Why am I such a fan of James & the Heat, even though I am from Grand Rapids, born a Piston, and a Clippers fan?

Because of the same reason everyone watched and was a fan of Michael Jordan.

When it’s your generation’s turn at greatness, you appreciate it.

Here are some quotes from SI:

The Plateau Effect by James Jones

“…a team that won 27 straight in the regular season couldn’t win consecutive games in the playoffs for almost a month.

When you’re the elite, the exception, the example, you get to a peak, and you try to maintain what got you there rather than growing it,” Jones explains. “Complacency creeps in, and by the time you realize it, you’re regressing. That’s the plateau. Getting past it requires stimuli, and oftentimes the best stimuli is failure.

Miami didn’t win consecutive games, but didn’t lose them either. Back and forth the Heat went, through Indiana, through San Antonio, to Game 7. The team needed another streak for a title.”

Lee Jenkins: “He is old enough that you can throw him on the list of best players ever, young enough that you have no idea where he’ll ultimately land. Regardless, he is to this generation what Jordan was to the one before it, and Magic and Bird to the one before that.

He is basketball.”