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Miami Celebrates Its Championship With All-Night Parties

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Not too many Heat fans in Miami got much sleep Thursday night. South Beach already ranks as a prime party destination in the country. And that’s with no real, quantifiable reason to celebrate.

Coming off the Miami Heat’s NBA championship — LeBron James’ first — at American Airlines Arena, took partying to new heights down there.

This is how Dwyane Wade began this morning on Twittert: “WOW..God is good..congrats to the city of Miami… yall deserve this moment…WORLD CHAMPION..#TeamNoSleepI love you guys..”

The Miami Herald reported numerous bashes in and around the city in honor of its new champion.

The thunderous celebration echoed across South Florida. In households, sidewalks and street corners from coast to swamp, how did fans celebrate the second title in franchise history?

With pots, pans, baking sheets, ladles, spoons and any kind of kitchen utensil that made noise. Lots and lots of noise.

As a Heat win became inevitable, the sidewalks of West 49th Avenue in Hialeah swelled with fans in Heat jerseys, chanting and cheering, “Let’s go Heat!”

Cars added to the calamity, laying on their horns as they crept by. A man on a motorcycle revved his engine.

Once the win was official, fireworks went off. Clouds of baby powder were thrown into the air. And the noise? Well, it seemed like few folks in Hialeah would sleep Thursday night. People stood on the roofs of their cars. Entire bands played music from truck flatbeds. And the blaring sounds of car horns and pot-banging didn’t let up for a second.

In Westchester, fans started celebrating with kitchenware long before the final buzzer. People in Heat jerseys poured into teh street as police tried to keep the rambunctious crowd contained on the sidewalk. Cars and trucks drove by honking and blowing horns with fans of all ages hanging out of every window shouting and swaying to music blaring from speakers at a mega tent set up by Mix 98.3 FM. Mothers smothered babies with kisses. Teenagers jumped up and down. Cuban abuelos drinking coladas by the window of La Carreta smiled wide and opportunistic salesmen sold the first Miami Heat “champions” T-shirts for ” diez pesos” ($10).At Midtown Sports Bar, fans immediately rushed out onto the street. As fireworks went off over Midtown, those without noisemakers honked their car horns.But a few loyal fans stayed inside the bar to watch the Heat accept their trophies. Most were happy and proud of LeBron.“It means a lot to know that LeBron made a decision to come here and win,” said Robert Labour, 37. “He knew what he wanted, knew what it took to win a ring.”

In Little Havana, it was more the of the same — pots, pans, and this twist: A banner outside of a minivan that read, “Call me, LeBron James.”

Sorry ladies. He’s taken.

“I don’t feel like going to sleep,” Phillip Vargas, a 24-year-old student said at Fat Tuesday’s in Coconut Grove. “I don’t care.”

As fans streamed out of the AmericanAirlines Arena, access roads turned to tailgate parties. One reveler stopped outside the Arsht Center, and fired off bottle rockets over the theater.

Back at the Clevelander on Ocean Drive, Xavier Valdes and his friends promised a celebration that might even eclipse the victory: Skinny-dipping in the Atlantic, and then on to Mangos Tropical Cafe, where the entertainment doesn’t wear much more.

It was that kind of night-into-morning.

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