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Speaker 1: My relationship with him is incredible. D Wade, He's a

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Speaker 1: brother of mine. He supports everything that we do. You know,

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Speaker 1: we call him, you know, Wade County Day County like

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Speaker 1: because he really represents hometown and we.

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Speaker 2: Love that about him.

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Speaker 1: Lebron chains another brother that just him and his whole team,

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Speaker 1: Maverick and Rich Paul, It's the whole Lebron family. We've

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Speaker 1: always showed me love and I was blessed to do

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Speaker 1: like commercials with Lebron, and we've done a lot of

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Speaker 1: great things outside of basketball. Anytime I've seen Chris Bosh

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Speaker 1: out there, another brother that just with pure lover, always

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Speaker 1: showed me love and the legend man. We had a

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Speaker 1: squad that was unstoppable.

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Speaker 3: The squad DJ Khaled was so proud of. They did

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Speaker 3: seem unstoppable. Even after a game Lebron James was forced

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Speaker 3: out of because of the ninety five degree temperature inside

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Speaker 3: San Antonio's arena, Miammi just went on to win Game

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Speaker 3: two and were right back in the same position as

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Speaker 3: they were the previous season. Welcome back to four years

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Speaker 3: of Heat. This is episode eight, the finale, as the

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Speaker 3: Heat and Spurs prepared for Game three in Miami. There

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Speaker 3: wasn't a lot that differentiated the twenty fourteen Finals from

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Speaker 3: the twenty thirteen version. The Spurs started the series with

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Speaker 3: home court advantage, which was different, but by the time

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Speaker 3: they'd reached Miami for Game three, they'd lost that, and

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Speaker 3: there's no way the insertion of Boris Diao into the

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Speaker 3: starting light up ahead of Thiago Splitter would make that

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Speaker 3: much of a difference for the Spurs. Even an older

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Speaker 3: team like Miami can get the necessary boost from their

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Speaker 3: now seasoned home fans to carry them through. Plus the

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Speaker 3: allrea of a three peat, an accomplishment that hadn't been

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Speaker 3: executed since Kobe and Shacks Lakers from two thousand to

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Speaker 3: two thousand and two, would provide just the necessary motivation

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Speaker 3: given how close Miami was to finishing the job.

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Speaker 4: Welcome to Miami, Game three of the NBA Finals, Let's

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Speaker 4: go Heat.

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Speaker 3: Well, those thoughts lasted for about the next twelve minutes

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Speaker 3: of basketball. Once the series returned to the Heat's house.

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Speaker 3: This is where the nice guy Spurs would hand out

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Speaker 3: one of the most sobering defeats of this Heat era,

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Speaker 3: a different kind of stunning than the MAVs in twenty

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Speaker 3: eleven The first quarter alone told the story of this series.

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Speaker 3: In it, the Spurs shot eighty seven percent. I'll say

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Speaker 3: that again. The Spurs shot eighty seven percent in the

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Speaker 3: first quarter of an NBA Finals game. They missed two

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Speaker 3: of their fifteen shots. They missed none of their three pointers.

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Speaker 3: The Spurs assisted on nine of their thirteen baskets in

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Speaker 3: the period, and for good measure on the defensive end,

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Speaker 3: blocked two heat shots and grabbed two steals.

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Speaker 5: Mills, He'll penetrate Moule's pass left corner.

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Speaker 6: Letard, great ball bo but by the Spurs.

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Speaker 7: The WHII.

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Speaker 8: Leonard loads up and knocks down.

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Speaker 4: A three thirty eight to twenty three Spurs pike fifteen.

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Speaker 9: Ye great executioner, great execution.

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Speaker 5: This is a Spurs team that is running the offense

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Speaker 5: to perfection.

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Speaker 3: On the heat side, Lebron James nearly matched the Spurs

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Speaker 3: brilliance in that opening quarter. He missed one of his

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Speaker 3: six attempts, scoring fourteen points with an assist and no turnovers.

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Speaker 3: The rest of the heat weren't terrible either. Miami shot

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Speaker 3: fifty three percent for the period and somehow found themselves

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Speaker 3: trailing by sixteen after just twelve minutes of play. There

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Speaker 3: was barely a drop off in the second quarter for

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Speaker 3: San Antonio. The Spurs shot an NBA Finals record for

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Speaker 3: a half of nearly seventy six percent and led at

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Speaker 3: halftime seventy one to fifty. The Diau addition to the

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Speaker 3: starting lineup made San Antonio's ball movement as crisp as

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Speaker 3: it had been all season, and at just the perfect time,

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Speaker 3: they were exercising demons in the most enjoyable way possible.

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Speaker 4: Leonard finish a straw with the right half.

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Speaker 3: The Heat closed to within seven points in the third

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Speaker 3: quarter and within ten in the fourth, but the Spurs

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Speaker 3: always responded with devastating shots and extended runs. In the end,

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Speaker 3: the Spurs won Game three by nineteen points, taking back

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Speaker 3: the home court edge and snatching back the mental advantage.

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Speaker 4: It has just been one of the great offensive starts

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Speaker 4: in NBA playoff history. Spurs with a huge response here

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Speaker 4: in Game three and now lead the twenty fourteen NBA

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Speaker 4: Finals two games to one. Well the resounding road win

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Speaker 4: here in Miami.

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Speaker 3: Greg Popovich summed up his team's near perfect performance in

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Speaker 3: the postgame press conference.

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Speaker 10: I don't think we'll ever shoot seventy six percent in

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Speaker 10: a half. Ever, again, it's the NBA Finals. Well, you

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Speaker 10: can't do be me and ocre out there if you

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Speaker 10: want to win a game. Everybody's going to play well.

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Speaker 3: But even that performance wasn't enough to fully convince Boris

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Speaker 3: Diau that the Spurs had taken control of the series.

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Speaker 7: We felt that we played great, but we know what

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Speaker 7: it is and we know the playoffs. It's not because

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Speaker 7: game three we shooting seventy five and everything goes well,

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Speaker 7: that Game four is going to be the same because

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Speaker 7: we saw the service before. Sometimes you win by twenty

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Speaker 7: in the next game you lose by twenty, so you

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Speaker 7: still got a you know, state focused.

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Speaker 3: DL's teammate Matt Bonner would play sparingly in this series,

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Speaker 3: but he was just as engaged as any of his teammates,

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Speaker 3: who all still felt the pain of losing those last

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Speaker 3: two games in American Airlines Arena a year earlier.

