A week and a half has passed since LeBron James announced he would be joining Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami and immediately this new Miami Heat roster became one of the most talked about topics in the sports world. It is obvious that the Heat organization had one clear goal when headed into this offseason, and that goal was to win championships; not one, not two, not three… not eight as LeBron himself said. Yet, although there is no denying that these are three of the best players in the league, the general consensus among NBA analysts and fans alike seems to be that this team won’t win a championship during their first year.

I would consider this to be a valid argument if it was based on the fact that bringing superstars together is not enough to get you there, they need time to get to know each other, develop chemistry and become a team, but once they get to that point the championships will come. This could indeed be said about any team in a similar situation. The problem with making that argument about the Heat roster is that these guys have played together before, and it seems the argument is mostly being made based on the presumption that these superstars egos will get in the way of them ever becoming a team; Miami is after all Wade’s house, LeBron is the King and needs to have the spotlight, and Bossh will clearly get tired of living in their shadow.

There’s no point denying that some, if not most athletes do indeed have big egos, and I have argued many times before that having so many big egos in a locker room can be problematic for a team, it has been observed many times, in many teams, at different levels and across all sports. Most recently in basketball we saw it with Kobe and Shaq who were unable to work together in the Lakers, and in football we saw it with McNabb and TO in the Eagles. So it isn’t the argument itself that I have a problem with per say, it is when it is being used.

Ever since the NFL free agency period started Rex Ryan and the New York Jets started collecting big name players and talks of the Jets being a powerhouse in the NFL this season, and the team to beat in the AFC East haven’t stopped. The Jets seem to be among all the NFL analyst’s top teams, and many believe they are legitimate Super Bowl contenders. They even came in at number four on Sports Center’s Ultimate NFL Team Rankings list, ahead of current Super Bowl Champions, the New Orleans Saints who were ranked at number five; and the only criticism I’ve heard mentioned to be working against them is the fact that they are still counting on second year quarterback Mark Sanchez who is still unproven. No mention has been made of the fact that the only reason they ever made it to the AFC Championship game was that the Colts handed them a playoff berth and then came back and crushed them the next time around and even more disconcerting for me, not one person has stood to question whether or not they can actually perform as a team, which is insane considering that this new team has not taken to the field together as of yet and there’s so many egos in that team right now, it is hard to imagine them fitting in one locker room.

So, can someone explain to me the discrepancy when it comes to talking about egos and how they’ll play a part in the performance of these two teams? Because in my opinion they got this completely backwards!

On one side you have Wade, LeBron and Bosh; three guys who have a great friendship off the court, a relationship that developed as a result of the chemistry they found on the court while playing on the US Olympic basketball team in 2008. Yet, for some reason 2 years later, their egos seem to have grown so much that they won’t be able to work together and share the spotlight? And yes, the spotlight can indeed be shared, as they proved with that Olympic team were Wade averaged more PPG, while LeBron averaged more minutes on the court and Bosh averaged more RPG.

These three guys who have already proved they are great players on their own right and have built an empire for themselves all gave up a lot of money to play together because they want to build a legacy and win championships are going to have a problem with their egos getting in the way? I just don’t see it.

And then on the other side you have Antonio Cromartie, LT, Santonio Holmes, Darrell Revis, Rex Ryan you can even throw Jason Taylor in there. No doubt these players want to win championships, all athletes do, but they also have something to prove individually. Cromartie had a breakout season in 2007, but hasn’t done much of anything the past two seasons, some people attributed this to the fact that maybe QBs avoided throwing down his side of the field, but now that he is coupled with Revis that won’t be an excuse anymore so he will be forced to step up his game and prove that he still has it; and is he really going to want to play second to Revis, or will he want to have the island renamed to Cromartie Island? LT is facing the same dilemma as he also has something to prove himself; ever since his injury he hasn’t been able to perform at the level expected and for a guy who is nearing the end of his career making it this season has to be a top priority for him. Santonio Holmes has a history of getting into trouble, not only is he facing a five game suspension for violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy, but he is also facing a lawsuit in Florida; this could all be attributed to immaturity or it could be a result of him thinking he is above authority, either way it could represent big issues when dealing with his persona. Even Taylor who is one of my favorite players has something to prove, I’m sure he’ll want to show the Dolphins’ front office that they made a big mistake by letting him go, and as good as he was to the Dolphins during all those years, he was somewhat of a nightmare for the Redskins when he was there, refusing to participate in training camp in Washington and wanting to bend the rules to favor him.

So now you have all these big name players, with their big egos and each with their own personal agenda if you will, coming in to a young team all at once and no one thinks there might be a problem? Training camp hasn’t even started and we already see the cracks with Revis sitting out until a new contract gets worked out because he is worth more! You signed a contract and you expected to get paid whatever amount of money you agreed to because that’s what you thought you were worth at that point, if it had turned out that you couldn’t play at that level you still would’ve gotten paid, but now you believe you are the best corner in the NFL, which you very well may be so your ego says you will get more money or screw the team? I guess that’s the way it works.

It is difficult to say what will happen until both teams take to the court and field respectively but I will say, if any team is going to crumble due to egos in the locker room this season it will definitely be the Jets, YOU CAN TAKE THAT TO THE BANK.