A United City

A United City

Gabriel Ruiz

05/ 22/2022

The summer of 2010 is what started this whole craze. ESPN aired “The Decision,” a live special in which NBA free agent LeBron James announced which team he would join. This had been months of waiting, and 9-year-old me could not be more excited, sitting at the edge of my seat, hoping and praying that LeBron enjoyed sunny weather and a house by the beach. I kept in mind all the exciting destinations that past big free agents have landed in and the odds were not looking so great:

- The Chicago Bulls have a great history of winning and have MVP Derrick Rose
- The lakers have Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol and have just won the championship
- The Celtics have a stacked team and were just a game short of being the champions

All these teams were more than capable of catching the attention of LeBron. It wasn’t fair. This never-ending special had tons of segments placed before “The Decision” and it felt like it would be my bedtime by the time LBJ felt he was ready to decide. Finally, mid-commercial the screen cut to show LeBron and the interviewer sitting down facing one another. Bu it was just more waiting. The interviewer would just ask questions we already knew the answers to. This was pointless and just as bad as the commercials, actually worse, because at least the commercials were shorter. This went on for about 15 minutes. It was so exhausting that I had to lay down. But just as quick as I laid down I stood right back as soon as I heard, “The answer to the question everyone wants to know, Lebron, what’s your decision?” And with so much ease and no hesitation, he simply said,

“I’m gonna take my talents to South Beach.”

I was shook in my head. I was screaming, but I was dead silent on the outside. This was unreal. All I could think of was the conversation at the lunch table at school the next day would be. Every kid gathered from every grade, every gender, and every shade of color would unite to just talk about one man coming down to Miami.

Since LeBron landed in Miami, local fans have set a high bar for winning in this city, and they expected nothing less than a championship. Having lived through that Miami was ecstatic, every game day felt like a celebration of some sort, but still held the team accountable for losses, an 82-0 season is what these Miamians wanted, and wouldn’t settle for anything less. As expected, the Heat made it to the finals, but fell short. The loss crushed our whole city. It felt like we were all in that locker room wearing those jerseys. The night of the loss was painful, but it didn’t stop anyone from pulling up at the Hammocks Grill to eat wings and sit at the bar and chat it up with random strangers for postgame discussions of what went wrong as if they were the general managers of the team. These general managers, however, had Buffalo sauce all over their faces.

As the next season began we were humbled, but still hungry. The Heat took off having multiple win streaks and ended up having a better record than the year before. It seemed as though we had tunnel vision only for the championship. As the finals rolled up the Heat faced a young Oklahoma City Thunder team led by Kevin Durant, a 7ft. sniper who could shoot from any spot of the court. This was a tougher opponent than the Dallas Mavericks the Heat faced the year before.

As soon as game one started, we could feel Oklahoma was not just playing. They came on a mission, playing hard every possession. The Heat lost game one, but that would stop right there. There was no more losing, and they took off. The Heat would win the next four games -- a nice gentlemen sweep. Confetti rained from the roof. We had finally accomplished the mission we set out to accomplish. I remember being at home, pots and pans banging from every house in the neighborhood -- the celebration was on! Everyone in Richmond Heights came out of their house just to celebrate for our team and have a good time with neighbors they only occasionally see. The next day was probably even better. The parade was crazy! It felt like everyone from Miami was there. The streets were filled just to catch a glimpse of our champions. It was amazing! It felt like everyone was a part of a family -- everyone united by one team.
A bigger gathering of so many people could not be found anywhere else in Miami there’s nothing else I could compare it to. At such a young age I would not notice this but so many people from completely different backgrounds and completely different social classes were all United just because of this team it’s an amazing turnout that could truly only be experienced here, you won’t hear pots and pans being smacked anywhere else.