"It's not what you say, it's how you say it".
You have heard this before, either from a friend at a party, a parent at dinner, or a teacher in a public speaking class I remember it as a line from one of the older moves I have seen, The Way of the Gun. Great movie by the way. Very underrated.
Anyway, the point is that the exchange of information plays a secondary role to the context it is delivered in. Always.
In fact, one need not look far to measure the nature of its prowess and prominence. Just take a look at the hot story of the past few weeks: the Charlie Sheen saga.
On its face, there is legitimate reason for Sheen to be upset at why his TV show has been canceled for the rest of the season. Outside of failing a drug test, which he did not do, there is no clause in his contract that would validate why CBS put his show in the can.
To make matters worse, the finger has been pointed squarely at him to justify why they have indefinitely terminated the jobs of several people who work alongside Sheen and behind the scene of Two and a Half Men. Somehow, though, this all became lost in the shuffle, because all people are processing in their heads is that Charlie Sheen is the closest thing to a human cartoon than anyone in the history of mankind.
To digress, this summer, when the Miami Heat were able to achieve the unimaginable, everyone thought that the Heat were about to become the NBA's longest-running dynasty franchise since the Chicago Bulls.
LeBron was going to average a triple-double. Wade was going to lead the league in scoring. Bosh was, well, going to be seen. And in the blink of an eye, the Celtics defeated the Heat with ease in the first game of the season and reminded us all that it was just an illusion.
The context of how everyone took this signing is that all three guys are superstars. LeBron and Wade, alone, are among the top five best players in the NBA. There is no way it couldn't work.
And, on most nights, it does. But, as this season has shown us all time and again, there is that night when the Heat are facing a good team, the game is on the line, and it's time to buckle down to good, old-fashioned fundamental basketball... and the Heat come up short.
Is that because the Heat don't have a competent PG (for the sake of argument, let's assume that Bibby isn't) or Center?
Or, is it because Miami's top guns have limited range? Is it because Wade and LeBron are rhythm players, and, in a halfcourt game, when one of them is dominating the ball, the other player's game may be out of sync?
Oh, one more thing. Does anyone know who Miami's go-to guy is at end-of-game situations? According to the team, some nights it's Wade, and other night's it's LeBron, depending on who has it going.
In the history of the NBA, has that ever been a gray area among championship teams?
Who is it for the Lakers? Kobe. For the Celtics? Pierce. Back when the Pistons were contending, it was Chauncey.
Once again, this is another example of how Miami's mega-talents are clashing. Wade and LeBron don't just like to dominate the ball, but they are also alpha dogs.
When I brought the subject of trading either Wade or LeBron up in my last article, people were mindful of keeping the context fresh in their mind. In fact, immediate context even played a role, as people suggested that I was emotionally overreacting to a disheartening loss to the Knicks.
The reality, however, is that I have felt this way since the Heat's second loss to the Celtics.
A sadder reality is that the expiration date for this experiment doesn't seem be anywhere close in sight.
At least there is one thing I can take solace in. As I just finished that last sentence, the Miami Heat lost a close game to the Orlando Magic, an Eastern Conference rival.
And everything you are reading in this article was written before that result was determined, and signifying the Heat's second straight loss in a close game to a team they will see in the playoffs.
But, it doesn't matter. Because this article will be up right after the loss. And even with me telling you it's not, you will still let context influence your judgment.
So let me leave you with this. In the history of sports, has a championship team ever been made up in which the whole was not greater than the sum of it's parts?
Now ask yourself, when considering everything you have seen from Wade, Bosh and LeBron before this season, is the Heat's whole greater than the sum of its parts?
Or does the picture still seem out of focus?
Marisa Coughlan Shanna Moakler Portia de Rossi Jolene Blalock Nichole Robinson
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