There are just a few hours before tip-off at the American Airlines Arena in Miami as I compose this preview of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks, a remake of the 2006 original where the Mavs were oh so close to taking a 3-0 lead, which no NBA team has ever recovered from to win a best of seven series.
But that didn't happen, as the Heat swept the last four games of the series. That leads us into this 2011 clash of the titans, being sold as the story of which superstar needs to win this championship more for his "legacy", the league's current supernova, LeBron James, or the revered and lately unstoppable German import, Dirk Nowitski.
This article appears in May 26 – Jun 1, 2011.