The Miami Heat's 27-game winning streak is over. Or - as the media likes to call them these days - LeBron James and the Miami Heat. That seems odd for a team that is known for being packed with several stars; I don't remember it being "Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls." I wonder if Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh knew they were just signing up to be in James's backing band.
If this game is remembered, people in the future will look back on the footage of it and ask, why do they have "El Heat" and "Los Bulls" on their shirts? Yes, the most notable game of the season just happened to be on the NBA's ultra-tokeny salute to Latino culture by putting Spanish pronouns in front of the otherwise untranslated team names. Does this really impress Hispanics? To put it in perspective, this would be like soccer's Atlético Madrid spending a day referring to themselves as "The Atlético Madrid"
But as I said, the game - and the streak - will likely only be a footnote in basketball history, and thus illustrates the dilemma LeBron James has put himself in. Yes, going to the star-studded Heat has given him the championship that has cooled the criticism of his lack of team accomplishment. But in the process, he's also raised the bar tremendously high. A long winning streak is impressive, but given the talent on this team, it's only the least of our expectations. By uniting a generation of star players on one team, they've invited comparisons not with other teams in the league, but with the greatest teams ever. Rather than remember a great winning streak that would contribute to James's legend, it will be remembered negatively, for coming up short of the all-time record.
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