Are those in the Miami Heat organization bad people? You would think so, based on the way the national media goes about covering them, or the lack thereof.
Ever since the beginning of this quarantine, a lot of media members have done podcasts discussing the past, listing their own thoughts on the best teams of the decade. Although you may have already guessed it, some lists have started to get Miami Heat fans upset.
Andy Bailey, who has a podcast called HardwoodKnocks, recently listed his top ten teams over the last 20 years using analytics to come up with his list. He not only left off the Miami Heat, but Miami didn’t even crack the top ten, which is an absolute joke.
He had the 2007-2010 Boston Celtics as his third team. That mighty Boston team only won one championship. To have that team on there as number three is laughable.
Now, I am now trying to discredit Boston for only winning one Championship during their big three era, but having said that, they’re not the number three team over the last 20 years. No shot.
Bailey had the San Antonio Spurs ranked eighth on his list. Miami beat them in the Finals, so how is San Antonio on the list but not Miami? Also, having the Cleveland Cavaliers 2015-2017 at number four is criminal and for many of the same reasons. Miami got the absolute best LeBron James, sorry Cleveland fans.
But the National Media only talks about James as a Cavalier, while the only Championship that is brought up is his 2016 title, as it that’s all that matters. It amazes me how people just brush off his Miami years.
You give me any Lebron Cavs Team in that era and I’m picking any Lebron Heat team over them, not even close and analytics be darned. Media Members also forgot how easy the Cavaliers’ rides to the Finals were. They were pretty easy as a whole as the east was a joke during James’ second stint in Cleveland.
Do we remember those Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors teams? Yeah, I don’t either.
Bill Simmons Too?
Another case of media members discrediting the Miami Heat is that of Bill Simmons’. He’s the man behind the Book of Basketball Podcast, which is actually a really good listen. But having said that, he didn’t talk mention the Miami Heat Big 3 years once.
How do you have a podcast called “The Book of Basketball” and not even mentioning the Big 3 years? People in the media have clearly forgotten the impact that they had on the game and the world, from a basketball and social perspective.
People often harp on the beginning of the Big 3 era and I get why everyone hates the decision, how it went down, and how Miami made a scene. Now, I may be too young to talk about the Jordan Era Bulls, but In the last decade, I don’t think there has been a more scrutinize basketball team than Miami was at the time.
Think about it. How did NBA Twitter start?
It started to become what it is today because of The Decision. Twitter was fairly new at the time and that’s how people starting to get there NBA news, by going on twitter to follow writers and reporters.
The Decision blew up the Twitter world. Even ESPN came out with their own website called Heat Index to cover every move.
Every time Miami dropped a game, the National media acted like it was the end of the world. There were also times where Miami couldn’t do anything right in the media eyes.
When the Travyon Martin situation happened, it was the Miami Heat who posted a team picture of them wearing their hoodies with the hoods up. No other sports team took a stand like that at that time and to me, that is what a cultural impact truly is.
Who could forget the Harlem Shake video that was shown by media outlets everywhere? When it comes to the basketball side of things, remember when Miami Had the 27 game winning streak and every game they played felt like a playoff game?
Go look at Lebron James’ numbers during that run or when James and Dwyane Wade’s field goal percentages were both around 55-60 percent. James shot almost 60 percent from the field for the year, which is practically unheard of.
But people didn’t appreciate this team in real-time, nor do they do now. After Miami lost in the Finals to the Dallas Mavericks, they had to switch up there playing style and instead of trying to find that coveted big man, Miami went the other way, going smaller.
By signing Shane Battier, Miami had more floor spacing and could switch more defensively. Having a center like Bosh who could defend the 1-5 positions and blitz pick and rolls made the Miami Defense suffocating at times.
Isn’t that how most NBA teams desire to play today? Spacing the floor by playing small ball and having a center who can go out on to the perimeter and switch everything? Miami doesn’t get any credit for how the game is played today when they were the first real championship-winning team to take it all the way.
I am not saying that they should get total recognition because Mike D’Antoni and Don Nelson had similar coaching and thus playing styles. Obviously, Golden State carried the torch further with the volume of threes they shot, along with their penchant for switching everything defensively, but you can’t act like Miami didn’t start it this era.
Driving The Point Home
The national media likes to discredit Miami’s championships and even their players during that run, which seems personal to me for whatever reasons they have. A perfect example is when Miami played the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder were actually the betting favorites against Miami and a lot of national media members were picking Oklahoma City to win, but why would anyone remember that?
If you bring up the Oklahoma City finals now, it’s always “Oklahoma City we’re just kids and they went ready yet”. That sounds really cute and nice, but those same “kids” in their last playoff matchup beat the mature San Antonio Spurs in a tough six-game series. So, which one is it?
It can’t be “Oklahoma City were just Kids” and not ready for the big stage when media members picked them to win against Miami, but since Miami won, nothing but excuses after the fact. That just doesn’t jive well, because it seems like they couldn’t win either way.
Now I could go on and on about the Miami and San Antonio 2013 finals, but all people seem to remember from that series is the Ray Allen three-pointer to tie the game, which forced overtime, a game 7, and then led to Miami winning back to back championships.
No one talks about how In Game 7, James hit the biggest jump shot of his career over Kawhi Leonard in the fourth quarter, giving Miami a four-point lead with 27 seconds left. Why would anyone talk about that?
When national media members talk about those Miami Heat years, it’s always “Lebron choked against the Mavericks and Ray Allen saved him against the spurs”, which couldn’t be more false. To me, it shows that in the end, people don’t actually care that much. They just act as they do in order to get there takes out.
Are people still mad about James going to Miami? I ask because Media members act like he never played for Miami in the first place.
It was funny when Kevin Durant Joined the 73-9 Golden State Warriors. A lot of media members were all for Durant doing what he had to do because Golden State became a media darling over their run.
Could you imagine if those Big three teams were running around celebrating after every three they hit, as Stephen Curry does? Especially, imagine if James did that?
Why Media members were more upset with James going to Miami than Durant leaving the Thunder to join Golden State will never make sense to me. What’s worse, The Decision or Durant Joining a powerhouse?
I guess if you ask Cleveland fans about The Decision, they will be upset about it but in all honesty, who cares about Cleveland fans. Media members should re-read that “I’m Coming Home” piece, written By Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated. At that time, James talked about how he planned on staying in Cleveland forever, but why doesn’t anyone talk about that?
Again, another Media bias towards Miami. The Miami Heat Big 3 era is the second-best team of the decade behind Golden State and only the Kevin Durant versions.
It’s honestly sad how the media now talks about those teams when at the time, they were the biggest thing in sports. Hopefully, by reading this, it brings people memories back and we all remember those great moments.