King James is now a member of the Miami Heat, and that’s sure to make the King Parrothead very happy. After ridiculous weeks-long hype, LeBron James announced on Thursday night that he would sign with the Heat.

Jimmy Buffett has been a long-time fan of the south Florida NBA team. He’s often seen at home games with his son Cameron (picture right) and is friends with team president and former coach Pat Riley.

A Miami Heat game in 2001 was the site of one of the most famous incidents in Buffett’s personal life. While attending a game, Buffett cursed at referee Joe Forte who then ejected him:

It was a bad call. It still is a rotten call! John Starks clobbered Tim Hardaway. It was a close game. I just said you stupid, mother——, that is the worst call I ever heard. People yell all the time but he turned at me. Normally, referees do not make eye contact. So while he did not come over to me, he told the local security guard. By then the crowd was getting into it. Pat Reilly was on the bench, asking ‘They are kicking you out of the game? Alonzo was like: Sit down. You stay there. I told the security guard. This is probably not a good idea. Then they came to me and said they would give the Heat a technical foul. So I said, okay, I’ll go.

Read more on the ejection and view pictures here.

Plan to arrive early and consider carpooling, biking, or walking to Sunday’s Jimmy Buffett concert in Gulf Shores, event organizers say.

A free park and ride shuttle system will be implemented for the event. Shuttles will begin running at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 11th from satellite lots stationed in area shopping centers and parks. The primary satellite parking lot is at The Wharf at the Route 2/Foley Express intersection. An event ticket is needed to board the shuttle.

Park and Ride locations are denoted with a P on the map. Auxiliary Shuttle Stops with no parking available are denoted by a bus on the map. Bring a copy of the map with you in case you need to travel to a nearby parking lot.

(click to enlarge map)

Please remember that shuttles have assigned pick-up and drop-off locations. Don’t forget where you are dropped off! Return to this location for a shuttle ride back to the satellite parking lot where you originally started.

Handicap accessible shuttles will run on the red and yellow bus routes. There is also a handicap accessible parking lot located near the event site at the northeast corner of Highway 59 and East Beach Boulevard, in the Surf Style parking lot. Appropriate tags are necessary to enter this lot.

Additional parking lots may be added or changed. For the latest information, please visit the official “Concerts For The Coast” website before you travel. Traveler information will also be broadcast periodically on Sunny 105 FM and displayed on variable message signs in the area on the day of the event.

In a telephone interview with the Associated Press, Jimmy Buffett talks about the frustration with the oil spill, regulation of the industry, and how he’s trying to help the gulf coast businesses and residents:

“If you’re born and raised on the Gulf Coast and it’s kind of in you, and you don’t feel anger and rage initially over what’s going on down there, I think you’re a hypocrite,” he said in a telephone interview from New York. “That’s the way I felt. Now, what you do with that is a big question.”

“People were going, `What are you going to do about things?’ I mean, hell, I can’t stick my finger in that hole. Everybody wishes they could,” said Buffett.

“But there’s a huge amount of frustration and probably it will boil over in summertime anger, and I know what I’ve done for years is entertain. What I’m best at is two hours of escapism for people that have to go back and either live jobs that they don’t like or whatever,” he said. “It’s that Mardi Gras mentality.”

“I have pretty much surrounded myself with Gulf Coast influences for a long time, and … if you listen to those songs, I think it’s pretty much in there,” said Buffett.

Buffett, a supporter of President Barack Obama, said the roots of the spill lie with the administration of former President George Bush, which was often criticized for being too cozy with the petroleum industry.

“To me it was more about eight years of bad policy before (Obama) got there that let this happen. It was Dracula running the blood bank in terms of oil and leases,” he said. “I think that has more to do with it than how the president reacted to it.”

The article also says that the Zac Brown Band had to pull out of the Gulf Coast show. Chesney announced last week that he won’t be able to make it.

The beach concert on Sunday will also feature Jesse Winchester and Allen Toussaint, who also were in the original lineup. Country singers Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown had to drop out because of prior commitments. Buffett said he is still making phone calls trying to add additional acts for Sunday, but he’s not sure of the final roster.

Read the full story here.

CNN has posted a third portion of the interview Jimmy Buffett did with Anderson Cooper last week:

Watch Part I and Part II.

Margaritaville has posted a couple videos from Jimmy Buffett’s surprise show at Lulu’s in Gulf Shores on Wednesday.

Intro by Lulu and “Surfing in a Hurricane”:

“Dreamsicle”: