Cleveland Hangover? Miami Blockparty?

 By Ryan Foray
It’s been almost 24 hours since “The Decision” has been made for Lebron James on his future in basketball, deciding that he will take his Super Show of talent to South Beach to join the Miami Heat. Now the apparent super team has been made with the King, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. When the smoke settled last night there were 3 things officially made.

1) Miami has just become a favorite to win it all, maybe even a dynasty; Also the city’s atmosphere will never be the same again. Quoted from Mike Wilbon last night, “Think of the days when Jordan was in Chicago and even Washington”. Nightlife and business downtown will see a massive increase.

2) Cleveland has another sports failure- the Day Lebron abandoned not just Cleveland, but the entire Ohio Region. Lebron James presence was the reason why many people wanted to go to games, go out to bars and watch Cavalier games, etc. To think what will happen economically is very fearful for most business owners.

3) LBJ is now the most hated man in Cleveland Sports history...so move over Art Modell.
Although there has yet to be a game played or even a full training camp to start, many predict that the Miami Heat will now be the top team to beat in the Eastern Conference. Rightfully so, you do have the top three players in the NBA right now.

That’s also the problem-you only have them.

There is no supporting cast so far for the Big Three in South Beach, so Pat Riley has a lot of work still to do if he wants to bring another title for Heat fans.

As for my take on each team that was in the running for the #23 sweepstakes, here’s what it boils down to:
Miami will be the favorite and should be the biggest story of the NBA no matter what. Whether champs or out in the 2nd round of playoffs, each game will be the lead of any sports news story and should be a spectacle to watch. This will be bigger than the big three in Boston; even bigger than the apparent Rock and Roll tour of Kobe, Shaq, Malone, and Payton with the Lakers a few years ago. I don’t see them winning it this year, but a title in South Beach doesn’t surprise me. All I do know is, the NBA is on notice, and the Lakers, Magic, Celtics, Thunder, and Bulls are looking forward to it.

Overall I think the team that has the best situation not getting Lebron was Chicago. With the signing of Carlos Boozer and the young talents of Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose, this could be the dark horse in the NBA.

New York might be better off without Lebron James. Think about it: if Lebron doesn’t bring a title to Madison Square Garden within two years, do you think that the New York Press would let it slide? He is supposed to be the king, the savior of basketball for NY (or how he was hyped up to be). New York just needs to see what happens this year, rebuild, and look for young talent. Then again, Tony Parker and Carmelo Anthony are available in 2011……

As for Cleveland, nothing can be said to soothe the pain that the fans have to go through. Then again, there’s always Ohio State Football.