Opening the 68th NBA season, LeBron James and the Miami Heat quickly set the tone for their season as they defeated Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls.
Rose, a guard for the Chicago squad, received a lot of criticism after an 18 month absence from the league following an ACL injury in the 2011-2012 NBA Playoffs. It had been reported that the Bulls organization didn’t want to rush their star in his trying time, and that as long as he felt uncomfortable, he would not play. While Rose’s recovery time did raise eyebrows, it does make sense after seeing so many athletes in today’s sports world suffer from the similar injuries. Rose did make multiple appearances in the pre-season with promising signs for the regular season, but in Tuesday’s game against the Heat, some would say that his performance was bittersweet.
Rose put up a fight against the Miami defense, but ended the night with a Field Goal Percentage of only 26.7. He was 1-7 in 3-point field goals, and had a total of 5 turnovers. While he is just returning from a major injury, many fans and viewers focused on the fact that he took over a year to come back from an injury that generally takes 6 to 9 months to heal, and playing a game like that after so much time was just unacceptable. Regardless, Chicago loves him just as much as before.
Going into the half, Miami was up 54-33, and it wasn’t until late in the fourth quarter when the Bulls went on a short run that put them within ten with a little over 2 minutes left in the game. Despite the efforts of the Bulls to pull of an upset in the final 2 minutes, the Miami squad would not let it happen, especially on their home court.
With the Heat beginning the season with a victory, NBA fans and spectators are screaming “3-peat” as the reigning champions and ultimate dynamic duo, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, will compete to keep the title of “NBA Champions” for a third year in a row. This is the fourth year that the duo will light up courts around the nation and is now being called the “James-Wade Experience”.
It is no secret that James is constantly being compared to Lakers’ guard, Kobe Bryant. With that, it should be no surprise that one could relate the Miami pair to Bryant and ex-teammate, Shaquille O’Neal. Bryant and O’Neal won three consecutive championships in Los Angeles from 2000-2002, before a feuding argument split the two up and sent O’Neal packing.
With James and Wade on a hot streak and a strong team to back them, will this season, in fact, be history repeating itself?
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