WEBVTT - Episode 4: Game 6 LeBron 0:00:04.680 --> 0:00:08.280 I mean, well, that song was the last song on 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:10.000 the album I was working on at that time. That 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:13.960 was the last song that got recorded, and it was 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:16.160 just something that came. 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:17.439 Together very beautifully. 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:20.200 To make a long story short, as soon as I 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:23.800 heard my whole album, I was listening to it, I'll 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:26.720 never forget, and I was like, we're missing this one 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:31.360 thing and got with T Pain and T Pain is 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:34.479 he's such a genius, you know when he came up 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:37.440 with the food. All I do is win, hook and 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.760 this our energy bouncing off each other. We always made 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:43.599 great music. And as soon as that was done, I 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:47.800 immediately went to Ross's house and Ross did that verse 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:51.040 for me in five minutes. I immediately said that Ludacris, 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:53.239 I'm letting everybody know this is gonna. 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:54.200 Be the biggest one. 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:56.760 You know what I'm saying. Ludacrous says his verse back 0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:59.480 immediately and he goes crazy. 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:00.120 Y know. 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.160 I always wanted to work with Soup Doll and I 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:05.560 just wanted to make sure I found the right record, 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:07.800 and I sent him All I do is win. He 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:10.200 knocked that out and sent it back and we end 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:14.920 up making a classic, a winner's anthem, an anthem for everybody, 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:18.080 because that's what I represent is love for everybody, and 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:18.679 it's just a. 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:21.200 National anthem for all winners. 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:24.400 So to be able to be a city that wins 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:27.080 big and to have an anthem call I do his 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:31.080 win that plays worldwide is a blessing from God. 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:34.840 One of DJ Khaled's signature hits had been blaring inside 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:37.840 NBA Arena since it was released in early twenty ten, 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.560 and up until that devastating finals lost against the Mavericks, 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:44.240 it felt like it was an anthem made strictly for 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:47.840 Lebron James and the Miami Heat until it determined Dirk 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:51.360 Noovinsky and then a post finals press conference made everyone 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:55.080 realize how not ready they were to be ultimate winners. 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:57.560 Welcome back to four years of Heat. I'm your host, 0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:01.160 Israel Gutierres and this is episode four or Game six. 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:01.680 Lebron. 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:08.240 The Mavericks had just disposed of the Heat on Miami's 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.919 home court, winning the last three games of the finals, 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:14.359 including one where James scored a career postseason low at 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:17.640 the time of eight points. Not even an hour later, 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:22.120 James appeared with Wade on the postgame podium together after 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:24.959 a few questions about the failures on the court, James 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:27.680 was asked to respond to those who might have wanted 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:28.560 to see him fail. 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:32.280 Does it bother you that so many people are happy 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:32.960 to see you fail? 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:37.720 Absolutely not, because at the end of the day, all 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:41.840 the people that is rooting on me to fail, you know, 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:43.360 at the end of day, they gotta wake up tomorrow 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:46.000 have the same life that they had before they woke 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:48.840 up today. You know, they got the same personal problems 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:52.040 that they had today, you know, and I'm gonna continue 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:53.760 to live the way I want to live and continue 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:55.520 to do the things that I want to do well 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:57.320 me and my family and be happy with that. So 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.240 you know, they can get a few days, a few months, 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:04.640 or whatever the case may be, on being happy about 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.679 not only myself but to Miami Heat not accomplishing the goal. 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:10.960 But you know, they got to get back to the 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:12.320 real world at some point. 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:15.079 It was a response that gave his critics the ultimate 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:19.480 proof that Lebron had completed the villainous turn. Not only 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:23.560 had he abandoned Cleveland, but after failing on the biggest stage, 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:27.160 he would aim at their hearts again by reminding them 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:31.000 that he lives a different lifestyle. It was so unlike 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:34.040 James to lash out in that manner. It was apparent 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:37.240 to some that the year of absorbing the manufactured hatred 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:40.040 from across the country had finally caught up to him. 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:43.600 Dan Lebtard of Meadow Lark Media watched it all from 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:44.120 up close. 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:47.480 It makes sense that someone that vulnerable in the postgame 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:50.600 press conference would try to cover himself with defensive barbed 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:54.360 wire and camouflage so that you couldn't see just how 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:54.880 hurt and. 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:55.520 Scared he was. 