Three weeks into the NBA season, the Miami Heat's season looks much shakier than it should -- a common insight. That their record is 6-4 isn't all that alarming because basketball seasons are long and teams sometimes start slowly. However, the two losses to the Celtics in those first 10 games are troubling. Good teams, even if they're only a few games into the season with a totally overhauled roster (though that overhaul infamously added three of the NBA's best players!), should be able to adjust to one of their top rivals for the second matchup and beat them on their home court. The Heat couldn't.
Listening to those games, I was struck by how well LeBron James played and how poorly his new teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh did. Sure, Wade is averaging is 24.7 points per game overall this season, but against the Celtics, he's scored 21 points on 6-for-28 shooting in two games. Bosh is struggling mightily in general.
James' career is starting to hint at that of Allen Iverson, the star guard from circa 1996-2006 for the Philadelphia 76ers. Iverson was one of the top scorers of that decade, running through teams to the hoop, but not really as a great player. He led the 76ers to the Finals once, but during his career, the Sixers searched in vain for an appropriate partner so they could burst through to the league's elite. Among Iverson's sidekicks were Jerry Stackhouse, Glenn Robinson, Larry Hughes and Carmelo Anthony. Aside from Anthony, none were very good players when with Iverson, but I think the nagging feeling that the Sixers couldn't find a proper supporting cast because there wasn't one is accurate.
The same seems to true of LeBron. The Cavaliers went from Mo Williams to Antwan Jamison and Shaquille O'Neal, hoping that one would fit with him, but none did. Now, the Heat are struggling. Like Iverson, LeBron is an phenomenally talented player and scorer, but perhaps his talent is so immense that it's overwhelming. Sure, personnel executives make the wrong decisions at least some of the time, but so do players. The Heat should be able to beat the Celtics the next time they play.
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