There’s No Crying In Basketball

Added on Mar 07, 2011 by Scott in

NBA

Was Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra being literal when he said “there are a couple of guys crying” after losing to the Bulls yesterday? If so, which players were the ones turning on the waterworks? Was it big bad Bron? Erik Dampier doesn’t seem like the crying type. Maybe new arrival Mike Bibby shed a tear regretting his decision to join the circus. Whatever the case, this is the NBA, not the junior varsity. Dudes can’t be sobbing in the middle of an intense playoff race in the Eastern Conference.

Hey, losing close games can take a toll. I get it. Obviously, the Heat are feeling the pressure of meeting the lofty expectations heaped upon them since LeBron and Chris Bosh brought their talents to South Beach. Obviously, failing to defeat the Bulls, who are ahead of Miami in the overall standings, is frustrating. Obviously, the fact that most fans and hoops pundits are rooting for James and Co. to fall flat on their faces is a heavy burden to carry. But crying? After a loss in early March? With 19 games left on the schedule? Huh?

Losing a Game 7 on a buzzer beater is worthy of tears. Blowing a 20 point lead in the fourth quarter to lose the NBA Finals is worthy of tears. Losing by a point on March 6th isn’t even worthy of a wall punch, let alone a pouring out of emotions. I’m hoping Spoelstra was using hyperbole when describing his team’s reaction because the image of grown men reaching for tissues is concerning, not to mention, amusing.

If it was Spoelstra’s intent to garner sympathy by revealing locker room blubbering, then he made a gross miscalculation. Has he been reading the headlines for the last nine months? People despise the Heat. People want to see them crash and burn. For better or worse, they have become the Duke Blue Devils of pro basketball.

But unlike Duke, they have yet to embrace their role as villains. Villains don’t cry — villains get angry. Villains use the negative comments and universal hatred as fuel to prove the doubters wrong. Miami needs to stop whining because no one cares about their problems. They need to stop searching for compassion because they won’t find any. They need to stop lamenting the losses and generate some thicker skin.

The Heat have to accept they are the ones wearing the black hats. Sniveling just won’t cut it. Regardless of records, the Celtics, Bulls and Magic are the underdogs. Until Miami realizes this and starts using it to their benefit, they will remain the fourth best team in the East. And no amount of crying is going to change that.