With LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade all now members of the Miami Heat, that team has become the most intriguing one in all of basketball. When SportsCenter begins, chances are the Heat will be part of one of the first few highlights. When the Heat take their circus on the road, they will sell out opponents' arenas and drive up ticket prices. To say the least, lots of people are going to be interested in the "Miami Thrice," regardless of whether they're a fan or not.
↵The real drama for the Heat won't start until the regular season gets going, but an early preview will come on Oct. 5 when the Heat and Pistons get the preseason started in Miami.
↵I feel pretty comfortable in predicting that that will be one of the most highly anticipated preseason games in the history of sports. While it won't be the first time ever that James, Bosh and Wade have played together (they were all members of Team USA), it will be the first official time in a Heat uniform. Considering that, I think we can expect a sellout crowd in Miami and tons of media coverage for a game that doesn't even count.
↵From the Pistons' perspective, it will be interesting to be part of a spectacle like this. I think every opponent of the Heat will feel that way considering it really is like a circus with the amount of media coverage and attention. Although at some point people will just get used to the fact that James and Bosh are now teammates of Wade and will start to care less and less, early on the interest even in opposing cities is going to be extremely high. There's no doubt that on a national level, that interest will result in an unusually high amount of attention being devoted to the Pistons' preseason opener, although the Pistons will likely be a mere afterthought during the game.