Even more important than your hatred for the city of New York is your hatred for the city of Dallas, Texas.  A sports fan from Philadelphia is trained to despise the city of Dallas harder than any other city in America, but the 2011 NBA Finals has caused me to go against everything I have been taught from birth.

In the 2011 NBA Finals, my cheers are reserved for some fine German hops in the form of Dirk Nowitzki. (Credit: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

I find myself cheering for the Dallas Mavericks harder and louder than I have ever cheered for any team from the city of Dallas in my entire life – which isn’t too hard to do considering I’ve been booing teams from that same town for the bulk of my fandom (except the Stars because I secretly had a man crush on Mike Modano in my young hockey watching career).

When the NBA Finals are displayed on my beautiful, high-def television, I’m sitting at the edge of my seat hoping beyond hope and wishing beyond wishes that every shot from Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, little J.J. Barea and every Mavericks player in between goes in.  I hope that LeBron and Wade go a combined 3-45 from the field.  I hope that Chris Bosh gets embarrassed trying to post up Tyson Chandler – something that wouldn’t happen because Bosh, a power forward, seems to have forgotten his post game since moving to Miami.

After game one, I started to feel a little down even though I’ve never cheered for the Mavericks before, but I absolutely lost it when Dirk Nowitzki drained a pretty three pointer and followed with game two winning lay-up after driving right by Chris Bosh from a high isolation set.

My friends and family back home in Philadelphia probably view this column as sacrilege or an act of Philadelphia sports treason. Still there’s reason to cheer for Dallas if you don’t live in the greater Miami metropolitan area. The Dallas Mavericks collectively represent George A. Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh playing the parts of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Chief Gall.  The Mavs are the last stand of true NBA basketball, and the basketball purist in me wants Dallas to win so badly just to protect the sanctity of the sport.

The best thing in any sports league is parity – the idea that any team can win a championship at any given time.  When the Heat brought James and Bosh to Miami to team with Wade, it, to me, started the beginning of the end of my NBA watching.  Even if Kobe Bryant had Pau Gasol, there was the chance that the Boston Celtics with their big three or the Orlando Magic with Howard, Turkoglu & co. could win a championship.

Call me a “Heat Hater”, a “LeBron Loather” or a “Bosh Basher” if you like, but I stand by my opinion that what came about in South Beach is absolutely bad for the NBA.  The Miami Big Three are three of the best players in the game today, and they’re young, which means they could theoretically win every NBA Championship until their contracts run out at the end of the 2014 season (unless they all accept their player options for the next two years).

The Philadelphia sports fan in me would pretend not to know me, but the NBA purist in me smiles proudly when I say: Go Dallas.

If you don’t win, I won’t be watching the NBA until 2016.

If those situations happen to be good moments, then most people don’t have a problem experiencing them again.  Of course, if they are events that lead to gunfire and people dying (a la “The Matrix”), then maybe that cat walking through the hallway is something you want to avoid.

Lebron James and the Miami Heat can't seem to make new experiences vs. the Celtics.

Similarly, the Miami Heat seem to have bad cases of deja vu this season whenever they play against guys wearing green jerseys with white “Celtics” lettering on the front.  Yesterday’s 85-82 loss in Boston reminded everyone why the Celtics are simply not afraid of the “Big 2 featuring Chris Bosh”.

Not only is yesterday’s loss significant because it gives the Celtics control of the #1 seed in the east, but it makes the April 10th game in Miami a must win game for the boys in South Beach.

If you talk to my colleague, Dr. Sports Fan, he may frown at my use of the phrase “must win” because it’s one of those phrases that gets thrown around liberally to get teams to find that hidden gear… but I say, “To hell with you, DSF.  The Miami Heat MUST WIN that game.”

Why?

Think about it.  If the Heat can’t beat Boston in the regular season, there is absolutely nothing that leads me to believe that Miami can do it in a seven game series in the playoffs — when Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, et al seem to always have that fourth, fifth and sixth gear.

Confidence remains an important quality to have when entering the postseason in any sport.  Lebron James and Dwyane Wade have little to be confident about as both men were bounced by the Celtics last year when they were on separate teams in the playoffs — a trend that may continue this year playing together if the Heat can’t figure this thing out.

