Few proudly brave 'White Hot Heat' surroundings

12:23 AM CDT on Wednesday, June 14, 2006

MIAMI – Mike Nunes knew he was going to stand out.

The 17-year-old Kissimmee, Fla. resident came to Game 3 of the Finals on Tuesday wearing a green Mavs jersey and proudly holding a SWEEP THE HEAT sign.

You couldn't miss him or the other scattering of Mavs supporters, since most Miami fans came to palm-tree lined AmericanAirlines Arena covered in white as part of the team's White Hot Heat promotion.

"I'm very scared," Nunes admitted. But his grip on the sign never wavered.

Nunes, who bought an upper, upper level seat on eBay for $400, found a friend in Matt Bergman, also a Florida resident.

Bergman had slung his Mavs jersey over his shoulder, but swore he was "just hot" and was going to put it on soon.

Bergman said he'd been to Dallas before – "yeah, the airport," he said – but his fondness for the Mavs comes from watching from afar.

"They just play the game the way it's supposed to," he said.

Bergman said he wasn't nervous about taking heat from Heat fans.

"I'll walk all the way back to the cheap parking – the $20 parking – in this," he said shaking his jersey.

Gotta give it to Miami. One thing you simply cannot do in Dallas is pre-party in a yacht that's docked next to the arena.

The Sirona III, quite a beauty, looked like fun. I tried to drop by, but for some reason, I wasn't on the list. Heard there weren't any celebrities on board anyway.

One of the partygoers' drivers, though, did tell me a juicy tidbit. He's known of wealthy fans riding their jet skies to the arena from their homes across the bay on celebrity-laden Star Island, which counts Shaquille O'Neal among its residents.

I made a brief stop at Bongos Cuban Café, a restaurant attached to the AAA. Felt like a star walking up the tiki-torch trimmed red carpet. Wished I had time for a kabob.

As game time neared, I wandered around the court, desperately looking for someone more famous than Boris Becker (later saw Anna Kournikova, Jack Nicklaus and rapper Fat Joe).

Suddenly, a very stressed security guard stopped me.

"I can't have you wandering the floor," he said. "Especially in those shoes."

"What?" I shrieked, and very politely explained that wandering was indeed my job.

Just then, the Heat dancers took the court. They wore boots with heels at least twice the length of mine, as I pointed out to Mr. Grumpy.

"They're part of the game," he told me disgustedly. The dancers?

Frustrated, I moved on to Dewar's 12 Clubhouse, supposedly the AAA's version of the American Airlines Center's Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 Club.

But once there, my explorations were halted once again.

SMILEY N. POOL/DMN

Mavericks fans like Cole Rolle (with arms raised) were easy to spot in the sea of white at AmericanAirlines Arena.

"I'm not even wearing jeans," I told the nice lady.

"No media," she responded.

Guess the credential gave me away. Did stick my head in long enough to see a dimly lit bar, tablecloths, and a killer view overlooking the court.

I'll try again Thursday.

Can anybody get me onto Star Island? ... Mark Cuban is spending the off-day today making his first appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. While in Miami, Cuban's staying at his South Beach condo. Cuban said he likes the party scene but prefers building sandcastles with his young daughter. ... There's as least as much construction going on around the AAA as there is around the AAC. ... The media horde swallowed Dirk up like we'd never get to hear from him again after the shootaround Tuesday. ... The drink of the day at the exclusive Grey Goose Lounge was the White Hot Cosmopolitan. ... Thanks, Tropical Storm Alberto, for leaving us alone. ... Up today: tackle South Beach and the Art Deco District. The work never stops.

E-mail khairopoulos@dallasnews.com