The Paper champion Miami Heat held their first practice of training camp Tuesday as sited in an Associated Press article on ESPN.com. Miami decided to hold the practice at an Air Force base in Florida. Personally I can not wait for this NBA season to begin. It is the most anticipated season in any of the major sports that I can remember thus far in my lifetime. I am eager to see if this team comprised of 3 all-stars and a few spare parts can gel not only their egos, but also their talents. It seems like it is a foregone conclusion to everyone in the media that Lebron James and Dwayne Wade's game's will both work together without a hitch (See 2004 Lakers vs. Pistons). Granted with that much talent on one team it is likely that they'll figure it out for at a minimum a long playoff run. But there's more to winning in the NBA then just collecting a few all-stars especially when the top 2 have very similar styles of play. At some point, there will be a crossroads for this Miami Heat team. There will be a situation that calls for an "alpha dog" to step up and take charge. This is a key moment that occurs for nearly every championship team. When that moment comes, there are a few possible scenarios that may be played out. Dwayne Wade steps up, taking ownership of the team he's already led to a championship, and Lebron accepts it. Or, Lebron could step up being that he is widely regarded as the best player in the league (Durant supporters check back in about 5 months and I'll edit that), and Wade will accept taking the "Robin" role to Lebron's Batman. Whichever of these scenarios plays out, it would probably be positive for the team as a whole. The trouble could come if these two both attempt to be alpha dogs, and neither backs down. Kobe and Shaq could attest to this being a troublesome dynamic. This Heat team should be many things, the most of which will be interesting. It has always been my belief that teams win, not a collection of all-stars, but I may be swimming upstream come June 2011.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/trainingcamp10/news/story?id=5626101
I don't know about it being the most anticipated season, but it does look to turn out very interesting. If their games are to gel well, a 2004 Piston team is a great example. I like the Batman analogies, yet the Kobe-Shaq duo is a good contrast.
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