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Speaker 11: We got home court advantage back, and I don't want

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Speaker 11: to say we were satisfied with that, but you know,

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Speaker 11: if we went back to San Antonio two to two

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Speaker 11: with home court advantage, we would have been We're like,

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Speaker 11: all right, we did what we came here to do,

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Speaker 11: and I remember Coach Pop read that on us and

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Speaker 11: brought everybody in and was in our face like we

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Speaker 11: didn't come here to get one We came here to

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Speaker 11: get two wins, you know, So wipe the smiles off

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Speaker 11: your faces and let's be ready to play Game four.

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Speaker 11: And then we came out that Game four is really

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Speaker 11: the game where we ripped their hearts out.

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Speaker 3: The Spurs had taken the hearts of the Heat and

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Speaker 3: not even the white hot home crowd could revive them.

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Speaker 3: San Antonio shot fifty seven percent in Game four, a

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Speaker 3: small drop off from the fifty nine in Game three,

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Speaker 3: and won even more comfortably by twenty one points.

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Speaker 4: Green Fine split up beautiful feet at Dawl.

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Speaker 10: In the finish shot.

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Speaker 4: San Antonio has a double figure lead here in game four.

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Speaker 4: They've had a double figure lead in each game. Was

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Speaker 4: a series. Oh what a beautiful look for Boris d

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Speaker 4: ol time out.

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Speaker 10: The time out called by Eric Spolster.

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Speaker 9: You guys are doing a great job of moving the

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Speaker 9: ball as usual.

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Speaker 10: Now we got a lead again.

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Speaker 9: It doesn't mean to be conservative. It means we don't

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Speaker 9: need to to make them guard.

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Speaker 3: And it wasn't just the ball movement that made the

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Speaker 3: Spurs offense nearly unguardable this series. It wasn't just that

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Speaker 3: Danny Green and Patty Mills and manager Nobli were all

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Speaker 3: hitting their perimeter shots. There was one particular emerging force

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Speaker 3: that officially tipped the scales in the Spurs direction.

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Speaker 6: Mills not that time.

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Speaker 12: Leonard on the follow slam Kawhi Leonard.

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Speaker 3: Wow, he came out of nowhere and have it at home.

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Speaker 3: Kawhi Leonard, in his third season, was becoming an offensive

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Speaker 3: force matching what was already a defensive Player of the

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Speaker 3: Year caliber defense. There's an easy to find clip from

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Speaker 3: the twenty thirteen finals of Lebron James turning to the

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Speaker 3: scorers table as Leonard was re entering Game five and

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Speaker 3: responding with a noticeable WinCE. According to Bonner, that was

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Speaker 3: pretty much every player's reaction to seeing Kawhi.

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Speaker 11: I felt like Kawhi had everybody's number defensively, To be

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Speaker 11: honest with you, like, I remember my first time playing

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Speaker 11: against Kawhi when he was just to skinny rookie.

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Speaker 9: It was the lockout year, so like everybody just came

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Speaker 9: in in December. There was no like off season team

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Speaker 9: workouts or training camp or anything really I was like,

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Speaker 9: all right, get you got a few days to get ready,

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Speaker 9: and then we're going to start playing all these games

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Speaker 9: back to back to backs, the whole nine.

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Speaker 11: And I remember, like normally I see like a skinny

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Speaker 11: rookie come in, I'm gonna try to beast him. And

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Speaker 11: I remember I got the ball and I'd just like,

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Speaker 11: I'm just going to drive right through Kawhi and I

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Speaker 11: drove into his chest and it was like driving into

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Speaker 11: a brick wall.

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Speaker 9: And I remember the first hit.

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Speaker 11: I got knocked back and thinking like wait, what, how

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Speaker 11: is that physically possible? And then the second time, I'm like,

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Speaker 11: I'm gonna do it again. I go and he already

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Speaker 11: had the ball from me and was going in the

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Speaker 11: other direction. He just ripped me with his giant hands.

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Speaker 11: It was right, So like immediately I'm like, all right,

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Speaker 11: this guy, this is a different type of cat right here.

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Speaker 11: I would not want to have him guarding me. So

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Speaker 11: I'm sure Lebron or anybody else in the league would

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Speaker 11: have that same attitude inside.

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Speaker 4: Chummers third man to the rim Anderson w from.

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Speaker 9: Behind by Leonard Kawhi.

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Speaker 11: That series offensively grew up because he was able to

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Speaker 11: just go get buckets on offense you mentioned, Yeah, we

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Speaker 11: did rely on the beautiful game and ball movement, but

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Speaker 11: we had possessions where if that's all we had, would

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Speaker 11: have been dead possessions. But Kawhi could get the ball

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Speaker 11: in a position and just go make something happen and score,

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Speaker 11: go into the basket, or he got confidence in his

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Speaker 11: three point shot, especially from the corners or his little

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Speaker 11: pull up jumpers. It really clicked for him offensively. And yeah,

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Speaker 11: I mean playing team basketball on offense and point five

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Speaker 11: in the beautiful game and all that's great, but at

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Speaker 11: certain points in the playoffs, the game is slower, it's physical.

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Speaker 11: You need guys that can just go get you a bucket,

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Speaker 11: and Kawhi was that for us, became that for us

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Speaker 11: in that series letters drive finish.

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Speaker 3: In games one and two, Leonard didn't even crack double figures,

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Speaker 3: scoring nine points in each of them, but in game

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Speaker 3: three he led the Spurs with twenty nine and somehow

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Speaker 3: was more dominant in Game four with twenty points, fourteen rebounds,

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Speaker 3: three assists, three steals and three block shots.

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Speaker 9: You know you made some shots.

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Speaker 13: You played your z.

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Speaker 3: There couldn't be more FRAUDI of Game five in San

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Speaker 3: Antonio would feel very much like Lebron's first title, but

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Speaker 3: in reverse. The same way the Thunder effectively conceded to Miami.

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Speaker 3: By Game five and twenty twelve, the Heat had nothing

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Speaker 3: left for the Spurs in this one. Lebron summoned his

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Speaker 3: powers for a thirty one ten to five line, but

201
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Speaker 3: Bosh and Wade could only combine for twenty four points,

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Speaker 3: while no other Heat player hit double figure. The Spurs

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Speaker 3: would celebrate their fifth championship in franchise history, beating Miami

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Speaker 3: in five games behind Leonard as the finals MVP.

