ESPN.com announced its new lineup of coverage of LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

The Heat Index will be devoted to daily, season-long coverage of the Heat and their new superstar core of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and James. It kicks off on Monday, Oct. 11. The Heat Index will be housed under the ESPN.com NBA section and will include in-depth editorial coverage (columns and blogs), video, audio, automated modules, social media elements, photo galleries and other multimedia offerings.

Editorial contributors to The Heat Index:

Brian Windhorst – formerly with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Windhorst is one of the leading authorities on LeBron James. Windhorst has written two books about James and has covered him since middle school. Windhorst has been the Cavs beat writer/blogger for seven years and has won awards from the Pro Basketball Writers Association and the Associated Press. Windhorst will be based in Miami as one of two regular beat writers assigned to the team.

Michael Wallace – Wallace has been the Miami Herald’s Heat beat writer for the previous three seasons and is an experienced sports and news reporter. Wallace, an award-winning writer, will team with Windhorst as regular Heat beat writers covering the team daily throughout the season.

Kevin Arnovitz – in addition to his role as managing editor and contributor to ESPN.com’s TrueHoop Network, Arnovitz will provide digital media content and edit portions of The Heat Index.

Sebastian Martinez-Christensen – Martinez-Christensen will be a regular contributor to The Heat Index. He formerly served as a multi-lingual columnist and contributor for ESPNDeportes.com, a reporter for ESPN Deportes (radio and television) and ESPN Deportes La Revista magazine.

Personal note: I'll miss Windhorst on the Cavs beat. I've watched him grow from a kid to one of the top beat writers in the league. He almost had to take the job, even though there was some trepidation taking it on his part. Remember, Northeast Ohio has always been his home.

ESPN will produce much great copy about this phenomenon going on in South Beach. I don't know how much of it I'll read. It's difficult for me to read about James' exploits. It almost gags me. It feels like he should be at Cavs training camp.

What happens after the shine wears off the Heat after this year? ESPN is dropping millions of dollars into endeavor. Will they need two beat writers, and a host of others, to cover this team after this season? We'll see.