TROUBLE IN ‘Miami Heat’ PARADISE

It was supposed to be THE perfect marriage.  A match made in heaven.  A marriage of dreams that many would soon come to envy.  Except now, that perfect marital bliss seems to be on the rocks.

It’s the union of LeBron James and Dwayne Wade (with Chris Bosh as the side-mistress) of the Miami Heat.  “The Big 3” (as they are called) were supposed to be the most perfectly constructed basketball team ever, promising to drive fear into the hearts and minds of any NBA player who dared to cross them.  Except with only 1 month left in the regular season and the NBA playoffs just around the corner, the Miami Heat find themselves anything but perfect.

The brand new tandem of Amare’ Stoudamire and Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks beat them in the final seconds.  Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic made a wild comeback to outplay them for the win. Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs blew them out of the water. Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls made James miss a wild, driving shot in the final seconds for a Bulls victory.  And now after four straight losses, the Miami Heat seem to be regressing, the gulf between James and Wade seems to be widening, and Chris Bosh is appearing in post-game press conferences in tears.

“I’m used to coming down in the fourth, having the ball, making mistakes, getting a chance to make up for them, etc.,“ Wade told reporters last Sunday. “You try to do your best. That’s all you can do. That was one of the things we got to understand when we all decided to come together. That there were going to be sacrifices that have to be made.  And you live with the consequences.”  Hmmm…

Dwayne Wade is starting to say publicly what he’s been saying privately for a long time: “Why don’t I get the ball when it matters?” Miami is no longer his town, and the Heat no longer his team.  2 Alpha males on the court at the same time. The clock ticking away the final seconds of a game. Except LeBron has consistently held the ball in his own hands for the final shot — and has consistently missed and lost the game. Needless to say, the locker room has been a scene of anger, chaos and confusion.

The Heat were supposed to be perfect. The Heat were supposed to run gunshot through the entire league, easily slaying all victims in its path toward multiple championships. Except with merely a month until the playoffs, the Heat finds themselves in an unexpected predicament — they’re struggling. And LeBron finds himself in an uncharacteristic situation — having to say he’s at fault and he’s sorry.

“I told my team I’m not going to continue to fail them late in games,” James told reporters in Miami. “I put a lot of the blame on myself.”

MY team!

And exactly how did Wade react to LeBron’s words? “The Miami Heat are exactly what everyone wanted, losing games,” Wade said sarcastically and obviously frustrated. “The world is better now because the Heat is losing.”

Should we feel sorry for Dwayne Wade, who owned the Miami Heat before allowing the LeBron James circus to come to town? Should we feel sorry that Wade now feels like Scottie Pippin to LeBron’s Michael Jordan? Or should we remind Wade that Derrick Rose wanted no part of LeBron James on HIS Chicago Bulls, but now that he’s made his bed, he must lie in it?

If anyone was looking for an “I told you so” moment, the Miami Heat may have just handed it right over!