For Heat, an L.A. story

When the media came on to the practice court, some players were stunned at the conga line of people that kept filing in

.

"I didn't know it was going to be like that," said Udonis Haslem. "When the door opened I expected five or six guys like we usually do back home. I forget I have to [multiply] that by a hundred."

This is different from anything the Heat have ever experienced before. It's different, for that matter, from anything just about any team without Michael Jordan on it has experienced before. Not even major market powerhouses like the Lakers and Knicks have drawn mobs of this size to chronicle their daily grind. (And for those of you who will tell me that you're sick of the Heat already, unfortunately your actions belie your words. I could write about Dwyane Wade's choice of dental floss today and there's a good chance it would lead our site in eyeballs.)

As a result, there's an odd circular effect: One of the biggest mlb jerseys stories of the Heat's coming season is how they deal with all of us.

And by "us," I include those of us that aren't necessarily in this to break down box scores. With the Heat crossing into rock star territory, stars like Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh are now in the crosshairs of assorted peepers and paparazzi. Heck, their backups might be too.

Which takes us back to the decision to come here in the first place. With eight new faces on guaranteed contracts, including two rather important ones in Bosh and James, and an unprecedented avalanche of media attention, perhaps no team has needed a remote getaway more than this one.

That's what led the Heat to their current quarters at an on-base lodging hotel at Hurlburt Field, an Air Force base just outside of Fort Walton Beach, Fla. that's impermeable to prying paparazzi eyes. (While it's spartan accomodations by normal NBA standards, they're not exactly slumming it. One source compared it to a Courtyard by Marriott.)

Unless you're in the military, the only way you're spying on these guys is with Google Earth. Writers had to get a government security clearance just to come here, had theirnfl jersey sniffed by trained dogs and were even escorted to the restroom.

Yet once on the practice court, it was Anywhere, NBA. The portion of Heat practice open to writers featured five-on-five defensive drills with four quintets -- Bosh, Wade and James were each on different sides -- but we did get treated to one breakout where James slammed home a powerful dunk. (The Heat, it should be noted, brought their own rims. No way a standard issue rec-center model was surviving a week of LeBron throwdowns.)

For Heat, an L.A. story

By: Michael

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