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Speaker 4: The San Antonio Spurs are the world champions.

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Speaker 6: The Spurs of capture their fifth and THEA championship.

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Speaker 7: Oh oh my god, Oh my god.

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Speaker 14: That's that's what it's about.

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Speaker 15: Baby, right, yes worthy.

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Speaker 3: Multiple time champions Greg Popovich, Tony Parker, and Tim Duncan

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Speaker 3: discussed how meaningful this title was after the heartbreak of

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Speaker 3: losing to Miami the previous season.

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Speaker 10: As every championship is different, and all the other ones

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Speaker 10: were special and the groups were great, but this had

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Speaker 10: to be the sweetest just because of what we endured

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Speaker 10: last year.

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Speaker 16: That's the sweetest championship is my favorite one out of

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Speaker 16: my four. Because of what happened last year and has

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Speaker 16: been seven years. We celebrating like as first, our first win.

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Speaker 17: This one was more special than any others, the journey

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Speaker 17: that we've been through in the last two years, everything

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Speaker 17: together because of the time between the championships. I appreciate

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Speaker 17: every game more. I appreciate every accomplishment knowing that it

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Speaker 17: might be the last time I do it. You put

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Speaker 17: all those things together, and it makes this one that

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Speaker 17: much more special for me.

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Speaker 3: Afterward, while the Spurs were rejoicing with their home fans,

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Speaker 3: the Heat players were coming to grips with what felt

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Speaker 3: like an ending. It certainly was a conclusion for Shane Battier, Well,

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Speaker 3: I retired.

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Speaker 18: I knew I was retiring, you know. So that was

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Speaker 18: my last game, and I knew I knew probably going

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Speaker 18: into that into training camp that year. This was probably

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Speaker 18: my last game. I probably should have retired after his

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Speaker 18: sixth series in game seven years before. Looking back at it,

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Speaker 18: I probably sho k off just walked off, But I said,

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Speaker 18: I'm on one more year, you know, and like I

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Speaker 18: wasn't on the grind anymore. My kids are getting older.

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Speaker 18: I get to the gym, I say, I still like

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Speaker 18: being here today, you know, I still want to play

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Speaker 18: the game, and so like, when you're not willing to

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Speaker 18: make that grind anymore and make those sacrifices, you're cheating

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Speaker 18: the game. And you could cheat the game, you shouldn't

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Speaker 18: be playing. And that was sort of like, not only

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Speaker 18: my perspective, but I think all of all of us.

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Speaker 18: We cheated the championship path in protocol and we still

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Speaker 18: almost want it, which is funny. But we lose that

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Speaker 18: game five in San Antonio and there was no one

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Speaker 18: who was mad at that. We all just kind of

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Speaker 18: like collectively sighed and said, man, that was an amazing run,

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Speaker 18: and we all sort of felt that it was over.

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Speaker 3: Looking back, the entire four year run felt like a

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Speaker 3: constant test of the Heat culture that members of the

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Speaker 3: organization constantly speak about. The team that embraces conflict and

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Speaker 3: ignores outside opinions and plays harder and smarter defensively just

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Speaker 3: couldn't maintain that necessary edge for any longer. The never

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Speaker 3: ending pressure finally drained a team that was spectacularly defiant

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Speaker 3: for four seasons. Here's the dean of Heat culture, you,

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Speaker 3: Donnis Haslam.

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Speaker 19: Yeah, No, it was a lot on us mentally physically

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Speaker 19: and emotionally for those you know, those years playing the

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Speaker 19: most basketball, playing the longest seasons. You know, I think

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Speaker 19: we just didn't know how to handle it, you know,

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Speaker 19: as a unit, you know what I'm saying. I think,

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Speaker 19: you know, people just think it's just coming together playing basketball,

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Speaker 19: winning games, And now that's part of what. We didn't

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Speaker 19: handle the mental part of it very well, you know

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Speaker 19: what I'm saying. The times that, you know, we should

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Speaker 19: have took a mental break and got our minds off

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Speaker 19: it and just you know, refreshed and refilled, you know

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Speaker 19: what I'm saying. And I think towards the end, we

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Speaker 19: just started all pouring from an empty cup, you know

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Speaker 19: what I mean.

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Speaker 9: And you can't do that.

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Speaker 3: As Haslam stated, the Heat at this point, after four

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Speaker 3: long seasons, didn't appear to have the necessary fight to

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Speaker 3: match the Spurs in the two thousand and four team finals.

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Speaker 3: So what did that mean for the future of this

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Speaker 3: team and this core? From the start, the Heats Big

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Speaker 3: three bonded to create a shield against the outside noise.

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Speaker 3: According to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, those three

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Speaker 3: emerged successful from so many heated battles it was difficult

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Speaker 3: to imagine summoning that same energy again.

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Speaker 2: Dwayne seemed tired, well, bronzeemed tired. I think they were

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Speaker 2: all just tired. There were no breaks. It was four years,

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Speaker 2: four finals, media tours, all the responsibilities, all the obligations,

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Speaker 2: all the stuff they got Theirs into, you know, commercially,

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Speaker 2: as far as endorsements and all that. But there was

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Speaker 2: never a break. And I think a lot of it

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Speaker 2: was just fatigue. I think the message had wrung. How okay,

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Speaker 2: we came together, we proved everybody wrong, we won it twice.

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Speaker 2: What's left to do? Like they ran out of villains,

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Speaker 2: Like it was originally the media and the noise, and

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Speaker 2: then it was losing the Dallas and then you know,

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Speaker 2: how are we going to get past this? How were

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Speaker 2: we going to get past that? Once they got past everything,

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Speaker 2: they ran out of things to hate.

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Speaker 3: They were also starting to run out of their reliable

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Speaker 3: supporting cast. It wasn't just Battier, who played his last

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Speaker 3: game that night in San Antonio. Brian Windhorst of ESPN

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Speaker 3: noted just how much this team was relying on veterans

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Speaker 3: to that point, making the prospect of several more years

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Speaker 3: of deep playoff runs difficult to envision.

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Speaker 8: When the series ended, two players essentially announced their retirement

305
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Speaker 8: in the locker room, and this has never happened before.

