I have a confession to make: I was one of those people. That's right, I was rooting for the Miami Heat to win a championship all season long. The reason isn't that I liked LeBron James leaving Cleveland; I was actually quite dismayed about that for quite some time. However, I like to see greatness, and James and Dwyane Wade, I reasoned, were capable of things which I had never seen. Now, I liked Dallas, particularly Dirk, but it just didn't seem reasonable that the Mavericks really could outplay the Heat over a best-of-seven series. Against that Miami defense? There's no way Nowitzki, Kidd, and Terry would get open shots. Plus, I reasoned, LeBron would show everyone that he does have a killer instinct.
But something happened, gradually, that changed my perspective. Beginning in the middle of Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Dallas started outplaying Miami. It was not a matter of Miami being it's own worst enemy (though they certainly weren't doing themselves any favors by turning the ball over and missing free throws, particularly in Game 6). No, Dallas made the tough shots, got the offensive rebounds, and played fantastic zone defense. The Mavericks were calm, the Heat were not. So I essentially skipped the first four stages of grief because I accepted that Dallas played better than Miami. Maybe LeBron and Wade are the two best players in the NBA, maybe Miami is still on track to have a historic dynasty. It wouldn't shock me. However, I saw greatness in this series, and it didn't come from South Beach. Congrats, Dallas.
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