Exactly what I said would happen. The creation of an Evil Empire is renewing interest in basketball among non-sports fans, which is what Jordan did in the '90s. Hoops Cartel. I like the sound of that.
its huge news. it could be sports history. 3 top players taking a pay cut to work together. it sets an example for other players and may even force some of them to do the same if they want to take a championship from team. i personally think there are too many teams and too many games for how little talent there is. i think these huge contracts are a method to keep the talent spread out by giving the top players MILLIONS of reasons not to do what these 3 did.
If the Heat win 75 on their way to sweeping through the playoffs and the championship, then you'll start seeing some awe; THEN it'll be significant to more than just us. But even as it is, the event of having the top three free agents in ANY sport sign with one team, emphasizing their desire to win championships by leaving $50 million dollars to the team for it to surround them with a good supporting cast, is unprecedented. Ira Winderman commented on it recently; asked if something like this could ever happen again, he said it was nearly impossible. A team would have to clear its roster of all but one player; it would have to have no dead cap money weighing it down; it would need to convince players of the magnitude of our Trinasty to take less money than they're worth - but not just a little less - enough to populate the rest of the roster with GOOD complementary pieces. Not likely.
I think the pomp and circumstance of watching those 3 go to Miami was better than any game, I still wont watch the NBA, well maybe the elimination game of the Celtics, as I do every year.....I got turned off by the NBA after Shaq left Orlando, it has seriously gone down hill from there....sub .500 teams making the playoffs, watered down teams, alot of indiviuals....college basketball has it all of the NBA... That being said I am glad for Miami, and their hardcores, its cool if Miami gets the winning atittude....
This cannot be stressed enough. A couple of guys on a message board (HD and me) cooked up this scheme to clear cap space and put the heat in this position. then the evidence began to roll in around 18 months ago that this is indeed what was being cooked up, and they did pull it off. This was brilliant GM work. They rebuilt in two years. The two years? playoff appearances as 5 seeds. This might have been the finest GM job ever done in any sport.
I like "The Cartel", but if Maureen freaking Dowd coins the nickname and we can't, that's sad. I guess that's why she has a Pulitzer though. Smart people and their smarty smart words...
I'd have to agree that all the people who were claiming that this is/would be bad for NBA have so far proven to be dead wrong.
Are you kidding me?! This is horrible for the NBA! NBA FANS HATE THIS SO MUCH THAT EVERY ARENA THE HEAT PLAY IN FOR THE NEXT 5 YEARS WILL HAVE BEEN SOLD OUT. No one's jealous of a team centered around 3 selfless superstars playing for the sole purpose of winning championships. Not hating but, how're those three supposed to keep their egos in check? Again not hating, not at all. Remains to be seen really. Remains to be seen whether two all-team defenders can play championship defense. Remains to bet seen whether 3 past team-assist leaders can share the ball. Not hating at all here, just saying there are many questions to be answered. Like how are they now supposed to fill out a 15-man roster? Never mind Anthony, Bosh, Chalmers, James, Wade, Haslem, Miller. How are they supposed to get 8 more... oops, forgot Juwan Howard... 7 more players? Who's to say 7-12 don't suck? Three superstars does not a championship make. What has today's NBA been reduced to? I mean, great players of the likes of Charles Barkley would never have teamed up with a Ewing and Wilkins given the opportunity because these guys hated each other, and moreover...