LeBron's passing is "Magic"

The endless summer of hype surrounding LeBron James' exodus to South Beach is over. Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and James are expected to set the bar for wins and exotic nightly stat lines. Now the Miami Heat just have to play. If only it was that simple.

The Heat began the 2010 season with a loss. The defending Eastern Conference champion, Boston Celtics, turned down the Heat in 88-80 victory on opening night. Can you believe it? Apparently you can't just roll the ball out on the court with all that talent and chalk up a win. The games must be played. The Heat opponents are going to give the Heat their best shot on a nightly basis.

For their first seven years in the NBA, James, Wade and Bosh have excelled on teams in which they each were the focal point. Now they must learn to share and compromise. That seems like a lot to ask of these ridicously talented players but no one is asking, it is a must.

Eight games into the season, the Miami Heat are 5-3 and fresh off an overtime loss to the Utah Jazz. This is hardly what the experts predicted but it's very obvious to this expert (yours truly) that the Heat are getting better each game because of a major change in LeBron's game.

For the Heat to consistently scorch opponents they must allow LeBron to run point. If you have ever watched LeBron, you can't help but notice he passes better than anyone in the game. Each assist is powerful and accurate. It reminds me of the way Peyton Manning operates. All Manning requires of his receivers is to be in the right place at the right time. If the receiver can get there, expect the ball to hit them in the chest.

LeBron is a "small" forward, standing 6'8 and 240 pounds. Typically, a small forward is a great shooter and slashes toward the hoop for easy points. But Miami already has that covered in the incomparable, Dwayne Wade. Basketball is all about spacing and I just don't see how LeBron, Wade and the seven-footer Bosh, can "fit" on the court together.

To combat this problem, Miami's coach, Erik Spoelstra, has LeBron bringing the ball up the court as if he is the starting point guard. In the last four games, LeBron has dropped 12, 10, 9, and 14 assists respectively. Magic Johnson anyone?

This change in LeBron's game is genius. It allows Wade to continue scoring at will and it frees up Bosh to post up whenever the matchup allows it. Now, no one is saying LeBron isn't getting his. Just because he passes more than he shoots doesn't mean he isn't scoring at will anymore. He is. Currently, he is averaging 20 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists.

These players all have gigantic egos and for this pairing of the titans to succeed, they each will compromise their previously unrivaled individual stat lines for unrivaled W's.