Heat fans had to have been holding their breaths over the last few weeks. Following reports that their superstar Dwyane Wade might leave for Chicago, they now sit with all three of the biggest free agents that were available this offseason. LeBron James makes the Heat the most star-studded team since the show-time Lakers – if not ever – and wins are likely to follow. Considering the hype that went into this offseason and LeBron’s ambitions to win, they better.

Whether the LeBron move was good for the NBA is another debate altogether, and also an interesting one. For now, it might be best to look to the future and see how the league will look on the court, far away from the media-driven circus that followed LeBron the last couple of weeks. Quite obviously, the move makes the Heat one of the best teams in the league right from the start, but does this also make them the favorite to win it all in 2010-11?

The easy answer would Brand Levitra be yes. Certainly no team in the league has the talent to sniff the core group that now will be playing their home games in Miami. The problem, however, is that the Heat also don’t have a lot of pieces outside of their Big Three. LeBron, Chris Bosh and Wade will be expected to do everything on the court and they will likely be surrounded by sub-par role players. This should easily be enough for them to dominate in the regular season, but the postseason is a completely different story.

The recent trend in the NBA playoffs has been for teams with depth and steady role players to overcome teams with similar talent levels. Even with declining superstars last season, the Celtics nearly won a title because they had a wealth of underrated players step up, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. Yes, the Lakers have Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant, but it was Derrick Fisher (shockingly) and Ron Artest who made many of the crucial plays in the final two rounds of the playoffs.

The new Big Three in Miami will certainly sell tons of Miami Heat tickets but it’s far from automatic that they will cruise to handfuls of NBA titles in the coming years. LeBron no longer will have to do it all on a nightly basis, but there is still a legitimate possibility that the rest of the team could be exposed by a deep team in the playoffs.

It’s also no secret that LeBron has aspirations of being the greatest player ever. For some, just joining with Bosh and Wade makes him out of the conversation by default. Ironically, LeBron is in a very difficult position as he tries to escape the shadow of his idol Michael Jordan. So talented is the nucleus in Miami now that they are expected to win titles and, in a way, they’ve become the New York Yankees without the protection of an infinite payroll.

If LeBron wins in Miami, many will scoff because it’s expected and if he loses he opens himself up to an unbearable amount of criticism. The one constant, though, is that it will be interesting to watch the drama unfold in South Beach, win or lose. Certainly no one will be more motivated to win.

Of course, even those who lamented LeBron’s decision to align with Wade and Bosh will probably have a hard time turning them off if they’re on TV in the future. Whether fans root against or for LeBron, he guarantees that they will be intriguing. As for entertainment, that’s all you can really ask for. Ultimately, this conflict makes for a compelling drama night in and night out in both the regular season and the playoffs. For the first time in LeBron’s career, he may have nearly as many people rooting for him to fail as ones pulling for him to succeed and it will be interesting to see how he handles his new Darth Vader role. Now, as an NBA fan, all one can ask for is Kevin Durant to rise as Luke. Then again, maybe he already has.

Author Bio: This article was sponsored by StubHub. StubHub sells Miami Heat tickets, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and more to just about any event in the world.

Category: Recreation and Leisure/Sports/Basketball
Keywords: Miami Heat, sports, tickets, basketball, NBA