20,000 Leagues Under the Heat

With LeBron James reaching 20,000 points scored this past week, we take a look at why the Heat are head and shoulders above the rest of the NBA Southeast

By Kyle Basedow

AP Photo/ Marcio Jose Sanchez

Dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble. Squeak! Swish.

That’s how it happened. It didn’t dance around the rim, debating whether or not to fall in. The ball didn’t go in and then some how bounce out. It just fell right through, hitting nothing but net.

LeBron James’ 20,000^th career point against the Golden State Warriors was nothing special. It was just an off-balance pull up jumper over a defender or two. He didn’t hit the milestone and explode like some people do when they make history (see Derek Jeter going 5 for 5 when he gets his 3,000^th hit).

James’ 20,000^th point was all in stride on a night in which he scored a game high of 25 points. Oh, and he also got his 5,000^th career assist. He dominated the Warriors while leading the Heat the 92-75 win to make them 25-12 on the season.

Everyone around the NBA knew when he entered the league that he would score upwards of 20,000 points but what he does for the Heat is more than just scoring.

AP Photo/ Marcio Jose Sanchez

James has become the focal point of the Heat, doing a little bit of everything. He can score, he can assist, and he can rebound, all in the clutch.

LeBron James has the skill set to easily transition between multiple positions while being a fantastic two-way player, as evident by his numerous awards.

One reason that the Heat dominates the NBA Southeast the way they do is because of the arrival of James. None of the other teams in the Southeast have a player who can do what James does, not even on a much smaller scale.

The other teams lack a player who has the ability to take hold of the team and lead them through the tough times, with the Washington Wizards John Wall probably being the closest.

Between the Wizards, the Orlando Magic, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Charlotte Bobcats, very few of them have elite players like the Heat have in James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh.

Does the Big Three help the Heat control the Southeast? Yes, but LeBron does about 50% of the work. Will the other teams in the Southeast catch Miami? No, at least not for a long time and while the Big Three is still able to run up and down the court.

The team that has the best shot of one day beating the Heat out for the Southeast crown is probably the Wizards even though they’re stuck near the bottom now. Once they figure things out I believe they should be able to surpass the dysfunctional Hawks who can’t seem to figure out how to win when it counts.

So, what does LeBron scoring 20,000 points really mean? It means that the rest of the Southeast is going to have nightmares of Heat for a long, long time.