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Speaker 8: Shan Battier said I'm done, and Ray Allen said I'm

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Speaker 8: probably done. And then Rashard Lewis, who started games in

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Speaker 8: that finals, he ended up having to retire too. So

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Speaker 8: they were basically only playing six or seven guys in

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Speaker 8: that finals, and three of them were playing the last

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Speaker 8: games of their career.

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Speaker 3: What we didn't know at that time was Game five

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Speaker 3: in San Antonio would also be the last playoff game

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Speaker 3: of Bosh's career. The following season, in February of twenty fifteen,

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Speaker 3: Bosh was diagnosed with the pulmonary embolism, which is when

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Speaker 3: a blood clot gets dislodged from another part of the

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Speaker 3: body and travels to the lungs. He wouldn't play again

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Speaker 3: that season, and in February of twenty sixteen, another blood

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Speaker 3: clot was found, this time in Bosh's calf. He was

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Speaker 3: eventually diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis, a condition that would

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Speaker 3: force him to retire from the game. His last NBA

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Speaker 3: appearance ever was a regular season game on February ninth,

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Speaker 3: twenty sixteen, also against the Spurs on the same American

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Speaker 3: Airlines Arena floor, where he grabbed an all timer of

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Speaker 3: an offensive rebound and kicked it out to a back

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Speaker 3: pedaling Ray Allen to adjust the course of NBA history.

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Speaker 4: James Catchers puts up at three, We'll go recount, flash

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Speaker 4: back out to Alan history toilet tie game with five

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Speaker 4: seconds reverting.

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Speaker 3: It was a sudden end to a career that was

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Speaker 3: somehow still blossoming. Bosh was becoming the proto type NBA

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Speaker 3: big man, having just reached thirty years old in twenty fourteen.

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Speaker 3: Instead of seeing what he could truly become, we could

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Speaker 3: only look back to that four year run of finals

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Speaker 3: to truly assess his value. Here's Haslam.

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Speaker 19: Chris Bosh was the key to that bro. A lot

337
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Speaker 19: of people don't understand that, you know what I'm saying.

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Speaker 19: As great as Dwayne was, it is the greatest lebron

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Speaker 19: is and none of it works without Chris. None of

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Speaker 19: it works without Chris.

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Speaker 10: You know.

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Speaker 19: He was probably the guy that sacrificed the most but

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Speaker 19: played the biggest role for us, if that makes sense.

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Speaker 19: So I was just thankful for the four years spent

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Speaker 19: the opportunities, the growth, the evolution, the success, the tears

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Speaker 19: of joy, the tears of pain. I was just thankful

347
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Speaker 19: for the entire experience.

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Speaker 13: Man.

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Speaker 19: Ain't no hard feelings, no no hate, no no, no,

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Speaker 19: none of that. I was happy, man. And to this

351
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Speaker 19: day we still maintain those relationships because nobody felt the way.

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Speaker 19: You know what I'm saying. Everybody understood that we had

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Speaker 19: a great four year run.

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Speaker 20: Man.

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Speaker 3: Everybody benefited, Perhaps no single individual benefited more than Lebron James.

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Speaker 3: He'd hit more than a few career benchmarks. From twenty

357
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Speaker 3: ten to fourteen. He'd won his first two titles and

358
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Speaker 3: finals MVPs. He'd won two more regular season MVPs, matching

359
00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,800
Speaker 3: Wilt Chamberlain's total of four and only leaving Bill Russell,

360
00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:23,480
Speaker 3: Michael Jordan, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar having more. He'd have

361
00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:27,200
Speaker 3: his two most efficient seasons, sharpening his all around game

362
00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:29,880
Speaker 3: with a set of post skills he didn't have upon arrival.

363
00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:33,439
Speaker 3: Stan Van Gundy coached against Lebron in all three of

364
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Speaker 3: his stops, but said Miami brought out the best defensive

365
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Speaker 3: version of James. Lebron twice finished second in Defensive Player

366
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Speaker 3: of the Year voting once in two thousand and nine

367
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Speaker 3: with Cleveland, losing the award to Orlando's Dwight Howard, and

368
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Speaker 3: once with the Heat in twenty thirteen, losing to Memphis's

369
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Speaker 3: Mark Gasol. Here's stan Van Gundy on James's defensive development,

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Speaker 3: and the thing.

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Speaker 20: I will say in Miami is Lebron was always he's

372
00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:05,119
Speaker 20: I thought a good defender, and certainly under Mike Brown

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Speaker 20: in Cleveland he was good. But then he got there

374
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Speaker 20: and like you said, he didn't have a huge, huge

375
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Speaker 20: offensive role, or he did, but not outsized where he

376
00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:21,480
Speaker 20: had to do everything. And you know, he got with

377
00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:24,080
Speaker 20: other good defenders in a good system, and he was

378
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Speaker 20: overwhelming defensively. I mean I thought there were if it

379
00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:32,439
Speaker 20: weren't for Dwight at that time. I mean he had

380
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Speaker 20: you know, he had years where he could have been

381
00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:38,800
Speaker 20: defensive Player of the Year. Material. That's the biggest thing

382
00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:43,720
Speaker 20: I saw from him in Miami was his defensive dominance.

383
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Speaker 20: And we'd already seen it in Cleveland a little bit,

384
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Speaker 20: but he carried a bigger offensive load there so was

385
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Speaker 20: probably not able to devote as much to it.

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Speaker 3: James had all the tools by twenty fourteen, and a

387
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Speaker 3: decent amount of hardware too. It's why the loss to

388
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,120
Speaker 3: the Spurs could have been a bit mystifying for him.

389
00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,199
Speaker 3: How could this Heat team lose in five games so

390
00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:11,040
Speaker 3: easily when he remains the most destructive player on the planet.

391
00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:15,639
Speaker 3: Did the Heat planned properly enough to maintain championship level

392
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Speaker 3: play as he and Bosh enter their thirties, or did

393
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:22,560
Speaker 3: the Spurs just bring James to the realization that it

394
00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,240
Speaker 3: was time to reassess it all. Jackie McMullin believed the

395
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,920
Speaker 3: Spurs forced James to look beyond Miami sooner than expected,

396
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Speaker 3: as the league got a glimpse of the future.

