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The thing about bullshit is that it's easy to sling it until someone calls you on it.
And guess what, Mr. Lawrence...I call ‘bullshit.'
Mitch Lawrence, a reporter from the New York Daily News wrote a piece on the Knicks recent loss to the Heat, specifically commenting on the ongoing anguish of Carmelo Anthony. Lawrence's point is that Anthony, should he consider Miami as a potential free agency destination, must take the Heat's salary cap situation into account.
Specifically, he says the following:
The only buzz is that Miami's Big Three is past the point of taking fewer dollars than it can get. The days of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh sacrificing millions for the good of the team are over, according to well-placed Heat sources.
"Well-placed Heat sources."
Huh. Well that solves that problem, then.
Dozens of reporters, along with millions of fans and, seemingly, the players themselves, have all wondered about how this summer will shape out and how the Heat will re-tool a roster that is largely-expected to undergo serious changes.
It turns out team executives have been anticipating on the Big Three breaking the bank all along.
Lawrence would have you believe this era of championship success is over. If James, Wade and Bosh are seeking maximum contracts, they'll have to do it elsewhere. Or at least one of those players will.
The blueprint for success is that you can't win with a supremely top heavy team and no surrounding talent; three max contracts ensures that. Even for players of high-caliber like James, Wade and Bosh, there would only be enough money available to sign 12 more players making the league minimum. The Big Three and the Really, Really Little 12 aren't enough to keep bringing championships to Miami.
And as each of the players in question has repeated, time and time again, the thing that matters most to them at this point is to continue winning championships.
The best part of Lawrence's piece is the end he builds up to with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Despite his prior allegation, he suggests that Anthony, beaten down by a franchise in disarray and wasting the most productive years of his career, should join the Miami Heat as a free agent:
"Anthony should go running to South Beach and never look back."
I've always thought that Riley was great at his job. But to sign the Big Three for maximum dollars - as Lawrence suggests is a foregone conclusion - and still sign Anthony? That's not great...that's downright unicorns-and-rainbows magical!
So you'll forgive me, Mr. Lawrence, if I don't accept this rather unbelievable story, despite your well-paced sources.
You keep slinging it, and I'll keep calling you on it.
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