Watching the Heat play yesterday, it was reminiscent of any pick up basketball game I’ve ever played at the local playground.  One guy has the ball isolated at the top of the key, and the next time around someone else would have the iso play.  Essentially it’s a modified version of the Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James offense.  Lebron gets the ball, and everyone else stands around to watch.  It’s more like an And-1 Mixtape game rather than an NBA game.

The difference in Miami is that two players take turns with this philosophy — LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.  A strategy that doesn’t work against a team like Boston that plays outstanding team defense.  Not only do the Celtics play very well against the iso, but defenders stay home on their men limiting open shots when the pass comes.

Watching the Heat play makes me want to tear my hair out sometimes because I keep yelling at the television begging Lebron or Wade to make the extra pass instead of chucking up horrible shots.  I swear if the camera panned to Spoelstra every time a bad shot went up (about 80% of the Heat’s possessions), you could probably see him on his knees in prayer hoping the ball would go through the nylon.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I’m going to do it anyway.  Pat [Riley].  Erik [Spoelstra].  Who is the point guard of this team?  Do you realize that’s the difference between your team now and the team that owns you?

Rajon Rondo has been Boston's cool breeze when there's Heat in the arena.

When KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce were assembled together, there was a little guy named Rajon Rondo that no one knew about.  The big question was if Rondo was good enough to handle playing with three superstars.  Of course, we found out the answer to that question: 10.6 ppg, 5.1 apg & 4.2 rpg in the Celtics championship season of ’07-’08.

Rondo, of course, has evolved since then (even if his jump shot hasn’t), and for obvious reasons — i.e. Miami’s lack of a point guard — Mr. Rondo has been Boston’s refreshing drink of water on a hot day dealing with the Heat:

• October 26, 2010 – 4 points, 17 assists
• November 11, 2010 – 8 points, 16 assists and this dunk
• Yesterday – 11 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists

Rondo has flourished in the immense spotlight of being the engine that drives the Celtics offense, but Miami hasn’t found the same lightning in a bottle.  They tried Chalmers at the point, and that failed.  Eddie House worked about as well as a square peg in a round hole.  Most recently, Lebron has been the point-forward of the team (a la Magic), and that has worked to an extent, but if you’re the Miami Heat, wouldn’t you rather have someone else distributing?

The Heat may get past the lower echelon in the Eastern Conference in the playoffs with the style of ball they’re playing, but it’s clear that doesn’t work against the Celtics or some of the other upper tier teams in the NBA — a group where Miami has a record of 1-6.

Clearly, there is a glitch in the Miami Heat’s matrix that needs to be corrected.  If no changes are made, then it’s hard for me to believe that this team is “the one” until they utilize more of the team based basketball the Celtics deployed to win their championship in year one.

(DISCLAIMER: Erik Spoelstra, head coach of the Miami Heat, did not make those comments, nor do I have any kind of personal relationship with him.  It’s called “scene setting”, folks.  Enjoy!)

As worried as Coach Spo looks, here, he needs to realize he's not the problem in Miami.

Listen, Eric.

The relatively flat season opener in Boston.

The rematch in Miami – (where Rajon Rondo did this).

Paul Milsap channeling his inner Reggie Miller with 11 points in 28 seconds leading to another home loss in overtime.

Last and certainly not least, the 93-77 home loss to the Indiana Pacers – yes, Danny Granger’s Indiana Pacers.

Needless to say, it hasn’t been the NBA record shattering season that you and the Heat planned for when LeBron James proclaimed he was taking his talents to South Beach – the newest way my friends and I here at TBS refer to dropping a deuce, by the way.  In fact, some Heat fans may actually describe the start of the season thus far as those “talents”.

Early last week, Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson made comments hinting at a possible mutiny by James, Wade et al to force you out and President Pat Riley to the bench (see Stan van Gundy circa 2002).  I’m not saying Jackson shouldn’t have made those comments because, after all, it’s Phil Jackson.  He’s the best coach in the league and he has a right to his opinion – along with a right to tell people to “kiss the rings.”

No matter how bad things may get in Miami – and they stand to get MUCH worse if you lose to Cleveland on Thursday night in LeBron’s homecoming – you shouldn’t be the scapegoat, and you aren’t to blame.  Look at me, Erik.  Do you believe that statement?  Repeat it because it’s the truth.  I know Dewayne Wade and Pat Riley were the masterminds behind this little cluster-eff that has stumbled to a 10-8 start.