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:59.440 But the truth, the truth was around that press conference 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:01.080 where he told all we had to go back to 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:03.720 our broke lives. The truth was before it when he 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:07.280 wouldn't post up JJ Burrea and was passing the ball scared, 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:10.000 and after it when he went into total hiding in 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:12.480 his home because he was ashamed of what it is 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:13.920 that we all just saw. 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:17.640 When Lebron James's career is finally over, assuming that day 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:21.160 ever arrives, there'll be a few moments people will point 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:24.120 to that helped fine tune him into an ultimate winner. 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:29.080 This will likely be considered the most pivotal. Despite telling 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:31.440 the listening world that he was on top of it, 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:36.200 this would actually be Lebron's rock bottom when people hated 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:38.240 on the decision or said he'd be moving on to 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:41.080 a secondary role on a new team. James had a 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:44.760 season of basketball with which to argue back, but now 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:48.839 the defense had rested and Lebron's closing arguments were less 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:53.120 than stirring. He could only internalize to examine what went wrong. 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:56.599 Rachel Nichols spoke with Lebron at the finals against Dallas, 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:59.599 off camera at one of James's charity events that offseason, 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.480 and also back on camera for an interview before the 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:05.800 lockout short in twenty eleven. Twelve season began that December. 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:10.479 In that stretch, she noticed a person making some notable adjustments. 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:14.280 He was clearly in just such a terrible place, he 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:15.919 would later say they he spent a couple of weeks 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:18.240 just locked in his house when go anywhere with to 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:20.320 see any one. It's certainly what we were hearing from 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:24.000 the people around him. And then he and Dwayne actually 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:27.960 went on vacation together, a vacation that they had planned 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:29.400 with the idea of, Hey, We're going to win the 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:31.839 NBA Finals and then take this trip to the Bomas 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:35.880 and celebrate. And they got to the house and it 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:39.560 has been recounted to me by multiple parties, including Lebron, 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:43.400 that when Lebron and Savannah got into the house, he 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.600 was looking over the balcony on the second floor and 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:48.880 jumped over the balcony. 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:49.320 Into the pool below. 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:53.039 And I want you to think about that, Lebron James, 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:57.720 whose body is his life's work, who if he had 0:05:57.720 --> 0:06:01.200 broken several bones, would have been a huge story and 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:05.160 a huge setback and certainly a risk, and sort of 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:07.120 that he thought about. The temperature around him at the 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:11.279 time was just so out of sight of himself that 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:13.640 he jumped off the balcony into a pool. 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:16.279 So it speaks to his state. 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:19.240 Of mind that his future wife, Savannah Brinston was with 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:22.680 him in the Bahamas was no small note. Non basketball 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:24.960 family as part of what James was missing in his 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:28.279 first season in Miami. It had become such a vital 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:31.720 business trip he didn't bring family with him, so when 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:34.760 he needed relief from basketball stress, James didn't have the 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:39.200 usual comforts around him to provide daily perspective. Brian Windhorst 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:42.359 witnessed the Lebron he'd never seen before, and a decade 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:43.400 of following him. 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:47.800 What he needed was home and not just physically home. 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:50.320 He went back home for the lockout and spent the 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:55.599 entire lockout in Akron virtually and more importantly, spent the 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:59.960 lockout with his girlfriend, Savannah and his two sons, who 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.320 who did not travel with him to Miami the first year. 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:08.559 And it was basically him realizing that he had gotten 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:09.600 away from who he was. 0:07:10.280 --> 0:07:14.920 Lebron James was currently misunderstood. He wanted to help a 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:18.000 charity for children with his free agent announcement, not create 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:21.640 a sense of abandonment. He wanted folks to marvel at 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.440 what could be in the NBA, not hate him for 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:28.120 reshaping it. And with an extended offseason to consider all 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:30.200 of this because of a work stoppage that didn't allow 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:33.200 the season to begin until Christmas Day, Lebron had a 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:36.880 plan just lay the cards out on the table, including 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.239 a delayed apology to the people of Cleveland, whose sports 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:44.800 world was rocked. Nichols conducted the interview with James that 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:48.160 would effectively attempt to reset his image heading into his 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:49.520 second season with Miami. 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:53.000 There had been a lockout and so everything got delayed. 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:55.440 But then we sat down before it was time for 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:58.640 him to report to camp to do the interview after. 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:00.360 The finals, I said, in my room for two weeks, 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:03.400 did absolutely nothing, talked to absolutely nobody. 