Miami’s Changing: How the Heat Grabbed the Target Overnight

A lot of things have changed this past week in Miami. It is now the epicenter of the professional basketball world – something that hasn’t happened since the Shaq trade in 2004 and the subsequent championship in 2006. It isn’t just all the pundits doubting Miami’s immediate success citing the dubious nature of the roster, but everyone around the league has taken notice. Battlelines have been drawn. Armies are being created to aim for the new kingpins – and it isn’t the Lakers that are being focused upon.

(Thanks Winemiller for this amazing video! Check out his YouTube channel.)

Take a look at what Kevin Durant said via Twitter:

“Now everybody wanna play for the heat and the Lakers? Let’s go back to being competitive and going at these peoples!”

There was something that Dwyane Wade said a week ago at their press conference that should ring true to all basketball and NBA fans – this Heat team is expecting the challenge. They want it. They don’t want to have the rest of the teams lay down and hand them the trophy. They want to earn it. And they are committed to getting it.

So, Kevin Durant’s reaction, seemingly idle for the casual or (let’s be honest) bandwagon fan, is a true litmus test of the thinking going on in the NBA league wide. Execs feared this scenario, but didn’t truly expect it to happen. Now that it has, things have dramatically changed. Rod Thorn admitted that he would not be retiring if the Nets had landed Lebron James, for example.

Miami is changing. Changing the game, changing the league, changing its franchise. The Heat thought that they had reached the pinnacle when the acquired Shaq and paired  him up with Wade on their way to a championship. This situation with Lebron James and Chris Bosh coming to town is very different. The stakes are raised. The expectations are not just one championship, but several. The challenge is immense, the pressure will be, too. But where will the pressure come? The players in that Heat locker room are serious about winning and have the mental fortitude to go about achieving their mission. The media? They will crawl behind doubting everything but will jump on board once this team gets it done. All of this has happened within the span of a week. One week ago, the Heat had a great offseason in keeping Wade and adding Bosh. Then James made his Decision, and all of a sudden a loud thud sounded within the minds of everyone watching Lebron’s interview. He was going to South Beach.

And so would the rest of the NBA universe.