Last night I watched one of the most exciting NBA Finals games in recent history. The biggest game of Miami Heat superstar Lebron James’ life turned into a hurricane of three point shots raining down courtesy of the boys in blue as Dallas pushed the Heat to the brink of elimination.
The vast majority of people I have talked to during the finals are pulling for the Mavericks because they absolutely cannot stand the Heat, but why is this? What is it about the Heat that perpetuates such a villainous image while the Mavericks are crowned as saints?
It starts at the top with Dirk Nowitzki. Already one of the best shooters in NBA history, his clutch play in the finals has been the antithesis of the Lebron James story line. The Mavericks are on the brink of victory because of Nowitzki’s 4th quarter performances, and gutsy, heart-on-the-line showings cement folk-hero like statuses with the general viewing public.
It then trickles down the performances of Dallas’ role players. Jason Terry, J.J. Barea, and Jason Kid trounced the Heat Tuesday night with an unstoppable barrage of three pointers making the deeper, more talented lineup of Miami look lost.
"Persistence is our game. We're an old-school team. We're not high-fliers. ... Our game is near the ground. We have to play with brains and guts,” said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle after game five. Against a team that, on paper, should theoretically dominate their slower, less physical Dallas counterparts, brains and guts have been put to the ultimate test.
The Mavericks work-horse like performances and roster comprised of players who shun the limelight endear them to the hearts of the average American fan. But still we hear less about why it is the Mavericks are so beloved and more about why the Heat are so despised.
The core of Heat Hatred stems from team President Pat Riley’s method assembling the roster-- through free agency. By compiling elite talent onto one team, Riley assembled a cast that will always assume the role of the favorite, the conqueror, the tyrant. By comparison, the Mavericks with its less pronounced roster of scrappy championship-less vets, led by notorious ‘good guy’ Nowitzki, become the heroes of the tales. Therefore, the average viewer tuning into the NBA Finals pulls for Dallas because they like to see the little guy, the hero, rise up.
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