Just in case you thought the hype surrounding the Miami Heat's recent free agent acquisitions might simmer down a little once games start: ESPN has hired the "world's greatest living authority on LeBron James" -- Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Brian Windhorst -- to join a staff devoted to writing only about the Heat.
"The Heat Index" will follow the team's superstars-- okay, it will follow LeBron James and every so often mention Dwyane Wade-- on and off the court. It will also have a feature called "Heat Tweets", which, yes, will collect any Tweet written by the team's players.
Especially during the "Decision" debacle, Windhorst's articles have a somewhat scathing quality-- and ESPN is notoriously cuddly towards LeBron, so this could get interesting.
In late July, ESPN.com attempted to kill a story from a reporter who observed LeBron partying at a hedonistic Las Vegas club. The reporter didn't properly identify himself, his editors explained. You have to wonder: with ESPN essentially paying Windhorst to stalk LeBron, what happens when he sees something "unauthorized"?
