January Basketball?

First things first. It's early January: there's playoff football going on (at the professional level, anyway), and the NFL is king. At least it used to be, until a different king took over the sports world with his "Decision" last summer.  Prior to LeBron's collaboration with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, it was essentially only hardcore NBA fans that paid serious attention to regular season basketball (other than the occasion Christmas Day game to get a break from family). But LeBron changed that when he and Wade, arguably two of the three best players in the league, joined forces on the Miami Heat.  Suddenly, everyone seemed to be on the edge of their seat, eager to see what would become of South Beach's new triumvirate.  

For the first seventeen games of the NBA season, Miami went 9-8, struggling under the immense pressure that went along with their team's talent (on paper).  Opposing arenas were far more hostile than the "Heatles" had anticipated, and this was having a definite impact on their game.

However, propelled by a 38 point performance in front of many who had "witnessed" LeBron's greatness for the previous seven years, the Heat suddenly exploded, going on a 21-1 run over their next 22 games.  It seemed that LeBron had accepted his newfound role as the villain.  As Miami piled up wins, LeBron grew comfortable in his new skin.  He recently attempted to cement this caricature of himself with this tweet, following his recently-ex-teammate-Cavaliers' 55 point loss to the Lakers:

"Crazy. Karma is a b****.. Gets you every time. Its not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!" 

Initially, it was difficult not to feel that LeBron had made a huge mistake, that he was trashing players with whom he had been snapping faux-pictures on the sidelines less than a year ago. After apparently reaching that same conclusion himself, LeBron backed away from his comments the next day when asked about them.  That night, he sprained his ankle during a loss to the Clippers, ending the Heat’s 21-1 run.  Miami followed up that performance with a loss to Denver, with an injured LeBron sitting on the bench (though he is listed as day-to-day).

Regardless of how anyone feels about LeBron and the Heat, they have brought excitement and drama back to the league.  David Stern certainly doesn't seem to begrudge LeBron for providing increased ratings. Thanks to LeBron and his friends in South Beach (not to mention the continued Carmelo Anthony trade rumors), it is difficult not to pay attention to the NBA.  Even if it is early January, and the NFL playoffs are in full swing.

[Twitter]