The Miami Heat are continuing to battle along in their season, hopefully, moving ever so closer to postseason contention with every passing game. Coming off of a good win in their last contest, a comeback win over the best team in the league, the Miami Heat were able to get that done without their best player going for them.
With Jimmy Butler injuring himself in pre-game warmups, the Miami Heat would be tasked with taking down a Celtics squad without him, albeit with their banged-up status as well.
But again, it’s always good to be able to get a win without one of the best players in the league even playing, especially considering the competition.
But speaking of “best players in the league”, that’s exactly what Miami Heat Team President, Pat Riley, did recently, speak about one of the best players in the league. Talking with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne recently, on topics such as the greatest ever, longevity, and legacy of the guy in question, LeBron James, here is an interesting quote that would get out.
Speaking of LeBron’s motivation, here is what the Miami Heat’s button-pusher had to say.
The Miami Heat compete year in and year out, mainly due to Pat Riley and Coach Spo. However, having LeBron James increases your chances exponentially—still.
"That’s where LeBron is,” he said. “I’m not speaking to anything that he might say in the media, but that’s his only reason to continue to play. Breaking the scoring record will be big for him if it happens, and it will happen. But he wants to win titles; that’s what drives him. And so for him to continue to play at this level, with that hope that this team is going to come together out there and Anthony Davis gets back, I think they got a shot. I really do. And I believe he believes that too."
And of course, with Riley knowing that LeBron still is about titles, that where a common interest still lives between the two.
Also going on to say that he “always said Kareem was the greatest” because of his “longevity”, that also is a nod towards James, who is looking to pass his current “greatest” as the NBA All-Time Leading Scorer while proving to be as durable over the long haul.
Also including that he and LeBron aren’t in as bad a place as many of us on the outside might think after the way the two sides left off, it does pose an interesting question. Is Pat Riley leaving the light on for a LeBron James and Miami Heat reunion?
He just might be and you know what? You just might have to entertain it with the way James is playing, still—at the age of 38.