The Miami Heat have seen their own fans turn against them since the previous season. With the departure of the great LeBron James from the NBA team, the once unstoppable Erik Spoelstra squad has become a thing of the past. Despite leaving behind two of the Big Three stars on the Miami Heat roster, the absence of the now Cleveland Cavaliers star appears to have taken a toll on the team. Moreover, some fans believe that the Big Three era has ended, and new NBA stars should now take over.
Ever since the departure of James, who decided to pursue a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have struggled to keep the Miami Heat a strong contender in the league. At number three in the Eastern Conference, the Hassan Whiteside squad has a long way to go to be on par with the likes of the Kyrie Irving squad. To add to their problems, the Miami Heat might be in danger of losing Wade due to a knee injury.
"I gave it a couple days to see if it would go away," said Wade of his knee injury, according to ESPN. He added, "It didn't, so I just want to go back and get another, second opinion. But it's nothing I'm overly concerned about. It's just some soreness I haven't felt in a while, so I just want to make sure everything's good." Wade is scheduled to have an MRI in an effort to determine the level of damage in his knee.
Meanwhile, Bosh is once again struggling with his past health issues. Following his decision to pull out of the NBA All-Star match in Toronto, the Miami Heat star is said to be back in getting blood thinners. Bosh has been dealing with his calf injury since the start of the season. It remains to be seen if the health alert will last until the end of the year.
"There's nothing really I can say to make things better for him. I texted him today and told him I was sorry and I hate that he has to go through this again," said King James, referring to his reaction to Bosh's health issues, according to Cleveland.com. He added, "Guy means so much to not only the Heat family but his personal family as well. Just a great guy, a professional, a great guy and for something like this to happen to him after he was cleared, it just sucks. It sucks big time. His health is the No. 1 care and obviously basketball comes secondary to what he's going through right now. It's just tough."
While the absence of both Wade and Bosh cause fear in the Miami Heat locker room, some fans of the NBA team feel differently. Without the two main stars, head coach Spoelstra opted to maximize Goran Dragic and Luol Deng in the hardwood court. Given the recent wins of the Miami Heat, it looks like some supporters of the group might call for a change in lineup soon.
"Wade has missed two games since the All-Star break, and all the Heat has done is score 229 points in those two games without him and Chris Bosh," noted Ryan Yousefi of the Miami New Times. He added, "Goran Dragic and Luol Deng look like completely different players. The team is playing a Red Bull brand of up-tempo basketball that has resulted in a two-game sample-sized, rocket-fueled offense. The postgame locker-room quotes were littered with the same word that kept popping up - "fun." The players weren't shy about expressing their extreme pleasure in the style of basketball they've played since the All-Star break."
Urging fans to push for Wade's exclusion of the key members of the Miami Heat, Yousefi asked this question: "Would you rather decrease your chances of winning by playing a style that makes Wade more comfortable or increase them while also running the risk of putting more pressure on Wade's knees and ego?"
