Fans packed the streets of downtown Miami on Monday to fete the Miami Heat during a parade celebrating the back-to-back NBA champions that wound its way from SW 8th Street up to U.S. 1, across the Miami River, and all the way up Biscayne Boulevard to the AmericanAirlines Arena. Heat players, coaches, staff, family members and friends packed cars, flatbed trucks and buses to celebrate with fans, headlined by the champions themselves atop double-decker buses from which they greeted and cheered along with their adoring public.
There was just one small logistical problem, born of three discrete facts:
1. Double-decker buses are very tall and are open on top;
2. Eleven of the 15 players on the Heat roster stand at least 6-foot-8, including regular-season and NBA Finals MVP LeBron James;
3. The parade route included multiple overpasses.
Think fast, y'all:
Check out the catlike reflexes on Juwan Howard. I told you: The old guy's still got it.
It wasn't all low bridges and near misses, though — LeBron and company also had some pretty low-key and highly enjoyable moments at the Monday morning/afternoon parade. Here's a look from the MVP's vantage point as things were getting rolling:
And from atop the bus in the middle of the parade route:
Not a bad way to spend a few hours on a Monday, as James shared with Heat broadcast partner Sun Sports, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press:
"It's the ultimate," James [said]. "It's the ultimate. This is what I came down here, to be able to have a parade at the end of the year. I'm extremely blessed, man. It doesn't get any better than this."
To say nothing of the rush you feel after avoiding getting your head knocked off by an elevated road. It's got to be like beating "Frogger" times a million.
Top video via Beyond the Buzzer.
No comments:
Post a Comment