397
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Speaker 13: There's no doubt in my mind that that series made

398
00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:39,439
Speaker 13: him realize, Yep, we can't beat Nope, we're done. I

399
00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:42,640
Speaker 13: believe that with all my heart, and I go back

400
00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:46,320
Speaker 13: and look on that series. The stan Antonio Spurs in

401
00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:49,600
Speaker 13: Game three played one of the most perfect games of

402
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,560
Speaker 13: basketball I've ever seen in my life. It was the

403
00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:54,680
Speaker 13: preview for the rest of the league. The NBA is

404
00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:58,320
Speaker 13: a copycat league, always has been, and Bob Myers was

405
00:21:58,359 --> 00:21:59,720
Speaker 13: going to be the GM of the Warriors. All the

406
00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:02,040
Speaker 13: people watching that, everybody said, all right, this is what

407
00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:02,560
Speaker 13: we got to do.

408
00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:06,080
Speaker 3: And maybe Lebron was thinking about winning and filling those

409
00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:09,680
Speaker 3: voids on his championship mantle at this point, or maybe

410
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,280
Speaker 3: he was thinking about what it felt like the previous

411
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,640
Speaker 3: time he'd lost in the finals in twenty eleven, when

412
00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:20,359
Speaker 3: he found comfort in home. There had been signs, if

413
00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:23,120
Speaker 3: you chose to see them as such, during Lebron's time

414
00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:26,480
Speaker 3: in Miami that he signaled he might leave sooner than expected.

415
00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,480
Speaker 3: Windhors saw them and knew a return to Cleveland would

416
00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:34,640
Speaker 3: be in Lebron's future. He just wasn't sure exactly when.

417
00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:37,480
Speaker 8: I knew he was seriously considering it, But I was

418
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:41,800
Speaker 8: just so careful is he not to say it? Because

419
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:46,119
Speaker 8: I just I didn't have the greatest feel when he

420
00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:50,480
Speaker 8: opted out of his contract like ten days before he

421
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,359
Speaker 8: had to, and then when he took meetings, he actually

422
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:56,560
Speaker 8: was at the meetings, but when his agent took the meetings,

423
00:22:57,400 --> 00:22:59,560
Speaker 8: I knew that he was seriously considering it, and I

424
00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:01,520
Speaker 8: only thought he'd go to Cleveland. I mean, I had

425
00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:04,640
Speaker 8: I knew he was going to go back to Cleveland

426
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:08,080
Speaker 8: in the winter of two thousand and twelve, his second

427
00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:10,840
Speaker 8: year in Miami. I didn't know when it would be.

428
00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:13,480
Speaker 8: And I really did think that he might try to

429
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:16,480
Speaker 8: give the Heat one more year because boj and Wade

430
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,440
Speaker 8: were still in their primes. There were still some p

431
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:21,320
Speaker 8: things that the Heat could have done in free agency

432
00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:22,919
Speaker 8: to turn over the team, and they had kind of

433
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,480
Speaker 8: done that. They had drafted, They'd moved up in the

434
00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:27,840
Speaker 8: draft to draft another guard, They'd signed a couple of

435
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:30,080
Speaker 8: free agents. I thought he might give the Heat one

436
00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:32,240
Speaker 8: more year, but I did think he'd go back to Cleveland.

437
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:34,520
Speaker 8: I just didn't want to be the guy who said

438
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Speaker 8: that he was going to go back and then he

439
00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:36,400
Speaker 8: didn't go back.

440
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,320
Speaker 3: The next year, the Heat had secured free agents Josh

441
00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:43,719
Speaker 3: McRoberts and former Pacers rival Danny Granger. They even drafted

442
00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,480
Speaker 3: Shabbaz Napier out of Yukon, someone Lebron had mentioned was

443
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:51,280
Speaker 3: his favorite player in the draft. But James's desire to

444
00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:56,280
Speaker 3: chase championships didn't dwindle after two rings. It only grew stronger.

445
00:23:57,200 --> 00:23:58,639
Speaker 3: Here's battier again.

446
00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:03,199
Speaker 18: Lebron has had more expectations around his career than anyone

447
00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:06,359
Speaker 18: in the history of maybe sports, and he's delivered and

448
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,439
Speaker 18: then so okay, and so his his scorecard is different.

449
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,359
Speaker 18: But the way he judged, the way judges himself.

450
00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:13,080
Speaker 3: It's different.

451
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:17,440
Speaker 18: And I think in his heart he knew the only

452
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,159
Speaker 18: way to get to Jordan the conversation with Jordan was

453
00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:22,639
Speaker 18: to go back to Cleveland and win one there, because

454
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,240
Speaker 18: you know when winning one in Cleveland is worth two

455
00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:29,159
Speaker 18: in Chicago discause of their history, and it was, and

456
00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:33,119
Speaker 18: so I think Lebron was playing a bigger game. I

457
00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:36,080
Speaker 18: think he's always felt that he wanted to give one

458
00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:39,880
Speaker 18: to UH, to the Calves. So like I never thought

459
00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:41,159
Speaker 18: that he was going to go to like l A

460
00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:44,439
Speaker 18: from Miami or or somewhere else. I think I thought that,

461
00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:46,800
Speaker 18: like if he left, he would he would go back

462
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:48,960
Speaker 18: to Cleveland. It's not something like he'd talk about. We

463
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:50,480
Speaker 18: didn't talk about it in the locker room or anything

464
00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:53,080
Speaker 18: like that. It was just a feeling that like, yeah, okay,

465
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:56,479
Speaker 18: that makes sense, and like I wasn't I didn't begrudge him,

466
00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:58,200
Speaker 18: and I totally understood.

467
00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:00,800
Speaker 3: Lebron became a free agent and in late June of

468
00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:04,600
Speaker 3: twenty fourteen, when he exercised an early termination option in

469
00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,720
Speaker 3: his contract. He held free agent meetings with teams in

470
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:10,920
Speaker 3: Las Vegas in early July, including one with Heat team

471
00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:15,080
Speaker 3: president pat Riley. Some believe Lebron had his decision made

472
00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:17,560
Speaker 3: by the time he met with the Heat Brass, but

473
00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,359
Speaker 3: in the same way, James was believed to be hesitant

474
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,240
Speaker 3: up until the moment he said I'm taking my talents

475
00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:26,600
Speaker 3: to South Beach. Tim Reynolds believes James wanted to be

476
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:28,920
Speaker 3: certain he was making the correct choice.

477
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:32,240
Speaker 2: He went through all that in Vegas to say, am

478
00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:34,240
Speaker 2: I doing the right thing? I think he was just

479
00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,600
Speaker 2: being a savvy investor doing his homework at that point.