Wade, James and Bosh were all given max contracts but neither your franchise guardyou’re your team president thought to themselves: “Hey, do we need a point guard? Or a physical presence down low? Or, you know.. A BENCH!?!”  No matter how much faith they may have had in Mario Chalmers and/or Carlos Arroyo, you knew sooner or later that wouldn’t work.

When this whole masterpiece was concocted, I saw a glaring weakness in this team, and you’ve seen this reiterated five times this season: Miami will struggle against elite point guards.

• 

  No point guard has killed the Miami Heat this year more than Boston's Rajon Rondo.

  Two games vs. Rajon Rondo: 12 pts, 33 assists – both losses

• Deron Williams: 21 pts, 14 assists – L (granted much of that loss had to do with Milsap’s 46)
• Chris Paul: 13 pts, 19 assists – L
• Steve Nash: 17 pts, 2 assists – W (good moral victory)
• Jason Kidd: 5 pts, 13 assists – L

Kidd’s “elite-hood” may be questionable, but you see my point, right?  Rondo will continue to haunt this team going forward, and don’t even think about what’ll happen when you guys have to play Derrick Rose, Tony Parker or Stephen Curry.  It’ll be frightening.

“I have another problem.  I have nightmares of Karl Malone, Larry Johnson in a dress and Rik Smits having amazing nights against my interior.”

Um.  Spo.  I hate to break this to you, but that was the reality of Paul Milsap, Emeka Okafor and Roy Hibbert.  (How you thought Smits was Hibbert baffles me, by the way.)

Bosh shouldn't ever be the guy you solely depend on for interior defense. Toronto knew that, and Miami's learning the hard way.

Anyway, Erik, you’re not to blame for the GAPING hole in the paint area.  Say what you will about Bosh: great rebounder, shot blocker, etc, but I know something that no one bothered to mention.  Bosh has NEVER been a banger.  He never really struck me as the guy that’s going to get his hands dirty and pull down those traffic rebounds or play insane defense on a physical big man.  He was too busy putting together his All-Star vote for me commercial.

In Toronto, that was Andrea Bargnani.  In Miami, that was Udonis Haslem.  He’s gone now for the year, and that’s something you’re going to have to live with from here on out.  Riley in his infinite wisdom has sought the services of Erick Dampier, which is the equivalent of putting a band aid on a severed arm.

As utterly tragic to watch as Milsap’s 46/9 game was, you guys still haven’t played against Tim Duncan (*yawn*, I know), Carlos Boozer or .. (dramatic pause) .. Pau Gasol & Andrew Bynum.  Now, I don’t want to speculate, but I already bet that Pau Gasol will score 50 points and get 20-25 rebounds… in the first half.

(Okay, this is the point where Spoelstra fainted, so after I revived him, he asked me the following:)

“Well, the one saving grace is that Mike Miller will come back and make everything better.  That’s still going to happen, right?”

Unless Mike Miller averages 20-25 points, 14-16 assists, 15-20 rebounds and plays lock down defense on guys over 6’9” tall, you have misplaced hope.  Miller could help with the whole “not having a point guard” problem, but that’s dependent on LeBron playing the point guard – which he has made it clear he won’t do.

A healthy Mike Miller is the last thing you should be praying for at this point.  You need a point guard who can defend every once in a while, make a few buckets and just assist.  You could also use a banger, a physical guy who does nothing but the dirty work – think Erick Dampier but about 300 years younger.

But everything’s not all bad, Spo.  Your team is fifth in points differential, top-15 in FG% and sixth in points allowed.  If you clean up the fact that you’re in the bottom half in the league in rebounds and overall interior toughness, there’s no reason that you can’t do well.  Of course, I’m one of the many outside of the metropolitan Miami area who wants this thing to go south faster than migrating birds in November, but that’s beside the point.

“This system worked in Boston, though, and they won a Championship in their first year.”

That is true.  It did work.

Because Kevin Garnett was a defensive god in 2008, Ray Allen was the “Jesus Shuttlesworth” of old, and Paul Pierce was, well, Paul Pierce.  Look at that team compared to your Heat.  Rondo and Chalmers were in similar “all I have to do is not screw up” states of mind, but Rondo was a rookie at the time.  No one knew and Rondo became one of the next great point guards.  Chalmers has been in the league for a few years now.  We know he sucks.

We've seen a formula like this work, but these three all deferred to one Paul Anthony Pierce.

