During one's path to a championship one has to make the leap, the leap that normal men can't make, the leap that players like Barkley, Miller, Stockton and Malone couldn't complete...now it's all on Lebron James dubbed the King since he was a teen to take that next step in his championship journey. With one phrase that included the words "talents" and "South Beach", James became the most hated man in the NBA. Now he has the opportunity to make it all go away because if this journey is a successful one, you can call him a lot of things but don't forget that in the very end you must call him champion.
Make no mistake about it the Miami Heat are Dwyane Wade's team and will always be but the 2nd round series with the Celtics that begins in mere hours which I have dubbed Armageddon will be James's series to win or lose. Two of the last three seasons, James's season has ended at the hands of the Boston Celtics in the dreaded 2nd round. The Celtics are to James what the Pistons were to Jordan and the time is now for James to take the next step in the evolution of all time greatness. The two standards that James can look to for inspiration is Kobe Bryant and his five championships and James's own teammate Dwyane Wade with his one championship. James has something now that he has never had in the past, he has a go to guy who's arguably the better player and he's on a class A organization with a championship pedigree who's gotten it done before. In the playoffs when the game slows down, talent wins and the Miami Heat have one of the greatest triumvirates of all time, all that's missing is the championship validation.
Facing the Boston Celtics will be akin to walking through the lake fire. No this isn't a championship round but with all due respect to the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks, the winner of this series will represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. The loser of the series will have to be carried off the court, make no mistake about it, epic isn't big enough to describe this clash...this is Armageddon! Today is why the
Decision was made, it was always about Boston from day one as they eliminated both James and Wade during last years playoffs and they made their improbable run to the NBA Finals only to feel heartbreak in LA during game 7. The Celtics are the team that I respect the most in the current NBA and that's why it's only fitting that my Miami Heat must go through them as a rite of passage. Lebron James may not be the best player on the court but he will be the most important, not Wade or Bosh, not Pierce or Garnett, today will be the start of James's basketball Opus.
The Celtics big three are all in the twilights of their career but that's why they are the most dangerous threat to the Heat and King James. The Celtics remind me of the seal fighting to capture one last gasp of air before he can escape from the clutches of the Great White Shark, that seal willing to do anything in it's power to survive and avoid those deadly jaws. In this series the Celtics are the desperate team, the Heat are the determined team but sometimes the shark misses the seal, sometimes desperate wins...shit happens, but the Heat must stay the course, stay as the hungry determined beast willing to hunt that seal down to death, willing to drain the last breath from the seal's body as predators do to survive. One isn't right, nor is the other wrong and it's simplistic in it's beauty, thus survival is at stake.
Lebron James and the Miami Heat must become that killing machine and it starts today by smelling that blood and going out for the kill and then do the same the next game and every game from now on. Treat every game like a new struggle for survival, and new battle for life, a new desire of hunger. The goal is simple, vanquish the Celtics and the destination will most likely be the NBA Finals with the home court advantage. The Celtics aren't going to lie down in this series, the Heat must beat them down, rip their souls out of their bodies and walk through that lake of fire!
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