NBA Draft Reactions

The NBA draft was everything you could possibly ask for.  Intrigue and anticipation leading up to the start, Cleveland keeping their choice under wraps from literally everyone (Kanye needs to take notes on how to not let something leak), major trades - and so many minor ones you couldn't keep track of, big slides down the draft board (most notably Nerlens Noel and Jamaal Franklin), and David Stern's last hurrah.

In other words, it was awesome.

Now that all the dust has settled and the madness has had time to sink in, lets look at the draft's winners, losers, and some takeaways.

What We Learned from the NBA Season

It's been a few days since the Miami Heat won their second of back-to-back championships, officially ending the 2012-13 NBA season.  The year featured the rise of many young stars and up-and-coming teams, perhaps signaling the start of the cyclical turnover in the NBA.  Perennial bottom-dwellers like Golden State showed they're a force to be reckoned with along with a few jumpstarts, namely the Houston Rockets, that have put the league on notice for future seasons.  On top of that, the Lakers, Celtics, and Mavs, teams that ruled the previous decade (minus the Spurs, because who knows what else those ageless wonders are capable of) fell back into NBA mediocrity.

Here's a look back on some things we picked up throughout the course of the season.

1) The Heat are not as invincible as we all thought
Defending champs.  27-game win streak.  Best record in the league.  Everything seemingly fell into place for Miami this season, annihilating all doubters (at least that's what ESPN will have you believe). But that's just the regular season, and with great teams, all that matters is what they do in the playoffs.  The Bucks and Bulls didn't really have a shot - the Bucks aren't good enough and the Bulls can't score without Derrick Rose.

Then came those pesky Pacers.  The Heat's foil in terms of their style of play - going big instead of small - exposed Miami's softness on the interior, limited everyone other than LeBron, and contributed to many easy baskets.  But the Pacers had seemingly no bench and turned it over a bajillion times a game, yet were only a few breaks away from pulling off the biggest upset in recent memory.

The Spurs had the Heat BEAT until they somehow managed to fumble away Game 6 and had Tim Duncan missing chippies over Shane Battier with seconds left (which reminds me...how in the world did Duncan miss those?!?).

Bottom line is the Heat caught a few breaks against a Pacers team completely overachieving, but needed huge breaks against an "old" Spurs team that proved to be just as good as Miami.  The Heat are definitely deserving champions, just don't be surprised if their reign doesn't last much longer.  In saying that...

Why America Wants the Heat to Lose

Ever since The Decision, since the infamous pep rally, and since LeBron went on his "Not 1, Not 2..." rant, the Miami Heat have become one of the most polarizing teams in sports history. As San Antonio heads to South Beach with two chances to break the hearts of Miami, most of the country will be watching in hopes of seeing just that.

And it's not because of the Heat.

As any honest basketball fan will tell you, the Heat are capable of playing some of the most beautiful basketball there is to watch. Yes, there are the high flying dunks.  But there's also the smothering defense, not to mention their unselfishness and great ball movement on offense.  Sure, you can hate their outrageous flopping that makes it seem like they're an Italian soccer team rather than the NBA's most talented squad, or the fact that they can turn it off just as quickly and easily as they can turn it on.  They're frustrating because you know they can do better, and they're frustrating because you know no one can stop them.  But that's not the reason you want them to lose.

And it's not because of LeBron, either.