Ten years ago today, the Miami Heat won their first title.
Under the leadership of Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade, South Beach welcomed their very first championship on June 20, 2006. The Heat took the 4-2 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, with a 95-92 Game 6 win, as a young Wade sealed the deal with 36 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks and 4 steals.
And as if that was not impressive enough, Wade actually averaged 34.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.0 blocks and 2.7 steals a game, on the Finals as a whole.
Fast forward to today, and another trophy has just been handed out. This time not to Miami, but to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
LeBron James propelled his team to success after going 4-3 over the Golden State Warriors, a team who had only lost nine regular season games this year, beating the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls record.
All season the consensus around the league seemed to be that Stephen Curry and company were simply unbeatable. Between a 73-9 record, Curry unanimously earning the Most Valuable Player award, and Steve Kerr clinching Coach of the Year, this group of guys were already being labeled title-repeaters. But James had other plans.
"“I’m true to the game, and I know what I bring to the table,” James said in his postgame press conference. “I came back for a reason. I came back to bring a championship to our city. I knew what I was capable of doing. I knew what I learned in the last couple years that I was gone, and I knew if I had to — when I came back, I knew I had the right ingredients and the right blueprint to help this franchise get back to a place that we’ve never been. That’s what it was all about.”"
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The Cavaliers came back from a 3-1 deficit to take a commanding Game 5 112-97 victory over the Warriors. And from then on, it was a wrap. James and teammate Kyrie Irving had 41 points a piece. James then had a second 41-point night. Cleveland just continued to outwork Golden State, not taking the foot off the gas for a single moment.
Meanwhile, the Heat were one game short of the Eastern Conference Finals, falling short 4-3 to the Toronto Raptors.
But do not for a second think that Miami had nothing to do with James delivering the Cavaliers organization its’ first ever championship.
For one, best friend and former teammate Wade was in the building.
Then of course, there is the fact that James has come forward to address his “secret motivation” for winning his third NBA title:
"“When I decided to leave Miami, I’m not going to name any names, I can’t do that. But there were some people that I trusted and built relationships with in those four years [who] told me I was making the biggest mistake of my career. And that . . . hurt me. And I know it was an emotional time that they told me that because I was leaving. They just told me it was the biggest mistake I was making in my career. And that right there was my motivation.”"
Due to popular demand: the full clip of @mcten and @MikeWiseguy discussing Lebron James's "secret motivation" to winhttps://t.co/z7Vjtwzj7m
— Andscape (@andscape) June 20, 2016
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And apparently, some are saying this comes down to none other than Heat president Pat Riley. After all, Riley did make this statement (presumably about James)…
"“No more smiling faces with hidden agendas. So we’ll be going in clean.”"
Regardless of who exactly told James he was making a mistake, that is certainly not the only way in which his time in Miami affected his success in Cleveland.
Before merging with Wade and Chris Bosh in order to form the Big Three, James was obviously respected. It was clear he was a great talent, and his time in the league would be forever remembered. However, without a championship, it was hard to argue that he belonged within the top five players of all time. No matter how many praises one could sing about him, at the end of the day, James did not have a title to his name. And that stopped his reputation from really reflecting his true potential.
But this all changed after his time with the Heat.
Even if their first year together was rocky. Even after they did not three-peat. James finally had not one, but two championships. And this ultimately allowed a weight to be lifted off his shoulders. He could finally silence all talk of comparisons and just be King James.
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Miami may have been heart broken when James left. And it may hurt to see him win a title with/for someone else. But Heat Nation should be proud knowing they had something to do with shaping who he is, today.