Who else wants to see the Heat fully embrace villain status?

[litex]

Like most people, I hated the Decision, and think the current Heat are one of the least likable teams ever.

I think that any chance this team has of becoming beloved by the nation, or of being seen as the "good guys" of the league (as LBJ and Wade were before the move), has been basically destroyed. Even if they win, people will still just hate them more.

Now, one way to counteract this would be to try to seem as nice and goody goody as they can from here on out. Say all the "right" things, try to pretend they're humble, and just slowly attempt to rebuild their image. The thing is, I don't think this would work. LBJ is widely and rightly perceived as being very fake, and the arrogance of all 3 players has been made abundantly clear. No one is going to buy their humility.

So, if you can't fight the image, why not just embrace it? Instead of trying to make everyone love them, just enjoy the role as villains. Be cocky. Talk trash. Don't worry about saying the right things. Run up the score. Act like the 07 Patriots, the University of Miami teams in the 80's, the old-school Oakland Raiders teams--or, to invoke the comparison everyone else is making, the NWO. Make it clear that they are the big bullies of the league, and they are going to kick everyone else's ass and take their lunch money.

In a way, if they did this the Heat would actually become much more enjoyable to me, because they could be the greatest villains the league has ever seen. Rooting against them would be so fun, and they'd attract a lot of fans nationwide too, because lots of people like rooting for the "bad boys".

I really think this is how they should play it going forward.

[Malinhion]

See my sig.

The evil empire is here. I'm loving the hate.

[mopper8]

I agree.

[xkirruax]

Lol yet lets make the NBA more like the WWE then it already is. We can have Sterns come in and reverse any charge calls vs any heat players and make them Flag 1 so they get 2 ft and the ball back.....

[Heat11114]

Miami may be hated by the more hardcore fans, but they will have a lot of casual fans around the league. Sure the contending teams will hate them, but when they play in Mil, GS, LAC, Memphis, Charlotte, Atlanta, Washington, Sac, Minnesota etc etc there won't be 20,000 because they want to boo them.

[miamiheat0323]

i do, Being a miami heat, miami dolphin and florida marlin fan. Everyone just considereds us in the middle of the league. no one really cares about us. but now i would love to be recognized, even if its for a villain

[Bucksfans1and2]

Miami may be hated by the more hardcore fans, but they will have a lot of casual fans around the league. Sure the contending teams will hate them, but when they play in Mil, GS, LAC, Memphis, Charlotte, Atlanta, Washington, Sac, Minnesota etc etc there won't be 20,000 because they want to boo them.

In Milwaukee everybody will go nuts for them for about half a quarter and then the super star calls will start coming and it'll get ugly.

[Flash3]

Like someone already said, Miami will appeal to the casual fan who really have no allegiance to a team. Yet, the true die hards will hate them, and rightfully so. If I was a fan of the Lakers, why would I support/like Miami? They are my team's competition.

[Dr Pepper]

Lakers will always be the the villains. Winning is what attracts haters, thats why people trash Yankee and Laker fans.

[LApwnd]

Mia is only hated on because of James IMO, nobody had any issues with them when it was just Bosh. Really whats to hate I mean its not like they're Guaranteeing the next 7 titles.

[Volcano]

I hate teams that suck and are boring to watch (besides my own)..I enjoy watching Lakers and Boston (when they stepped it up in the playoffs) because they play a high level of basketball. I'm anxious to see Miami go to work as well. However, I don't particularly like any of these teams..it's just that the Raptors are insignificant, so it doesn't matter whichever team wins.

I like classy organizations with classy players, like the Spurs/Rockets. They're also capable of playing smart ball at a high level.

[jjin28]

As a Laker fan, I don't hate the Heat one bit....
How can you hate on something that hasn't been established yet? MJ was hated on, Kobe was hated on, Lakers are hated on, Celtics are hated on, Yankees are hated on, Muhammad Ali was hated on, etc.....Its b/c they actually won somethin and were great.

But i am hating the miami fans lately b/c they already acting all elitist these days when nothings been done.

[YounG_A]

I think they already started embracing the villain role

*see the Heat welcoming party and press conference*

[Lamak]

Mia is only hated on because of James IMO, nobody had any issues with them when it was just Bosh.

/thread

[Kobe>Jordan>God]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MCrnKZ3yf0[/youtube]

[heatwillbeback]

I would laugh so hard if the Heat entrance video this year was NWO

[jjin28]

Mia is only hated on because of James IMO, nobody had any issues with them when it was just Bosh.

/thread

Don't really think that statement is an /thread stmt.
Miami wasn't hated on w/ bosh n wade at that point b/c they didn't come out with the ridiculous nationally televised super event of the player introductions followed by the ridiculous statements coming out of the 3 lil mice mouths. Also, didn't have 1000 miami ballboys sign up at that point either. Also didn't have the 1 hour special at that point.

[bgroban]

Too premature to compare the Heat to the Yankees. The Yankees are one of the most successful sports franchises on the planet. The Heat, well, they're not even close.

Until the Heat start winning championships with their new Big 3, the media is going to be the only group hyping the villain card.

[CB4MiamiHeat]

did you not see the Heat intro

posing for the cameras, talking about the dynastys ,
The Heat annoucer screaming "VISTORS BEWARE"

Miami is definitely embracing the villain image

[Malinhion]

did you not see the Heat intro :lol:

posing for the cameras, talking about the dynastys ,
The Heat annoucer screaming "VISTORS BEWARE" :lol:

Miami is definitely embracing the villain image

Your avatar is photobucket'd.