It is said that quitters never win, and winners never quit. But how much do you want to bet against the Miami Heat?
In Miami, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are surrounded by admirers. But away from their South Florida coccoon, James and Bosh may find it harder to shake a more skeptical basketball fan, says Bill Livingston.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Quitters never win, and winners never quit. Every coach told you that.
Every coach was wrong.
Today the NBA has a "super" team that is molded out of quitters, although is hard to see what's so super about it. LeBron James and Chris Bosh, late of Cleveland and Toronto, respectively, expect to win enough rings in Miami, in combination with Dwyane Wade, to become "bling" kings.
Alas, controversy might be brewing over the use of king for anyone other than royalty, like Aethelred the Unready, and narcissistic NBA stars, like LeBron the Uncrowned.
There's a regular little quitting bee going on in Miami. Both James and Bosh left as free agents, both under a cloud of accusations by officials of the Cavaliers and Raptors that they quit on their teams to ease their exits.
Toronto president Bryan Colangelo said Bosh "checked out" on the Raptors, declining to play after he was given medical clearance, as the team lost a fight with the Chicago Bulls for the final playoff berth.
James played -- although it was hard to see to what effect -- in the Game 5 rout by the Celtics. Afterward, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert publicly apologized for the lack of effort his team showed in that game. It proved to be merely the warmup pitches for the thunderous "chin music" symphony he composed for fans after James left.
Gilbert charged that James quit in the final three games of the six-game Celtics series and the final game last season against Orlando.
James departed Cleveland on a tsunami of self-delusion and megalomania. In Miami, he has relied on Wade, who seems to the quasi-adult of the "Three Megos," to defend him. The poor fellow, said Wade, was simply confused by the Celtics' defense. It was as believable as when NBA Commissioner David Stern said of James on the execrable "The Decision" show, "His honesty and integrity shine through."
"I play this game as hard as I can every time I step on the court," Bosh said, responding to the "checked out" allegation. "On the back of my jersey it says 'Bosh'. The Boshes are hard workers. We have a lot of pride in what we do, in our jobs and in life."
Every coach also told you that you played for the name on the front of the jersey, not for the name on the back. Every coach was wrong again. Bosh was far more concerned with the name on the back.
The scandal of the summer has been the great success James and Bosh could reap on their new team after giving less than their best to their old ones. Regarding the fifth game and denials that James quit, the best thing to remember is Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's remark about obscenity: "I know it when I see it."
Any half-way intelligent fan or reporter knows James quit.
This is the blighted fruit that grew from the bad seed Stern planted a generation ago, when individual stars became more important for marketing purposes than teams. The NBA has become a league in which players are rewarded for giving less than their best.
In a proto-Bosh move, Vince Carter pouted his way out of Toronto and landed with a contender in Orlando this past season.
At least Wade's defense of James didn't include James' unexplained elbow injury. He left that to James, who would invoke the funny bone alibi, only to downplay it. That was because, James was such a shining example of perseverance and all.
Such mystery injuries have happened before. George McGinnis and Moses Malone both suffered headline-grabbing setbacks on the eve of playoff series when they played in Philadelphia. Neither showed any adverse effects from them in their play. But some players need a crutch.
James and Bosh needed an exit strategy.
The one they developed could be called "how to succeed in basketball without really trying."