480
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,800
Speaker 2: I don't think it was a charade. I don't think

481
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,639
Speaker 2: he was wasting anybody's time. I don't think it was

482
00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:47,920
Speaker 2: mean spirited. I don't think it was hollow. I think

483
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 2: his mind was pretty much made up. But he wanted

484
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:52,640
Speaker 2: to make sure that he was absolutely doing the right thing.

485
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:57,280
Speaker 3: So on July eleventh, twenty fourteen, Lebron made it official

486
00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:59,960
Speaker 3: with a story told to Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated.

487
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,440
Speaker 3: He was heading back to his home base of Northeast

488
00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:07,480
Speaker 3: Ohio to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He'd take what

489
00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,560
Speaker 3: he learned in Miami and try to transfer those championship

490
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:14,720
Speaker 3: habits to the Caves, and in doing so, he ended

491
00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:18,120
Speaker 3: one of the most entertaining and league shifting four year

492
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,920
Speaker 3: stretches the NBA has ever seen. Here's Windhorst.

493
00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:24,520
Speaker 8: What a wonderful time in the history of the NBA.

494
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:31,399
Speaker 8: The Miami Heat. That run was such an influential and

495
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:35,760
Speaker 8: pivotal and historical time. They had a lot of amazing

496
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:40,360
Speaker 8: things happen, not only on the basketball court, but just culturally.

497
00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:44,520
Speaker 8: You know the Harlem Shake video. You know, the incredible

498
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:47,840
Speaker 8: Game six Ray Allen shot. It's a historic NBA moment.

499
00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,720
Speaker 8: The amazing Game seven where you know, Duncan and Lebron

500
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:53,639
Speaker 8: are going back and forth at each other. I mean,

501
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,000
Speaker 8: what else can you ask for? You know, the back

502
00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:58,879
Speaker 8: and forth with the Celtics, the back and forth with

503
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:03,960
Speaker 8: the Bulls. So many big games in Miami, those big

504
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:08,040
Speaker 8: playoff nights with the entire arena dressed in white and

505
00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:11,760
Speaker 8: seven Nation Army, you know, rocking on the sound system.

506
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:15,000
Speaker 8: I mean, these are you know, memories that will forever

507
00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:17,400
Speaker 8: last for people who were involved with it. I mean,

508
00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:21,040
Speaker 8: it was four years, it felt like more. It ended

509
00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:26,520
Speaker 8: abruptly and unfortunately, but I don't think anybody truly associated

510
00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:28,879
Speaker 8: with it, whether it was people within the Heat organization

511
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,560
Speaker 8: or the fans or Lebron himself. I don't think they

512
00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:36,520
Speaker 8: would have changed anything. I think they're glad everything happened.

513
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:38,600
Speaker 8: You know, the Heat had some bad breaks a little

514
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:40,439
Speaker 8: bit after that that you know, had nothing to do

515
00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:42,399
Speaker 8: with Lebron, and then he obviously left them in a

516
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:44,480
Speaker 8: tough state. They had to rebuild a little bit. But

517
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,560
Speaker 8: I don't think they regretted that. I think everything that

518
00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:49,560
Speaker 8: they did to get that four year run was worth it.

519
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:52,479
Speaker 8: And those banners are up there. Those banners are up there,

520
00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:55,359
Speaker 8: and those four finals runs are there, and so it

521
00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,439
Speaker 8: was a real piece of NBA history those four years.

522
00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:00,959
Speaker 8: It probably was the right length the time. You know,

523
00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,360
Speaker 8: it was just long enough for people didn't quite get

524
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:05,640
Speaker 8: sick of it, and they were entertained by it, and

525
00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:08,040
Speaker 8: everybody was kind of able to still have other acts

526
00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:09,159
Speaker 8: in their careers after that.

527
00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:19,639
Speaker 3: What Lebron James did in announcing his return to Cleveland

528
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:23,199
Speaker 3: following four years and two titles in Miami was closed

529
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:26,520
Speaker 3: the loop on what would end up a heartwarming tale.

530
00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:29,960
Speaker 3: His return meant more than any apology. It was the

531
00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:34,080
Speaker 3: giant hug those two sides really needed to experience after

532
00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:37,160
Speaker 3: the hurt caused by the decision. But for the Heat

533
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:41,280
Speaker 3: and their fans, it was an entirely different feeling. There

534
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:44,640
Speaker 3: was a sudden longing because they knew those four years

535
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:49,120
Speaker 3: couldn't be recreated anytime soon, not without Lebron. And then

536
00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:52,480
Speaker 3: you were forced to make the immediate assessment, did the

537
00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,640
Speaker 3: Heat get everything out of their time with Lebron? And

538
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,360
Speaker 3: what would have happened if he stayed for a bit longer.

539
00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:00,400
Speaker 6: You know, we went to four straight. Five was in

540
00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:05,000
Speaker 6: four years, and you know, we're not discrediting what we

541
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:08,120
Speaker 6: was able to accomplish in these four years. We lost

542
00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,320
Speaker 6: one we won too, and we lost another one, you know,

543
00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:14,560
Speaker 6: and take fifty percent, you know, in four years. You know,

544
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,360
Speaker 6: in championships any day, obviously you want to win all

545
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:19,920
Speaker 6: of them, but that's just the nature of the game.

546
00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:22,360
Speaker 6: You win some, you lose some. You know, you just

547
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:24,920
Speaker 6: got to come back the next year and you know,

548
00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:28,239
Speaker 6: and be better as an individual, as a team, you know,

549
00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,080
Speaker 6: and go from there. But you know, I know, me

550
00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:35,360
Speaker 6: and d Wade and c B you know, not proud

551
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:39,320
Speaker 6: of the way we played, you know, and all three

552
00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,920
Speaker 6: of us, you know, that's the last thing we're thinking about,

553
00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:43,920
Speaker 6: is what's going on this summer.

554
00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:47,720
Speaker 3: Rachel Nichols was there for the Heat finale in twenty

555
00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:51,120
Speaker 3: fourteen and did since there was a bit left on

556
00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:52,440
Speaker 3: the table for that team.

