Miami Heat: 3 Ways That They Resemble 2004 NBA Champion Detroit Pistons

Ben Wallace #3 of the Detroit Pistons celebrates with his teammates Rasheed Wallace #30 and Chauncey Billups #1 in Game six of the Eastern Conference Finals(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Ben Wallace #3 of the Detroit Pistons celebrates with his teammates Rasheed Wallace #30 and Chauncey Billups #1 in Game six of the Eastern Conference Finals(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
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Miami Heat
Miami Heat guard Jimmy Butler (22), Miami Heat center Dewayne Dedmon (21), Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) and center Brook Lopez (11) reach for a rebound(Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports)

The Miami Heat are no strangers to doing the work and that’s a running theme here. Sometimes though, that means a history lesson.

When an NBA team has high hopes of winning a championship, sometimes looking back in history to see how other teams won might help their own team to succeed. The Miami Heat have a championship culture.

Every year, they are competing. They never seem to truly regress and rebuild, as some other teams do.

Therefore, it is extremely important that they put together the right team to compete every year.

This year, they built another team that could win the championship. On paper, they are not the top team in the NBA in terms of talent, but their effort and defensive prowess will put them in contention with the other top teams.

This Heat roster might be the greatest example of Heat Culture we have ever seen. But aside from perfectly representing what a true Miami Heat team looks like, this team also follows the blueprint of another team.

Looking back at all of the teams to win an NBA championship, this Miami Heat team closely resembles the model of the 2004 Detroit Pistons. Here are the biggest reasons why the resemblance is uncanny.