The other reason why the ’08 Celtics worked so well is because everyone knew their place.  Yes, they had Ray Allen.  Yes, they had Kevin Garnett, but they (and everyone else basically) deferred to Paul Pierce… the captain.  Ray Ray knew all he really needed to do was knock down open jumpers and drive the lane when Garnett or Pierce got free.  Garnett knew all he had to do was block shots, put up 20/10 every night and hit that sweet 18 foot jumper he loves to put up.

My question to you is this: who is the leader of this team?  It looks as if it’s James, and that should not be the case.  James shouldn’t be leading this team in points, Wade should.  It’s Miami “Wade” County for a reason, Eric.  All James needs to be doing is driving the lane, defending and putting up the occasional jump shot.  If you really want to get frisky, tell LeBron his assists per game average needs to be hovering at around 9 or 10 (7.7 currently).  The mayor of Miami Wade County shouldn’t be deferring to James – needs to be the other way around.  Tell Dwayne to reaffirm himself as the man in this town.

He’s the alpha dog.

He’s Batman.

He’s the Train Man from The Matrix.  (James is Neo in case you’re lost.)

Here’s what I will say.  If Adrian Wojnarowski’s report in Yahoo! Sports is correct and James is unresponsive to actual coaching, who cares.  Keep doing it.  If LeBron is being an impetulant child, then someone needs to pull him aside and set him straight.  You may not be Wade’s guy anymore (as stated in A-Wo’s piece), but you’re THE guy right now.

This look from Riley says it all, but Riley and Wade need to take more of the Heat (no pun intended).

You’ve got 90 wins in your first two seasons with a team that was pretty much Wade plus a bunch of guys fresh out of a World War I infirmary – and the head case formerly known as Michael Beasley.  I wouldn’t blame you if you simply stepped down and told Riley, “You created this.  You coach it.”

But then again, in a perfect world, David Stern would never have allowed this nonsense to go down.

(*If you don’t see a column from me for a while, it’s because David Stern had me arrested and beaten senselessly for that last pot shot.*)

When Michael Jackson died last year, I was eating an Oreo cookie. Mid-dunk, I saw the bold red ‘breaking news’ font that just about every online news agency uses. When it was revealed that Pamela Anderson had a sex tape, I was frantically searching online despite the fact that my parents checked my browser history at the time. I just didn’t care.

In 24 hours, I’ll most likely be at work — despite all my urges to take a half day — with my cell phone on waiting text messages and Twitter updates with a general theme: “NBA Player X signs with Team A”. When some of these players sign with teams, I want to be able to look back on July 1, 2010 — the beginning of the most ballyhooed free agency period in professional sports (..yes, I used the word ballyhooed in a sentence..) — and say simply that I called it.

Everyone and their pets are trying to predict where LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer and (now) Dirk Nowitzki are going to sign. Of course, I have my own theories. I apologize in advance for making sense in some of these, but I just can’t help myself.

Keep in mind, I am merely concerned about the top tier free agents. If you want to know where Tyson Chandler is going to end up, you can find that out. But if you’re one of those fans on ‘Amir Johnson watch 2010’, you’re in the wrong place.

Another thing to note is that I’m assuming everyone exercises their early termination. Anyone with one of those can’t call their agent fast enough, anyway. Last, but not least, I think signing two or three max guys is a bit foolish. Yeah, you’ve got two or three of the best guys in the league, but who else. With that in mind, I only see one team that logically should do it. Now that’s out of the way, let’s get started.

LeBron James — remains with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The King of Cleveland should stay that way since he can hand pick his coach and general manager. Byron Scott and Kevin Pritchard, come on down. After that, it’s just a matter of getting the right people around LeBron James. A 300-pound roadblock and a guy who has too much in common with Gilbert Arenas is not what they should have in mind.

Dump Shaq and get more athletic. I get the Shaq for Howard argument, but there’s a better way to do it: like Boston’s way (bodies for Howard & athletic guys for the shooters). Enter Tyson Chandler and Mike Miller. All Chandler does is block shots and grab rebounds. Perfect. All Mike Miller does is shoot 40% from 3PT and be surprisingly nimble on the wing. Perfect. Done and done. If that doesn’t work, Antawn Jameson’s contract ends at the end of next season … Perfect.