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:06.400 And I do think that was a really important turning 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:08.600 point for him because it is the first time he 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:11.440 acknowledged that he would have done something differently with the decision. 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:14.200 It's first time he acknowledged what it must have felt 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:17.040 like for people in Cleveland. So I think that. 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:18.280 Was an important part of that interview. 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:21.160 And another important part of that was, as you referenced 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:23.560 him saying, I don't want to be the villain anymore. 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:25.400 It's not why I play the game of basketball. 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:26.760 I played a game. 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:30.360 Fun, joyful, you know, and I let my game do 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:32.880 all the talking, you know. And you know, I got 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:35.360 away from that. Going through my first seven years in 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:37.920 the NBA. I was always the you know, the liked one, 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:41.040 and to be on the other side, you know, they 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:43.319 called it the dark side or the villain, whatever they 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:43.760 called it. 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:46.120 It was. It was definitely challenging for myself. 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:46.400 It was a. 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:49.680 Situation I'd never been in before and took a long 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:52.320 time to adjust to it. It basically turned me into 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:53.559 somebody I wasn't. 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:53.840 You know. 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:55.880 You started to hear the villain, you know, now you 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:56.200 have to be. 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:59.000 The villain you you know, and I started to buy 0:08:59.040 --> 0:08:59.679 into it. 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:01.239 I started to play. 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:04.480 Played a game of basketball at a at a level 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:07.560 or at a mistate that never played that before. 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:11.559 Being angry, and I think saying it out loud was 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:14.200 important for him, and he certainly played that way in 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:14.920 the following year. 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:18.840 Thanks to ESPN for that sound from Rachel's interview. It 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:22.880 wasn't just Lebron manifesting that into reality, however. He couldn't 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:25.720 simply say he's happy and then suddenly rediscover his joy 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:28.800 for the game. He knew he had to eliminate some 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:32.280 weaknesses in his game, weaknesses the Mavericks exposed with his 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:36.120 own defense and some undersized defenders. People weren't going to 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:39.320 suddenly let Lebron forget about his unwillingness to post up 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:43.800 Mavericks defenders, so he'd only have one option. Mario Chalmers 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:45.959 would be the Heat starting point guard in the twenty 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:49.600 eleven twelve season. He saw a sneak preview of a 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:51.160 different Lebron that offseason. 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.400 Last summer, Lebron called me and we worked out at 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:56.520 th Other Trong where he was on Miami, and like 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.480 that's all he did with Dave post work, and so 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:02.120 I knew in the back of his mind that was 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:04.400 something that he knew that he would acted he wanted 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:06.839 to get better at. So when he did see that again, 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:08.360 he's fully prepared for that moment. 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:12.120 You Donnis Haslam entered the league the same season as Lebron, Wade, 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:15.880 and Bosh. He didn't believe a player of James's caliber 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:18.320 had that much room left to improve at this point 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:18.960 in his career. 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:22.359 He'd be wrong, and to take nothing away from Dallas, 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:25.000 but I mean we pretty much dominated until they started 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:28.720 running his own and as NBA basketball players, I think 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:29.600 at that time. 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.120 We were just shocked. You know, it kind of made 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:32.600 us stack. 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:35.040 It kind of took away from athleticism and the skill 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:38.200 set that we had, and we just didn't know how 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:40.640 to attack it and still be ourselves within the game, 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:44.600 and it created some confusion. And I think, you know, 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:48.040 Bron took that personally upon himself, being the best player 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:49.400 on the team and the leader of that team, that 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:52.160 we didn't get it done. And I mean the transformation 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:54.000 that he made that summer was amazing. 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:55.760 Man. He never wanted to play in the post. He 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:56.640 never wanted to be inside. 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:58.520 He always wanted to be seen as a guard from 0:10:58.559 --> 0:10:59.679 all the things that he didn't want to do. 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:02.160 Matter when he came to winning, you know, he got 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:03.200 out of his comfort zone. 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:05.320 He got in the lab, and he came back a 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:07.959 completely different basketball player, which was crazy because you already 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:09.480 thought he had reached a pinnacle of who he could 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:11.520 be and what he could be, you know, came going 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:13.200 down to that block and you know, putting in that 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:15.600 work down there on that post was crazy because you know, 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:17.280 we had never seen anything like that. 