Why I No Longer Hate The Heat

The Decision.  The championship-like celebration they threw announcing Bosh and Lebron’s arrival.  The endless and nauseating coverage from ESPN.  Lebron’s reminder that we will all, in fact, wake up to worse lives than him every day after the Heat lost in the finals.

Chris Bosh appeared in Entourage for God’s sake.

Man, the Heat sure gave us a lot of reasons to hate them.  And I can safely say I indulged in all of the opportunities I had to rip on Lebron, Wade, Bosh, and pretty much the entire Heat organization.

But here is the thing: I just don’t care about hating the Heat anymore.  I am by no means rooting for them; but I am over rooting against them.

Let’s examine some of the reasons why people hate the Heat and why these things just don’t bother me anymore.

The Decision

Over it.  Lebron certainly showed an incredible lack of judgment, yes, but what NBA player hasn’t?  At this point he has more than made up for that display of immaturity.  He is definitely more focused, clear-headed, and committed to playing basketball rather than being the center of the universe.

The Media’s Coverage

I am supposed to hate the Heat because ESPN doesn’t have even a modicum of decent journalism left in them?  It isn’t the Heat’s fault that Sportscenter dedicates seemingly 99% of its time to them.   Bad sports coverage is to blame, not the Heat.

They Whine and Complain About Every Call

Who the hell doesn’t in the NBA?  The only reason the public sees it more is because the Heat have more nationally televised games than other teams, which is what happens when you are one of the best teams in the league.  Every team has a player that bitches and moans the way the Heat do. Celtics: Pierce and Rondo. Thunder: Westbrook.  Spurs: Duncan and Parker.  Lakers: Kobe.  Stars get to have their way with the refs, get over it.

They Haven’t Won a Title

People love to hate the Heat because of their lack of success.  This seems a bit like backwards logic to me.  How can you hate a team that hasn’t had any lasting success?  That is what made Jordan and the Bulls so easy to hate.  They were dominant and made you feel like your team stood no chance.  The Heat are competitive, but you don’t fear them like you did the Bulls or Lakers dynasty.  Damned if they do win, damned if they don’t.  Hardly seems fair.

People have become so blinded by their own hatred of the Heat that they lost track of why they did at all.  The Heat are hardly villains at this point.

The Heat are flawed which actually makes them that much more interesting.  People hated them because they figured Bosh, Wade and Lebron would roll through teams to consecutive championships.  But that hasn’t been the case yet.  If anything, that makes me more intrigued and inclined to watch.  They aren’t a juggernaut.  They’re just a good team with a chance to win their first championship, just like the Thunder.

Call me crazy, but that hardly seems like a good reason to hate a team.