Dwyane Wade — resigns with the Miami Heat. There’s something lovely about being the guy that everyone wants to play with. LeBron wants to play with him. Bosh wants to play with him. Wade is like the kid in the neighborhood that always gets picked first. He already has a ring, and he knows how to get there if the ‘09-’10 season is any indication. The fact that Miami made the playoffs is still baffling.

Miami can take another max contract even after giving Wade one, and this is the only team where two max guys makes any sense. Add Carlos Boozer to the corpse of Jermaine O’Neal in the front court. Use what’s left to pry Raymond Felton from Larry Brown’s fingers, move Michael Beasley to small forward (where he may be more productive) and watch the wins pile up.

Chris Bosh — signs with the Chicago Bulls. The rumor is that wherever LeBron goes, Bosh is sure to follow like Mary’s little lamb. Take a look at some of these recent inside-outside combos:

• Magic Johnson/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• John Stockton/Karl Malone
• Steve Nash/Amare Stoudemire
• Mark Jackson/Rik Smits

Okay, maybe not the last one, but there’s a point. Take an all-world point guard, give him a big man and build around it. A Chris Bosh/Derrick Rose union instantly makes the Bulls major players in the East. Only problem is they don’t have a shooting guard. Solution: Use that money you were going to spend on another max guy to get Ray Allen. The Finals performance may scare you away, but he’s still Jesus Shuttlesworth. He’s still the guy who can rattle off 20-25 ppg.  If you don’t want to overpay for Allen, Randy Foye is a younger and capable substitute.

Amare Stoudemire — signs with the New Jersey Nets. Okay, before everyone’s jaw drops simultaneously, hear the plan. Remember the reason for Chris Bosh joining Chicago and Derrick Rose? Same rule applies here to adding Amare Stoudemire to a team that has a top-10 point guard in Devin Harris. Add Brook Lopez and an emerging young shooting guard in Courtney Lee. Chris Douglas-Roberts becomes the guy in the starting five that concentrates on lock-down defense, and suddenly, you’ve got a 35-40 win team for the ‘Mad Russian’.

If the Nets really wanna take a giant leap, see if Paul Pierce wants to join in on the action. Pierce won’t command the ball like a Rudy Gay or a Joe Johnson, but he does bring a winning attitude to a team which, quite frankly, didn’t do a lot of winning last year. The Nets probably don’t want to become the Detroit Lions of the NBA, so changing the culture of the team is necessary.

Joe Johnson — signs with the New York Knicks. Basically Johnson goes to the Knicks because New York will probably miss out on everyone else. Why, you ask? Because with the exception of Mike D’Antoni, the Knicks have nothing to build around. Johnson will join David Lee and invest in Kevlar because when the Knicks panic when their fans make like Los Angeles in 1992 … wait for it… Gilbert Arenas will be traded to the Knicks! The best the Knicks could possibly hope for is a Johnson/Rudy Gay/David Lee combo with Chris Duhon running the point and a decaying talent in Eddy Curry at center.

At 12:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 1, it would only be fitting if NBA Commissioner David Stern walked out of the NBA offices and played a trumpet like they do before the Kentucky Derby. At the end of the day, some teams will win, others will show and some will just flat out lose. Needless to say, it’s going to be fun to see which NBA horse ends up in the winner’s circle.

The Phoenix sees Lebron James rising over Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade for the '09 MVP

LeBron. Kobe. D-Wade.

When I hear those three names, I think of a great marketing platform for the NBA. They’re all in capes, musketeer hats and fencing swords. (Patent pending). For now, just consider it the battle for the MVP award for 2009: “One award for all, but only deserving of one.”

Kobe “Where’s the Beef?” Bryant. The man most commonly associated with the Los Angeles Lakers (post-Shaquille O’Neal, anyway). Kobe has been described as the best all-around guard in the NBA. I can’t really say LeBron is, because he plays every position but center. Kobe has led the Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference for the second straight year and … But he is not my MVP vote.

Dwyane Wade will get his awards. The scoring title should be just enough to keep Wade happy for the playoff months and the offseason. He has a ring. He has a Finals MVP award. He SHOULD get the Defensive Player of the Year award, as he broke the record for blocked shots by a guard (106). He’ll probably get his money, too, which is equally important. There’s a certain comfort in knowing you are the difference between a team winning 15 games in 2007-08 and a team winning 43 games in ‘08-09. How much is a +28 win differential worth? I guess we’ll find out in 2010.

