Streak in Perspective: Chill Out and Enjoy the Ride

Commentary7 years ago3 min readJack Alfonso

The past few years have been a little crazy. LeBron James left Miami, Dwyane Wade left soon after, Chris Bosh’s life and career were threatened, and the world has generally been a bit of a mess. Life can be difficult sometimes, and when your favorite basketball team is at the bottom of the NBA standings, the relief from reality that sports are supposed to offer can be hard to come by.

Sports are meant to be a form of entertainment. A short break from the stress and hardships of everyday life. Sometimes that is easy to forget. Watching loss after loss while constantly tracking Miami’s lottery position can prove to be more of a chore than a relaxing pastime and when you’re rooting for losses, even win streaks can be joyless. This article is not a defense or condemnation of “tanking”. It is not an analysis of the HEAT’s recent play. It is not a rulebook of how to consume sports. It is simply a friendly reminder that sports are supposed to be fun.

I write this article for myself more than anyone else. Joy and serenity are not things that come easily to me, and I’ve often allowed to sports to impact me more negatively than they should. It is very easy to worry about whether Miami’s strong play during their winning streak is sustainable or not, and what the possible implications of those different realities are. Is Dion Waiters actually this good? Should Miami pay him if he is? Is this winning streak good or is it just driving the team away from a good lottery pick and into mediocrity? Are Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside good enough to build a team with or should they be traded? These questions can be good discussion topics if you ever need to host a subpar Miami HEAT podcast, but they can be unnecessary distractions from the present. The future is unknowable and with something as trivial as sports it is silly to let questions about the future stop you from enjoying the present.

Right now Miami is playing some of the best basketball in the NBA, Goran Dragic is red hot, and Dion Waiters has been a ball of pure fun. This play may not be sustainable. This play may even hurt the long term future of the franchise. But right now? Right now Miami is fun. If fun isn’t a satisfactory outcome for you as a viewer, I don’t know what you want. Sports are entertainment. Miami is entertaining. For now, that should be enough. Any questions about the future will be answered in the future. Until then, I would suggest that we all enjoy the ride of Miami’s recent success and allow sports to be a source of joy in our lives instead of a source of anxiety. Make Sports Fun Again.