Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade scores just 10 points against the Charlotte Bobcats on Dec. 28, but hits the game-winner. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The Miami Heat basketball team is comparable to a Jay-Z and Kanye West world tour. Whenever Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Co. are in town, expect a packed house each time.

A record-setting 19,614 fans packed Time Warner Arena in Charlotte Wednesday night to watch the Heat and Bobcats, and one of celebrities in attendance was Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.

Newton’s presence wasn’t missed by Wade and James, and when Wade banked home the game-winning shot with 2.9 seconds left the Heat star turned to Newton who was seated courtside and pretended to rip his shirt much like the way Newton does his “Superman” celebration when he scores a touchdown.

Wade was asked about it after the Heat’s 96-95 victory and he told reporters, “It’s a great homage to [Cam]. He was laughing. He was cracking up. But it was great respect to him. I wasn’t trying to show nobody up. It’s about how much respect we have for the athletes.”

When Wade paid homage to Newton, his buddy LeBron also appears to be performing the same “Superman” routine, but since he didn’t hit the winning shot all the attention went to Wade. Watch the video (courtesy of theseeker77):

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Michael Jordan says he wanted to beat Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, not join them. (AFP)

Michael Jordan understood why LeBron James decided to leave Cleveland and team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. However, in hindsight, Jordan likely would not have done the same if given the same choice.

Call it an old-school mentality, call it ego, call it what you want. Jordan didn’t take shortcuts. What made him such a great player was his incredible drive and extremely competitive nature. He wanted to be the best and refused to play second fiddle to anyone. Sure, he got cozy with lot of his peers during his playing days, but when it came time to compete on the basketball court MJ wanted to destroy all of them.

So, when Jordan, who retired in 2003, was asked what he thought about James’ decision to join forces with his All-Star friends in Miami, the six-time NBA champion who built his entire legacy with the Chicago Bulls said he simply couldn’t see himself teaming with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird just so he could win a championship. He wanted to do it on his own, as the No. 1 alpha dog.

“I would have never called up Larry and called up Magic and say ‘Hey, let’s get together and play on one team.’ But things are different. I can’t say that’s a bad thing. That’s an opportunity those kids have today,” Jordan recently told NBC Sports in between rounds at the 2010 American Century Championship golf tournament in Lake Tahoe.

“In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys [Larry and Magic],” Jordan continued. “I don’t know if they would have been on my team, if we would have been on one team.”

The idea of “if you can’t beat them, join them” approach was never an option for Jordan. Magic and Bird would never subscribe to that either. All three MVPs had too much pride to hitch on someone else’s championship wagon. It would have been real easy for Jordan to join either Magic’s team in L.A. or Bird’s team in Boston while he was chasing his first NBA title. But he didn’t.

Jordan suffered through miserable playoff defeats to the Celtics and the Detroit Pistons during the first six seasons of his career before finally getting over the hump in his seventh year when his Bulls defeated Magic’s Lakers in 1991.

The only exception to the rule was the 1992 Olympics when Jordan, Magic and Bird wore the same uniform for Team USA, and they were joined by fellow All-Stars Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen and Clyde Drexler.

“When you look at the Dream Team, obviously, we were all on that team,” Jordan said. “But it wasn’t too much of a competitive thing.”

LeBron James says he keeps tabs of all the nay-sayers and will probably post some of them in his Heat locker for motivation. Though James holds Jordan in high regard, MJ’s latest comment could be bulletin-board material and the Charlotte Bobcats (Jordan’s team) could be in a heap of trouble.

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Jameer Nelson is on a mission. His poor performance in the 2009 NBA Finals against the L.A. Lakers has fueled his desire to get back to the Finals and atone for his disappointment.

In fairness to Nelson, he wasn’t healthy during the Finals and it showed. He failed to cover Derek Fisher late in Game 4 and it cost the Magic the series. Fisher hit a game-tying 3-pointer in regulation and hit another big 3-pointer in overtime to give the Lakers a 3-1 lead in the series. L.A. went on to win the championship in five games.

That memory has haunted Magic’s All-Star guard throughout the offseason and he probably won’t stop thinking about it until he gets back to the Finals and lead the Magic to the championship.

First on Nelson’s agenda is the Charlotte Bobcats.

Through the first three games of the series, all Orlando victories, Nelson has completely dominated his matchup against Charlotte’s Raymond Felton and the 5-foot-10 Magic point guard has been without a doubt the best player on the court.

“Jameer dominated the game, again,” Bobcats coach Larry Brown said. “The 19 points in the first quarter was special. But I thought the last eight minutes of the game he got everybody a shot. He got the ball anywhere he wanted, and took what was there. He was phenomenal.”

Nelson, who has Mighty Mouse tattoed on his arm, matched his playoff career high of 32 points in Game 3 and put the Magic on his little back when All-Star center Dwight Howard fouled out with under four minutes to play.

“I’m gonna keep it real, they’re beating us – on both ends,” said a frustrated Bobcats forward Stephen Jackson. “They’re playing great defense and they’re hitting shots. Their point guard is making plays for those guys. I mean even though Jameer is not scoring every time, he’s getting guys wide open shots and they’re knocking them down.”

Nelson’s floater in the lane gave Orlando an 85-82 lead with 1:33 left in the fourth quarter that pretty much sealed the series for the Magic. Nelson matched his great performance in Game 1 with an equally great performance in Game 3. He made 12 of 21 shots from the field and was 5-for-9 from 3-point range.

“The little guy, he led us tonight. He did an excellent job in shooting the ball, passing the ball and playing defense. That’s what won us the game,” said Howard, who played just 26 minutes in Game 3 because of foul trouble.

But have no fear Magic fans, Mighty Mouse has Superman’s back.

Video is courtesy of NBA.com

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