5 Reasons To Watch the Miami Heat’s Season Opener

With Cleveland not debuting until tomorrow, everyone will be curious to get their first real look at how the Miami Heat will attempt to function without their Mr. Do Everything, LeBron James.

For the first time in two years, the Miami Heat will come into the season without raising a championship banner in the AmericanAirlines Arena. And with Lance Stephenson in Charlotte and the upstart Washington Wizards in town, people will get a chance to see how the team will fare in the crowded Southeast Division that they once ruled.

Seven new players and a new coaching staff mean nothing to Paul Pierce.

After years of giving Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh headaches -- separately and individually -- in Boston and Brooklyn, the Washington Wizards’ new small forward added intrigue to the game by saying that he “still can’t stand none of these guys” of the new generation.

After a tumultuous offseason, good basketball karma has finally seemed to swing back around to South Beach with Bradley Beal (wrist) and Martell Webster (back) out with injuries and Nene and DeJuan Blair suspended for the opener.

But with Pierce, John Wall and Marcin Gortat on the floor, this could ultimately be a trap game loss.

This is a chance for true Miami Heat fans to stand out from the Big Three groupies and show their loyalty.

You know, the fans who have been through the bounce, the 15-win season, the suspension and could actually name players like Ike Austin, Sasha Danilovic and Bimbo Coles.