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:21.080 The lockout extended offseason felt like an excruciating delay to 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:25.120 the start of Lebron's redemption story, but in reality, it's 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:28.080 possible he needed the extra time. He was about to 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:32.040 attack his personal Mount Everest again. This time he'd make 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:33.840 sure he had everything he needed. 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:36.880 I looked around, and I hadn't felt like this edge 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:39.000 ever in the NBA. You know, reminded me of my 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:41.160 day's a duke, Like, oh, but we're what of this. 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:43.160 Is this? 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:45.560 You're right there where what is this? 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:56.199 Lebron James's checklist before the start of the twenty eleven 0:11:56.280 --> 0:12:00.760 twelve season seemed complete. Partially repaired relationship with the people 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:04.600 of Cleveland Check a rediscovered joy for the game check. 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:08.920 Moving Savannah and their sons to Miami check newly minted 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:13.439 post up game check. New teammates check there as well. 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:16.720 The most notable move that off season was the signing 0:12:16.760 --> 0:12:20.160 of free agent Shane Battier. He'd be entering his eleventh 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:23.599 NBA season that year and had connections to Heat ownership 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:27.360 from his college days at Duke. After admittedly rolling his 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:30.120 eyes at Lebron's initial choice to create a super team 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:33.400 in Miami, Battier recognized a place for him after the 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:36.600 Heat came up short in year one. Early on in 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.679 his Heat tenure, Battier was suffering from some nagging injuries 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:41.960 that allowed him to sit back and absorb some of 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:45.520 what his Heat team was experiencing. As early as opening 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:49.520 day in Dallas. On Christmas, Battier noticed this felt different. 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:52.760 I'll never forget the ring night for the Maps. 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:59.120 We played them Christmas Day two thousand and eleven, and 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.679 you know, obviously none of the guys wanted to watch 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:06.280 Dirk and those guys get their rings, and like the 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:10.600 intensity of that moment back in the locker room waiting 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:14.400 to go out, they just wanted to kill these guys, 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:18.440 and just like you could feel the edge. And I'm like, 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:20.880 I looked around and I hadn't felt like this edge 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:22.080 ever in the NBA. 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:22.360 You know. 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:24.240 Reminded me of my days a duke, Like, oh, but 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:25.119 we're winning. 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:30.440 This this You're right, then, we're winning this, and we'd 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:32.920 go out. We destroyed Dallas, I think by thirty and 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:34.959 I'm just like, oh, man, you know we're gonna it's 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:35.760 gonna be a different year. 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:38.840 The final score would end up being an eleven point differential, 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:41.720 but the decisive win would set the tone for a 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.920 truncated sixty six game season. Starts of eight and one 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:49.800 and twenty eight and seven would have Miami confident throughout. 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:53.520 The games were happening so fast there was almost not 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:57.000 enough time to remember the heat were disliked figures. All 0:13:57.040 --> 0:13:59.800 you could do was marvel at this somehow improved version 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:03.160 of Lebron James, his new found chemistry with Dwayne Wade, 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:08.440 and the expanding all around game of Chris bosh operating forces. 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:13.200 It blocked by Wade, the defense continues to impress James. 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:16.280 Tabash I had to finish, well, that's a nice looking 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:17.120 fast break. 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:18.480 To block it. 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:22.600 Bust out on the dribble, find James who touches it 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:26.400 to bosh tre mendous fast break. 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:30.800 Basketball, and while you were watching, the hatred was almost 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:32.320 unknowingly melting away. 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:33.480 Here's battier. 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:37.000 It was a blur. It was a really weird season. 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:37.720 It was crazy. 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:39.880 I mean, we sold out every arena we played that, 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:43.920 and so everyone wanted to see us. Everyone wanted to 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:47.000 come and do us. But I noticed early on that 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:52.160 the heat and maybe Lebron became much more of a 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:57.040 sympathetic character, the sympathetic hero, if you will, just knowing 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:59.080 the vitriol he went through the year before and the 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:03.800 scene in Cleveland, and it was pretty like negative there. 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:06.320 It was much more positive than I thought when I 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:08.200 went on the road, and I think that was born 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:11.960 out of the way they lost sort of the humility 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:15.040 they had, the sort of stomach from losing to Dallas, 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:19.080 and so the tenor of how people viewed us, especially 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:21.640 on the road, it did change. It did change, but 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:23.560 it was always a scene, always a scene. There are 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:26.000 always people at our hotel rooms. You know, we get 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:28.960 into San Antonio two three in the morning, there were 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:31.400 people there, and there was always people who just wanted 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:33.160 to see this team. Want to see the bron want 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:35.320 to see d Wade, want to see CB, just want 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:38.960 to see us, And it was it was like like crazy, 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:40.440 I'm not compared us to the Beatles, but it was. 