Jun 22, 2006 09:33 PM
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It's the story of a team that refused to die when they were 2-0 down and down by 13 points
in game 3 of the best of 7 series at the NBA Finals
It's the story of a team that was neither the most talented , nor the fastest , nor was it the most athletic in the nba , but it did have HEART and the courage to stare at the face of adversity and come out all guns blazing .
It's the story of the promise made by Shaquille O neal who was once the most dominant player in the nba and was starting to get written off as a has been to the city of Miami , that he would one day bring the trophy to them
It's the story of a 24 year old Dwayne Wade ,the leader of the team , who fought sickness and injury all through the playoffs to Stand up and be counted when his team needed him the most .
It's the story of Alonzo Mourning , a man who had played with the Heat for more than a decade and had been their star all those years .In 2003,he had a kidney transplant from his cousin to counter the life threatening kidney disease . He didn't know if he would have a chance at life let alone
a chance at getting on the court .
It's the story of 37 year old former NBA All -star Gary Payton who moved across the NBA from team to team hoping to be part of a team that would give him what he longed for most in his 16 years in the nba , a championship ring .
It's the story of veterans like Jason Williams ,James Posey and Antoine Walker who had been called cancers in the team and who were said to have supersized egoes and wouldn't be able to play with the likes of Wade & Shaq .
It's the story of Pat Riley the president of the team , who took over the team as coach and overhauled it , trading faster, more atheletic guys for this supposedly
old ,egotistical bunch of has-beens and believed in them enough to stick with them through all the criticisms and boos they received throughout their season .
Congratulations - Miami Heat . NBA champions 2006 .
When they defeated the dallas Mavericks in Game 6 of the NBA finals yesterday , it was the first time in their history that they were crowned NBA champions . It was the stuff we only see in movies .
When Pat Riley ,the president of the Heat took overcoaching responsibilities from Van Gundy and rehauled his team trading a couple of players who were part of the 59 -win season last year for veterans like Payton ,Jayson Williams , Antoine Walker and James Posey
among others , very few people supported him . And when the team was losing in the initial games of the season being booed in their home courts , the daggers were out for all of them .
But the team dug deep , winning their final set of matches and qualified for the playoffs . They beat the Chicago bulls in the first round . Then beat the New Jersey Nets in the conference semi finals and finally came up against their nemesis from last year , the detroit pistons . Even detroit was swept aside and last years defeat was avenged .
The finals looked to be a one-sided affair and the Heat finally looked like they were tiring . A strong Dallas Mavericks team seemed simply unbeatable . Dallas wont the first 2 games easily and took a 2-0 lead in the 7 game series . There were reports in Dallas papers that the Heat were "unworthy opponents " . The Heat took this newspaper cutting and used it as motivation and didn't look back from there. They won the next 4 games straight and the rest as they say is History .
Dwayne Wade is the new superstar , Shaq kept his promise to Miami , Payton will probably retire
with the ring , Mourning is an inspiration to people everywhere about not giving up on your dreams , Pat Riley will go down in history as one of the best coaches ever , Jason williams , James Posey , Antoine Walker have made their critics eat humble pie . As I went to bed yesterday , there was a warm glow in my heart . It was like the time Ivanisevic won his Wimbledon title
Fairy tale endings are possible in real life too .
