The Miami Heat did more than just win their first NBA Championship in Dallas on Tuesday night ? they also vindicated their players, coaches, and fans.

Their fans have reason to celebrate. All year long they heard about the Detroit Pistons. How any chance Miami had of winning an NBA Title meant that they had to beat the dominant Pistons first. The Pistons were winners of sixty-four games, even threatening to win seventy in the early stages of the season. Miami won just fifty-two games, good but not great.

Pat Riley is celebrating in more ways then one. Sure he?s won another NBA title, adding to the glory he enjoyed as the head coach of the Showtime Lakers. But more importantly he?s been saved from an endless amount of ridicule. See when Stan Van Gundy ?stepped down? paving the way for Riley to take over as Miami?s coach, expectations rose. Van Gundy did wonderful things for Miami, without him the Heat may not be celebrating their newfound title, but Riley on the bench meant a title was the benchmark.

If Riley doesn?t lead the Heat to a title, the media is abuzz with questions of whether the season had become a failure. Could Van Gundy have brought a title to Miami? Had Riley lost his touch? All of those questions have been answered because Riley did what he?s known for ? he coached a hell of a series. Falling down 0-2, and being on the verge of slipping into a near insurmountable 0-3 hole, and being able to come back? By winning four straight games no less? That takes more than talented players and luck. It takes great coaching.

But the man who should be most happy about having achieved basketball?s highest honor is Shaquille O?Neal. Not because he?s added a fourth ring to his legacy. Not because he proved doubters, who said he was getting old, wrong once again. Not even because he?s given all the credit to his teammates, and specifically Dwyane Wade. The Big Aristotle has been vindicated from Kobe Bryant. The tally stands: Shaq 1, Kobe 0.

Shaq has won a championship without Kobe on his side, something Bryant cannot yet say in return. Personal rivalry or not, inside each of these men wanted to taste glory on their own first, and now O?Neal has.

The thing is Shaq has another reason to breathe easy tonight. He?s fulfilled a promise most don?t keep. Upon landing in Miami he promised to bring a title to South Beach, and in just two years time he has. He?s also created a legend in the process.

Dwyane Wade might just be good enough to succeed without a teammate like The Big Diesel, but with Shaq?s help Wade has beaten fellow phenoms like Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James to the punch. He may not own his own racing team, or have a commercial in which he plays a room full of characters, but he does have an NBA title. Something most young stars will never achieve.

Smiles should also be plastered across the faces of Alonzo Mourning and Gary Payton. Mourning has almost literally been through hell and back, and now he has a ring to show for it. The man played with an unbelievable presence despite kidney problems that would slow most men down to a pair of crutches and a soft spot on the couch. Zo can now retire, an NBA champion, and a role model for people who are told they may not be able to do the things they love most in life.

Payton can now shed the label of ring-hunter, because he has finally succeeded in securing his prey. Sure he had to endure rough times in Los Angeles, and he had to follow O?Neal to Miami, but now he?s an NBA champion. That?s not something a lot of ring-chasers can say?sorry Mailman.

Yet for all that was positive and good about these NBA Finals, ESPN?s Bill Simmons brought up a boatload of great points. And that?s not something I?d normally say about a Celtics, Patriots, and especially Red Sox fan?

After all the wonderful things we saw during the 2006 NBA Playoffs, it?s all for naught. A team was carried on the shoulders of a single man named Wade. He was the reason they won, and as much as Heat fans will fight this ? without Wade the Heat probably fall to Chicago in the first round.

Dallas dominated a good Grizzles team, then earned respect by sending the defending champion Spurs home, and made their way to the Finals by eliminating former Maverick and two-time MVP Steve Nash and his Suns. And what do they have to show for it?

Probably just undeserved memories of one of basketball?s most recent choke jobs. After being mere minutes away from a 3-0 series lead, they failed to win a game in four straight attempts. All at the hand?s of a team that they were, and are, clearly superior to.

As Simmons mentioned in his most recent column, Dallas can go big, play small, run the ball, and slow it down. They adapt. Watching them play basketball is a beautiful thing regardless of your allegiance to any other NBA team. I can only wish my Indiana Pacers had a guy like Dirk Nowitzki, a guard as fast as Devin Harris, and a sixth man as talented as Jerry Stackhouse.

The Dallas Mavericks are a team. They win together and lose together. Despite all their multi-million dollar talent, if Miami loses one player (Wade) they?re dead ducks. Remember Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons last year? Wade was injured, and the Heat were sent home.

Nonetheless, congratulations are in order. The NBA has an electric star in Wade, who now has an NBA Finals MVP to add to his three-year old resume. And fans have the Dallas Mavericks for years to come. Only Jason Terry and Keith Van Horn are free agents this summer, and most are signed through 2008 or later.

So here?s to another successful NBA season, it was both brawl-less and exciting.

Bring on the 2006-2007 season. It?s going to be a long four months?

[email protected]