557
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:56,920
Speaker 21: It felt a little bit like a lost opportunity when

558
00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:58,640
Speaker 21: he left. I mean, they had done so much, they

559
00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:01,280
Speaker 21: had won two titles. S say, oh, gee, you know

560
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:03,600
Speaker 21: they went on this big, grand adventure and didn't get

561
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:05,960
Speaker 21: anything out of it. You would never say that, but

562
00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:10,880
Speaker 21: it did feel like there could be more. And as

563
00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:14,800
Speaker 21: someone who loves watching sports partly to get to watch

564
00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:19,040
Speaker 21: people reach their full potential, for that team, it felt

565
00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,440
Speaker 21: like there could have been more and it would have

566
00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:24,920
Speaker 21: been fun to see that, and that if the air

567
00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:28,200
Speaker 21: conditioning in the building during one of those final games

568
00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:34,520
Speaker 21: hadn't failed, that possibly that series could have gone differently.

569
00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:37,120
Speaker 21: It definitely felt like that at the time, and so

570
00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:41,640
Speaker 21: standing in the locker room after they lost that final game,

571
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 21: it is the quietest postgame locker room I have been in,

572
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,280
Speaker 21: and I have been in all kinds of losing locker rooms,

573
00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:52,200
Speaker 21: but that was so pin drop quiet. I think in

574
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:57,400
Speaker 21: part because everyone felt, oh, this could just not be

575
00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:01,800
Speaker 21: the end of this final series of this season. This

576
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:04,760
Speaker 21: could be the end, and I think it was already

577
00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:05,600
Speaker 21: hanging in the air.

578
00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:09,520
Speaker 3: But remember when you Donnis Haslam said everybody benefited from

579
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,520
Speaker 3: James's tenure in Miami, Well, that includes the Heat organization.

580
00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,760
Speaker 3: Lebron didn't just learn how to win in Miami. He

581
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:21,360
Speaker 3: showed everyone just how prepared the Heat organization was to

582
00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:25,040
Speaker 3: build winners. It was a symbiotic relationship that would be

583
00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:29,080
Speaker 3: confirmed six years later when Lebron and the Lakers faced

584
00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:31,440
Speaker 3: off with Eric Spolster in the Miami Heat in the

585
00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:34,440
Speaker 3: NBA Finals. Here's Rachel Nichols.

586
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:37,120
Speaker 21: It's interesting he would later go on to stay that

587
00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:39,600
Speaker 21: he felt like going to Miami was his four years

588
00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:42,520
Speaker 21: of college right, that he never got that experience, that

589
00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:44,280
Speaker 21: that's where he learned to be a grown up, That's

590
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:46,240
Speaker 21: where he learned to be a professional in that way.

591
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:48,640
Speaker 21: And I don't think that was necessarily a knock on

592
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:51,120
Speaker 21: the Cleveland organization as it had been. I think it

593
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:54,000
Speaker 21: was more about what the Miami Heat actually offered. I

594
00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:56,800
Speaker 21: think that Heat culture expression is not just something that

595
00:31:56,840 --> 00:31:58,840
Speaker 21: people in Miami state to make themselves feel better.

596
00:31:58,920 --> 00:31:59,440
Speaker 13: It is real.

597
00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:02,959
Speaker 21: It is a level of professionalism in that organization that

598
00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:07,320
Speaker 21: just doesn't exist in other places throughout sports. And I

599
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:11,360
Speaker 21: think he felt like that so significantly changed him as

600
00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:14,120
Speaker 21: a player, as a person. It was his first time

601
00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:18,600
Speaker 21: significantly away from home that he then felt launched to

602
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:20,640
Speaker 21: go back out into the world and do other things.

603
00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:21,320
Speaker 13: Now.

604
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:23,880
Speaker 21: I don't know in the moment how people in Miami

605
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,920
Speaker 21: felt about that comparison, because it does feel a little

606
00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:28,960
Speaker 21: bit like, oh, you came here for college. Great, thanks

607
00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:31,440
Speaker 21: a lot. We actually thought this is a long term marriage,

608
00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:35,360
Speaker 21: but the fact that he was I think maybe it

609
00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:38,320
Speaker 21: came out sounding a little flipped to some people in Florida.

610
00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:41,360
Speaker 21: But I do think the expression of what he was

611
00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:44,600
Speaker 21: trying to say had so much respect layered in it.

612
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:48,720
Speaker 21: And I think that without that Miami experienced, Lebron James

613
00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:51,840
Speaker 21: would be a completely different player, a completely different human.

614
00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:55,800
Speaker 21: And I think to say that it is one of

615
00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:59,400
Speaker 21: the most important parts of a very long and interesting

616
00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:02,280
Speaker 21: and very story is not an understatement at all. The

617
00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,800
Speaker 21: Miami Heat are part of Lebron James, and Lebron James

618
00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:06,200
Speaker 21: is always going to be part of my Heat.

619
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:09,360
Speaker 3: Of course, James will forever be linked with the Heat.

620
00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:12,840
Speaker 3: His image is in so many parts of the team's arena.

621
00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:16,600
Speaker 3: There's a banner marking his twenty twelve Olympic gold medal

622
00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:19,640
Speaker 3: in the rafters right along with the championship banners he

623
00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:23,880
Speaker 3: helped raise, and his number six will likely get retired

624
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:27,320
Speaker 3: in Miami once he officially hangs it up. What he

625
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:31,280
Speaker 3: accomplished in Miami remains the most successful four year stretch

626
00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:34,240
Speaker 3: of his career and the closest thing to a sports

627
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,880
Speaker 3: dynasty South Florida has seen since the Miami Dolphins in

628
00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:42,120
Speaker 3: the early nineteen seventies, and yet it'll forever be thought

629
00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:46,320
Speaker 3: of with some question marks. Dan Lebtard of Metal Arc

630
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:50,160
Speaker 3: Media believes those Heat teams did just enough to satiate

631
00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:53,720
Speaker 3: a rabid fan base, but also left just enough on

632
00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:56,480
Speaker 3: the table to wonder if there should have been more.

633
00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:00,840
Speaker 3: It puts even further perspective on how my unumenttal that

634
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,280
Speaker 3: Bosh offensive rebound and Ray Allen three pointer in Game

635
00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:05,760
Speaker 3: six really were.

