Miami
No other team in the NBA represents what happened with the Olympics better than the Miami Heat. They have arguably the world's greatest player in Shaquille O'Neal on their roster, who chose not to participate in these games, and one of the world's best returning sophomores in Dwyane Wade, who not only participated but is looking forward to vengeance in 2008.
The Lakers also had a superstar (Kobe Bryant) who chose not to participate and a younger teammate (Lamar Odom) who did, but Bryant's excuse is of a different quality. Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson are almost in the same position as Shaq/Wade but Kidd has a knee injury he is recovering from. Shaq does not.
Even Kenyon Martin of Denver had Carmelo Anthony represent his team, but Martin is not in the same echelon as O'Neal. Most of the people in O'Neal's echelon either did not attend at all and were on teams with no representation, such as Tracy McGrady and Kevin Garnett, or they were the two exceptions in the league: Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson.
No team other than the Heat, however, has a young buck with more experience coming back with a bronze to team with a healthy superstar. Does that enhance people's view that Miami should be an automatic lock for one of the top three seeds in the Eastern Conference?
TEAM NOTES
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Want to shake your booty in front of screaming fans? Or would you rather just tryout to be a professional dancer? Either way, remember this date: Sunday, September 12th. Also, remember this time: 1:30 pm. Oh, and you should probably memorize the location too, while you're at it: American Airlines Arena, 601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, FL 33132. There's no cost to tryout so you don't have to remember that. You can forget about trying to squeeze any money into your tight outfit. Still eager for more details?
Ailene Voisin ofThe Sacramento Beewrites: Several of his teammates - Carmelo Anthony, Richard Jefferson, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Odom - also indicated they would like to play in the 2008 Beijing Games.
IndianTelevision.com writes: Miami was sizzling Sunday night as celebrities made a splash on the red carpet and on stage at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). Another key moment was rapper turned actor Will Smith Ali flying onto the stage to introduce basketball team Miami Heat's newest member Shaquille O'Neal. There was a digital reveal of a 40 foot tall O'Neal.