Too often, the most valuable player gets mistaken for the most valuable player on a team. D-Wade unfortunately falls under this category because he’s Miami’s MVP, not the NBA’s. Kobe’s in this category, too. Clearly, he is the Lakers’ MVP. My friend Jeremy wanted me to admit that Pau Gasol meant more to the Lakers than Kobe Bryant. We then proceeded to get in a Rowdy Roddy Piper/Keith David style fight a la “They Live.” “PUT THE GLASSES ON!” … Obviously, I won that argument.

I digress from the point of this article, though. My apologies. Seasoned veterans of my stories know that I’m vulnerable to tangents. Anyway …

I do have to admit that there is clearly one player out of the three that transcends the sport. When he steps on the floor, he has more impact both on and off the court than anyone. Since I’ve already kinda spilled the beans, anyway, I won’t keep you in suspense any more. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, your 2009 NBA MVP … Mr. LeBron James.

On the court, let’s face it. The guy is a beast. 6-foot-8, 250 pounds. There’s nothing funnier than watching a scrub center stand in the lane when LeBron is driving and then watching an ole move two seconds before LeBron throws it down. Seriously, how many basketball posters and cards feature LeBron James dunking on the dome of the Greg Ostertags of the world? I don’t know how many times I need to explain this. When LeBron James is coming down the lane … MOVE OR BE EMBARRASSED! I’m just waiting patiently for the Vince Carter/Frederik Weis moment in LeBron James’ career. Hmm … Hasheem Thabeet is headed to the NBA next year. I might get my wish.

Statistically, he’s redonkulous. He leads the Cavaliers in five different categories: total points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. Know how many others have done that? THREE! Dave Cowens in ‘78, Scottie Pippen in ‘95 and Kevin Garnett in ‘03.

Oh wait, there’s more. This year, he became first person to be top three in scoring (28.8) AND top 25 in rebounds (7.6), blocks (1.15), assists (7.2) and steals (1.69). By the way, he shoots almost 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. Do you need more? I think I can stop now with the offensive stats. They’re impressive. Moving on.

I like Wade for Defensive Player of the Year, but LeBron is 1A. If either win the award, I wouldn’t be surprised. Every night, LeBron guards the best player on the opposing team. I love LeBron/Kobe match-ups. I love LeBron/Paul Pierce match-ups. I remember one specific game where LeBron was sent to guard Andre Iguodala, and “A.I. v. 2.0″ shot 1 of 13 from the field with about 8 million turnovers. Part of his defensive stats should go to Mo Williams’ offense, though. For whatever reason, you don’t spend as much energy when there’s a legitimate No. 2 scoring threat on the floor.

Let’s be honest. I’ve been saying this for years, but before the “Big Three” came along in Beantown, LeBron James was the only thing keeping the Eastern Conference relevant. After Detroit won the title in 2004, the Eastern Conference fell into obscurity faster and harder than Cuba Gooding Jr. post-”Jerry Maguire.” You keep thinking the conference will bounce back, but then “Boat Trip” comes out. (NOTE: I deem the Miami title was complete aberration because … c’mon … did anyone really think Dallas was going to win that series?) LeBron makes you think about the possibility that the Eastern Conference can do something against the powerhouses of the Western Conference (i.e. the Lakers).

Equally important is what LeBron does for the greater Cleveland area. Look at what that city has become since LeBron entered the league. He has single-handedly resurrected that town from the depths of “Michael Jordan over Craig Ehlo” hell. He is one NBA Championship away from turning “The Drive” into what LeBron James did in the NBA Finals against the Lakers when Pau Gasol refused to get out of the way, not what Elway did to the Browns in the AFC Championship. Count how many times he has stated he wants to change the attitude of the city? Cleveland used to be just as bad as Boston pre-2004 World Series Championship and present-day Wrigley Area. Now, Cleveland has the hope factor … which may or may not be the most powerful force in town right now.

What I love about my life right now is the fact I get to watch three of the best basketball players of my generation after seeing some of the greatest combination of players from the ’80s and ’90s: Magic, Bird, Jordan, Erving (to a lesser extent because he was at the tail end of his career), Isaiah, Shaq, Duncan … the list is endless. This year’s MVP race contains quite possibly one of the greatest trios of all time. I kinda wish that Dwight Howard was in the mix. That would have made it interesting.

For the time being, I’m happy with what I’m given.