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:42.360 It was like a hysteria that I had never been 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:45.240 a part of my ten years in the league. 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:48.520 There might still have been a hysteria around the team, 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:51.040 but there was certainly a growing sense of calm on it. 0:15:51.520 --> 0:15:54.640 Even if it looked chaotic at times. Now that was 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.760 a planned chaos. It was a heat team on a 0:15:57.800 --> 0:16:00.960 string at all times, creating having on the defensive end 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:03.600 and an offense you couldn't take your eyes off for 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.960 a moment. Dare you miss an all time iconic play? 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:17.720 Wayne Wade with another steal three on one Jae, Holy smokes. 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:19.600 You shit me. 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:25.880 The way they get out in transition from defense to offense, 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:31.720 it's probably the best, no question, of any team currently 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:32.400 in the NBA. 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:35.880 The sense of order that allowed for said chaos came 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:39.000 in the form of a gesture from Wade that offseason, 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:42.120 while Lebron was fighting through that dark place and making 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:45.960 risky leaps from second floor balconies, Wade had a conversation 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:50.840 with James that unlocked one last feeling of home. Wade 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.200 told Lebron to treat the Heat as if it was 0:16:53.280 --> 0:16:57.160 his team. Sure, it might say Wade County on a 0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:00.040 bunch of the T shirts in Miami Dade County, but 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.720 on the hardwood, James should treat it as his own territory. 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:06.000 Waite talk to me about it at length for a 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:08.719 story I wrote for ESPN dot com in twenty twelve, 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:11.479 and while I don't have the original audio of an 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:14.679 interview that was likely recorded on an iPhone four, I 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:18.680 can't read to you Dwayne's comments. He said, quote, Lebron 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:21.639 is probably the most talented player we've seen in a while. 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:23.440 But how good can we be? 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:25.800 Are we going to be good if me and him 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:27.360 are both scoring twenty seven a night? 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:29.960 Yeah, we're going to be good. But it would be 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:30.480 too much. 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:33.800 Okay, it's your turn. Now, it's your turn. I wanted 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:36.240 to give him the opportunity where he didn't have to. 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:36.840 Think about that. 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:40.040 It's kind of like I told him, listen, I'll find 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:42.719 a way. Don't worry about me. I'll be there, but 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:44.920 you go out and be the player that we want 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:48.720 you to be. It was considered an extremely selfless move 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:51.320 from a player who was going shot for shot with 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.600 Lebron just two years earlier. The clarity of thought for 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:57.840 James allowed him to win his third MVP Trophy that season, 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:01.000 announcing himself back to his top of the league's self. 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:04.520 But it wasn't just the Wade gesture that suddenly put 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:08.160 him back into that space. Eric Spolster also drew from 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:11.440 his first season coaching James, Wade and Bosh. He and 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:15.280 assistant coach David Fizdale decided to flex their basketball knowledge 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.800 and change up the predictable offense that doomed Miami, most 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:20.400 notably against the Mavericks. 0:18:20.880 --> 0:18:22.400 Here's battier and I. 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:24.760 Give Eric Spolsor a ton of credit. I don't think 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:28.639 he gets enough credit for that run we had. He 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:32.280 really changed the way that we played. And you know, 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:33.960 we ran a lot of sets, or they ran a 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:36.000 lot of sets when they lost to Dallas, and it's 0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:38.280 just a lot of like, isoball my turn? 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:38.960 Your turn? 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:40.840 And there wasn't a. 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:43.880 Lot of I guess you could say creativity to the offense, 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:46.639 and that you know, that's what Lebron do. Way and 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:49.200 CB needed to just have a little more creativity, a 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:52.439 little more flow a little more to really take their 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:54.879 talents to the max, to their highest potential. And the 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:57.840 next year it was a much different offense, much more 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:00.879 I wouldn't say democratic offense, but it allowed these guys 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:03.119 to utilize their skills better. And that was just a 0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:06.880 process changed by Fizdale and Eric Spoltra, and so they 0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:10.199 really left their mark on by our play style. His 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:12.879 biggest regret from the year before, he said, was he 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:16.080 was too afraid to make a drastic move and do 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:19.520 what's right, and so I think he kept trying to, 0:19:20.240 --> 0:19:25.520 you know, just bludgeon the MAVs to death with the 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:27.359 plays that they had run in the last ten years 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:29.600 of the Miami Heat, and there wasn't a lot of innovation. 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:33.120 The Heat played with more pace, which was a bit 0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:35.800