That NBA GM survey that comes out every year came out today, and it's kind of funny. Frankly, all it does is prove a couple of things. First, that these guys aren't forward thinkers (unless of course they put no effort into these surveys, which could very well be a possibility), and second that the dislike of the Heat extends even into other teams' front offices.
63 percent of the GMS surveyed predicted the Lakers to win the title. That's somewhat understandable, obviously, because they've won the last two. But can we be a little less cliche? The Lakers haven't faced a team as talented as the Heat. And talent wins, pretty much always, in the NBA. The Heat's playing rotation is more talented than the Lakers normal playing rotation.
Just start with the top three guys... Kobe versus LeBron, you can argue either way, but no matter what your choice, the gap between the two is miniscule, microscopic, practically a tie. Bosh versus Gasol, an edge normally goes to Gasol because he has won much more and he's taller with smooth post moves. But just look at the numbers. Even when Pau was the man on a bad team, his best year was 21 and 10. Bosh has averaged better than that for the past five seasons. So even if you do give the slight nod to Pau, it is just that -- slight. Wade versus WHO??? You can't even compare Wade to anyone else on the Lakers roster. In terms of impact, I guess you'd have to go either Bynum, who never finishes a season, or Odom, who I love, but seriously, he's not even in the same category as Wade. You can keep going from there if you want (Miller vs Artest, Chalmers vs Fisher, Haslem vs whomever), but the point is the Heat has a resounding gap in talent when you strictly compare the respective top threes (mostly because of that third player). So the rest of the Lakers would have to much, much, much better than the Heat's supporting cast to consider them an obvious favorite. And that's just not the case. I know basketball isn't a series of one-on-one contests, but come on. It's OK to think the Heat's going to win it this year. Really, it is. Phil Jackson won't come to your house and beat you.
Oh, and get this: The 63 percent of GMs that picked the Lakers to three-peat was HIGHER than the 60.7 percent that picked them to win last year. So, the Heat builds a super team, and somehow the Lakers are MORE of a favorite? Ugh.
My point is, these GMs are just going the safe route when it comes to predicting a champion. One-third of them did pick the Heat, so not all of them went auto-pick with the Lakers (one guy picked the Celts, and I'm guessing that's either from the Heat or Lakers GM because you can't vote for your own team).
There's more that annoys me about this survey, but I'll just point out one more Heat-related item:
The list of teams most fun to watch goes like this: Thunder, Suns and then a third-place tie between Dallas, Lakers and Miami. WHAT?!?
I understand people like to watch Kevin Durant, OK. He's a heck of a player. But he doesn't dunk like LeBron, doesn't cross you up and go between his legs while splitting a double-team like D-Wade: And they're on the SAME TEAM. People wanna see dunks and they wanna see sick moves. The Heat has practically cornered the market on those. You wanna know who's the most fun team to watch, check the ratings at the end of the season. Pretty sure more folks will tune in to see the Heat than anyone else. The Suns? Really? Without Amare? Even the Warriors are more fun to watch than them. This is where my "even GMs hate the Heat" theory kicks in, because anyone who doubts that they'll watch the Heat first is lying.
(For the record: I'm 33 and have covered the NBA in some capacity since 2000. Haven't been "just a kid" in a few years. But thanks.)
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