat finished two games short of a NBA Championship they should trade off major parts of their roster and start over? What’s another way to ask this ridiculous question? They had a nice run but now it’s over because LeBron didn’t get number 1 of 7? They have their reputations to worry about so trade them off?!?! What street credibility garbage is this? Whitlock gives LeBron grief for quitting in the 4th quarter and now advocates for him to quit the Miami Heat so his street cred can somehow stay intact? Because Whitlock decrees it, it must be so?
There were major flaws in the Miami Heat’s game during the NBA Finals but nothing that cannot be fixed. They were beaten by a better TEAM, that’s all. They were not beat by better raw talent or better highlight reel inducing players. They were beat because they are not able to play team ball yet and Dallas can. No need to push the panic button and wholesale LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and/or Chris Bosh. Miami will have to learn how to play better team basketball. This year’s failure can be their springboard for future success. James, Wade, and Bosh will have to better define their roles within the offense and learn how to play within those roles.
NBA History Lesson
There is a history of “Big Three” combos having to learn to play together. Jordan, Pippen, and Horace Grant came together in the 1987-1988 season. It took the Bulls “Big Three” three years to beat the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Playoffs. When they finally beat the Pistons in the 1990-1991 Eastern Conference Finals, they went on to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 in the NBA Finals and never looked back. It took the Bulls time to learn how to win. The same patience and approach is needed with the Miami Heat. There is no argument about the amount of talent the Heat has on their team. They just have to harness that talent and learn how to win together.
Just to Clarify, Dallas exposed Miami’s lack of a half court offense, Erik Spoelstra’s unwillingness to double team Dirk Nowitzki, and LeBron James uneasiness in the fourth quarter. This is the same Dallas Mavericks team that beat a younger and more athletic Portland Trailblazers team, a younger and more athletic Oklahoma City Thunder team, and a talented but instantly dysfunctional Los Angeles Lakers team.
LeBron was in a win-win situation in Cleveland. He had less talent around him and his Cavaliers’ teams were not expected to win. So if the “team” lost but he put up good numbers he still won. With higher expectations placed upon him during his first season with the Miami Heat and no more excuses to hide behind, his real nature was exposed… He hasn’t learned how to play the game yet. You can call LeBron a quitter and it would be hard to argue against that point of view. But the underlying theme is LeBron is still learning how to play a different game than what he has been accustomed to playing in the past.
LeBron will be 27 years old in October. Jordan didn’t win his first NBA Championship until his 7th year in the league at the ripe old age of 27 years old. LeBron’s time will come if he strives to develop his game and stop relying completely on his physical abilities. He has a lot of learning and work ahead of him. Hopefully, for the sake of his street cred and to see Jason Whitlock be proven wrong, LeBron will spend his summer learning the game and developing his basketball skills. LeBron now knows what he needs to do to be a better player.
As for being Whitlocked. Whitlock is looking for attention and I can’t hold back giving it to him. In a shameless act of self promotion, he’s placing himself in a win-win situation. If Miami does not win the 2012 NBA Championship, he can say “I told you so”. If Miami does win, he can say “They learned from last year and put it all together, like they were supposed to do”. Bush league.