I watched Game 5 of the NBA Finals at Stoney’s in Denver, where I didn’t spot one person in Dallas garb, yet I might as well have been watching this thing with Mark Cuban, Dirk’s mom and J.R. Ewing. It was surreal — all these Denverites were passionately cheering for Dallas. A couple of folks even rose from their seats when Jason Terry hit that no-no-no-YES 3-pointer in the fourth.
From my experience at Stoney’s, the articles I’ve read and the tweets I’ve seen, it appears that Dallas is, well, America’s team. Or, more specifically, it seems that a lot of people just want to see Miami lose (and Dallas happens to be the team with the forum to make that happen).
Perhaps it provides a sense of cruel joy to see that the Heat can’t stand the heat? Or maybe it’s just fun to watch LeBron’s talents fail in South Beach.
I’ve written numerous times how I believe LeBron James is basketball’s A-Rod, an undeniable talent but a persona that makes fans cringe.
Then came the amusing James news this past weekend from The Washington Post. So, it seems LeBron had texted an NBA player and began the text with, “Yo, this is King James.”
The player, speaking anonymously, told the paper: “I was like, ‘Give me a break. You’re going to call yourself that?’ Do you think Michael Jordan texts people by starting with, ‘Yo, this is His Airness.’ Come on, get over yourself.”
No, this isn’t Woodward-and- Bernstein stuff, but it’s just another example of how LeBron can make the entire circulation of a newspaper roll its eyes.
A recent poll asked: What do you make of the criticism leveled at LeBron James during these NBA Finals? There were four choices. Here’s the one that received the most votes, with 46 percent: Justified and not excessive (44,878 total votes were tabulated).
Now, it’s quite possible LeBron James will start playing like LeBron James tonight, forcing a Game 7. But it’s been utterly flummoxing and flabbergasting to watch LeBron become a fourth-quarter nonfactor. And please don’t give me that “Um, Ben, he did get a triple-double” stuff — LeBron is the best player in the game; he can’t be the fifth-best player on the court in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
It seems that even other NBA teams have been rubbed the wrong way by Miami. The Mavericks’ DeShawn Stevenson recently told The Dallas Morning News: “Coach said a lot of coaches called him about how to play the Miami Heat. I just think a lot of people want to see us win this thing. … I take it as (Miami) is not liked for what happened this summer with getting everybody the way they did it and obviously the way they play and showboat, all them things. I just think we’re — I don’t want to say clean-cut — but we’re the guys that play the right way, pass the ball and do things.”
Perhaps the best way to sum up the dislike for Miami is that even some San Antonio fans are rooting for their rivals from Dallas. My pal Peter Burns, a big Spurs fan, tweeted during Game 5 from @PeterBurns Radio: “I feel like the Russian crowd in Rocky 4. Finally saw the light, now I’m rooting for the underdog.”
(Later that night, he tweeted: “With all the Mavericks love I’ve dished out tonight, there is an 85% chance when I wake up tomorrow I’ll say my account was hacked).”
