matt weighs in

Throughout this NBA season, I have not been as hard on LeBron James as most other people – my friends and those in the media included. From the moment he chose Miami over staying in Cleveland, I could see that he did it for one reason only: to win the NBA championship and put the first ring on his finger.

I think LeBron and Chris Bosh join Dwyane Wade as NBA champions. The Miami Heat will beat the Dallas Mavericks to win this year’s title.

LeBron could have made his announcement in another way. I think that if he would have chosen Cleveland in The Decision, it barely would have been a blip on the NBA radar this year, mostly because he would have had another floundering year with mediocre teammates.

The Cavaliers organization was successful over the past five years, despite front office ineptitude in bringing in premier players to play with LeBron. He chose the Heat, because the Cavs had another summer in 2010 where no free agents signed there. Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Amare Stoudemire, and others chose elsewhere. LeBron saw this and he moved on, too.

The Celtics and Lakers teams of the 1980s were stacked, and no one batted an eye. Shaq and Kobe won with the Lakers at the turn of the century, and people said, “Good for them and their hall of fame coach.” In 2008, the Celtics got their version of the Big 3 and won the NBA title.

But the Heat get LeBron and Bosh to join Wade, and it’s open season, complete with a great big target on their backs. People said they only did it to win a ring and that it wouldn’t mean as much as if they would have brought a title to their cities on their own, especially LeBron.

I’ve called people on this argument all year. NBA history has shown that players have not been judged by how they’ve won rings, only in how many they have. Everyone knows that Bill Russell has 11 rings, Michael Jordan has six, and that Kobe Bryant needs one more to catch MJ.

We don’t care how a team wins the ring, as long as they win the ring. Tim Duncan with the Spurs and Dirk Nowitzki with this Mavs team would be the only superstars in the last 20 years to win the title without another big superstar on the team.

The Heat, by beating the Mavs, would defy some pretty long odds and many skeptics, to win this year’s NBA title. LeBron and Bosh should get their first ring and Wade his second.

In a seven game series, the teams know each other too well and in this series, there are too many veterans for schemes to be the difference. One-on-one play will be the difference, especially late in the games.

LeBron and Wade are too good, will make all the difference, and the Heat will win the title this year.

And America, except for me and a few others, will collectively yell, “Noooo!” at the top of it’s lungs.