Column: Heat's 'Big Three' inspire inane chatter

The Chicago Bulls’ recent win over the Miami Heat has generated much talk, most of it inane. The majority of the inanity generated stems from the union of two unfortunate basketball constituencies: the “Derrick Rose is Messiah” cult and the alliance of “those who inexplicably despise the Heat” have been brought together in hateful reverie. Countering these groups’ assertions is the duty of informed fans everywhere.

Beware: Derrick Rose fanatics are legion. There is little hope of reasoning with these people; their capacity for hero-worship rivals that of Kobe-idolaters. They seem to believe that the Bulls’ narrow victory vindicates Rose’s campaign for MVP. One assumes that a narrow Heat victory would not have entered into their “analysis.” The notion that one game, let alone a game in which LeBron James scored one less point, secured seven more rebounds and provided one more assist than Rose, could secure Rose’s place as MVP is beyond rational understanding (you can visit two purveyors of Rose worship, derrickrosemvp.com or chicitysports.com, at your own risk.)

An intelligent MVP discussion would focus on candidates’ performance over the entire year. In this regard, LeBron has a much stronger claim to be MVP than Rose. LeBron has the highest Player Efficiency Rating in the league (Rose is 12th). LeBron averages one less assist than Rose per game, but gets more rebounds, blocks, steals and points. Perhaps the most important stat of all: LeBron shoots a very strong .493 % from the field; Rose shoots a paltry .442 %.

Given Lebron’s obvious advantage in the box score stats, any case for Rose must rest on intangible considerations. One popular argument advanced in Rose’s favor is that Lebron has two stars at his side, whereas Rose does not enjoy similar support. Such an argument ignores the tremendous weaknesses of Miami’s supporting cast and the army of good and above average players the Bulls employ.

Chicago has perhaps the deepest team in the league. Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, Taj Gibson, and Omer Asik comprise a formidable frontcourt, and critics forget small forward Luol Deng scores 17.5 points per game. The Bulls defense, largely led by its stalwart frontcourt players, lets up the least points in the league. Miami, by contrast, has a terrible bench and two frighteningly bad starters at key positions: Center Erick Dampier and guard Mario Chalmers would barely crack the rotations of many playoff teams. Rose is a star player on a very deep team; Lebron James has managed to lead a team that sometimes looks like it is playing 3 v. 5.

Rose-worship, however, is not nearly as mind-numbingly dumb as the commentary generated by Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra’s declaration that Heat players had cried in the locker room after the team’s loss. The predominant reaction to Spoelstra’s statement was not “maybe we have been too hard on these three friends who took less money to try to win a championship together.” Rather, the reaction was something more akin to “Ha - plural form of derogatory term for female anatomy.” Twitter alighted with insults. Spoelstra tried to clarify his comments, largely to no avail. Lakers Coach Phil Jackson entered the fray with characteristic nuance: “big boys don’t cry.” ESPN, in a particularly clear demonstration of the important role it plays in contemporary society, reported that there were reports that Carmelo Anthony was amused by reports of the Heat crying. Chris Bosh felt the need to defend himself against allegations of emotional misconduct: he was close to crying, but did not let a tear fall.

Over the course of the year, Heat players have been subject to taunts and endless media scrutiny. Surely “The Decision” was in poor taste, but LeBron did not mean harm and gave the proceeds of the event to charity. Chris Bosh should be immune from criticism. We should never forget that Bosh, one of the best forwards of his generation, has spent half his prime playing in a country in which skiing rivals basketball in popularity. And who can fault Wade? He stuck with his team and recruited two friends to try to win a championship. All three players took pay cuts to make their union possible. Professional sports have enough rapists, murderers, thugs and crooks of ill repute for us to direct our scorn towards these men. If the Heat big three are sinners, they are more of the “covet thy neighbor’s wife” variety than irredeemable murderers.

Rarely has a regular season basketball game elicited so much talk. The game of course, was not really as important as the reaction to the game. We learned very little Sunday night about whether LeBron is better than Rose, or whether the Bulls are better than the Heat. The reaction to the game, however, suggests a clear deficit of intelligent commentary and compassion in basketball fandom.