636
00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:10,160
Speaker 5: Here's Levitard, that team would have been a historic underachiever

637
00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:13,759
Speaker 5: if not for that shot. One title would not have

638
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:18,960
Speaker 5: been enough for everything that was, the coverage, the noise

639
00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:24,400
Speaker 5: around that basketball team as it was izzy. I feel

640
00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:28,920
Speaker 5: like two two championships is sort of a push. I

641
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,840
Speaker 5: feel like it's a tie on people who hated the

642
00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:34,840
Speaker 5: Heat versus people who love the heat. Everyone walks away

643
00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:39,759
Speaker 5: with the unsatisfied feeling of that wasn't an overachievement, It

644
00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:43,080
Speaker 5: wasn't an underachievement. It was just sort of like, eh,

645
00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:47,399
Speaker 5: two out of four. That's pretty good, but probably could

646
00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:50,680
Speaker 5: have and should have been more. Probably if I had

647
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:54,239
Speaker 5: asked Chris Bosh and Lebron James and Dwayne Wade when

648
00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:56,759
Speaker 5: they were dancing on that stage in Arena and a

649
00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:59,759
Speaker 5: party before it all started, hey, if you guys win two,

650
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:02,680
Speaker 5: how's that going to feel? My guess is they would

651
00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:04,759
Speaker 5: have said not enough. My guess is that they would

652
00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:06,680
Speaker 5: have said, we got to win more than that. It's

653
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,520
Speaker 5: not going to just be too is it? Later on,

654
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,960
Speaker 5: Golden State and some other teams would come and do

655
00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:17,040
Speaker 5: things that were similar, but they started it. The play

656
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:21,120
Speaker 5: of San Antonio in that series at the end was

657
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:28,000
Speaker 5: such a vengeant storm of pent up hostility and anger

658
00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:30,560
Speaker 5: because they thought they should have won the last time

659
00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:35,280
Speaker 5: they played that. That's the best basketball team I've ever seen.

660
00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:38,160
Speaker 5: That's the best basketball play I've ever seen. The team

661
00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:40,440
Speaker 5: that engulfed them at the end, the Heat team that

662
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:42,840
Speaker 5: was tired, and I don't really understand this part is

663
00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:46,920
Speaker 5: he I don't understand why the winning of championships is

664
00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:49,399
Speaker 5: so hard that teams like Golden State at the end

665
00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:56,200
Speaker 5: break apart, because it's just too emotionally, mentally, physically draining

666
00:35:56,520 --> 00:35:59,720
Speaker 5: to play in that pressure cooker for that long.

667
00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:02,719
Speaker 3: One of the notes James seemed to take with him

668
00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:05,959
Speaker 3: was the need for superstar level teammates in a league

669
00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:09,480
Speaker 3: that was now trying to recreate the heat model. Lebron

670
00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:13,080
Speaker 3: created another buzzworthy trio once he got to Cleveland, with

671
00:36:13,239 --> 00:36:16,840
Speaker 3: former number one pick Kyrie Irving already on board and

672
00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:21,600
Speaker 3: all star Kevin Love getting traded from Minnesota. Here's Jackie McMullen.

673
00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:26,160
Speaker 13: I really believe that that win by the Spurs changed

674
00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:30,120
Speaker 13: the course of NBA history because Lebron was moving on,

675
00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:33,560
Speaker 13: and what better place to go than the place he

676
00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:35,480
Speaker 13: spurned in the first place. Let's make it all right,

677
00:36:35,600 --> 00:36:38,279
Speaker 13: Let's keep that white hat on, nice and tight and

678
00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:40,480
Speaker 13: go back to Cleveland and save the day with a

679
00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:42,719
Speaker 13: young Kyrie Irving, who at that point we thought his

680
00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:46,799
Speaker 13: future was limitless, and Kevin Love, who was in the

681
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:51,360
Speaker 13: prime of his career and was the prototypical stretch for

682
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:53,520
Speaker 13: I mean that was the way the league was going.

683
00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:56,959
Speaker 3: While Miami would be left reeling as a sports town,

684
00:36:57,719 --> 00:37:00,680
Speaker 3: pat Riley would attempt to make the recovery from Lebron's

685
00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:04,880
Speaker 3: exit not nearly as painful. He'd sign Luell Ding and

686
00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:08,200
Speaker 3: All Star with the Bulls to replace James, and he'd

687
00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:11,360
Speaker 3: keep Wade and Bosh on board, which was no easy

688
00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:14,640
Speaker 3: feat given the sudden question marks around the team, and

689
00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:17,239
Speaker 3: for a city that embraced Lebron while the rest of

690
00:37:17,239 --> 00:37:20,319
Speaker 3: the country was throwing jabs and a lot more in

691
00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:23,600
Speaker 3: his direction. There must have been a hint of pride

692
00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:27,799
Speaker 3: escaping Miami as the rest of the country also realized, Hey,

693
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:32,319
Speaker 3: this Lebron James wasn't a bad guy after all, here's

694
00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:33,239
Speaker 3: Rachel Nichols.

695
00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:36,319
Speaker 21: It was disappointing for the city of Miami and for

696
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:38,879
Speaker 21: the heat and for the potential that what might have been.

697
00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:42,279
Speaker 21: On the other hand, I was there in Cleveland when

698
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:45,680
Speaker 21: he was introduced back in Cleveland and did a big

699
00:37:45,719 --> 00:37:48,560
Speaker 21: event for his charity, which as we know, turned into

700
00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:53,400
Speaker 21: his school. It's an incredible, incredible organization and the feeling

701
00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:56,719
Speaker 21: and love of him back full circle in Cleveland, and

702
00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:59,880
Speaker 21: I remember people they handed out little lights to people

703
00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:05,400
Speaker 21: and springing their little lights, and it felt very much like, Okay,

704
00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:09,640
Speaker 21: I understand why he felt like part of his story

705
00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:12,600
Speaker 21: had to come back here and why there was unfinished business.

706
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:15,400
Speaker 21: So for me in that moment, as someone who was

707
00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:19,200
Speaker 21: covering him extremely closely and covering the Miami heat extremely closely,

708
00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:22,160
Speaker 21: it felt like one of those both things can be

709
00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:26,640
Speaker 21: true moments. It felt like, Gosh, I love the alternate

710
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:29,399
Speaker 21: sliding doors universe where he stayed in Miami and would

711
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:32,480
Speaker 21: have seen what would have happened. I also got this

712
00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:34,680
Speaker 21: universe where he went back to Cleveland and we would

713
00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,359
Speaker 21: later see win a title. There was a pretty great

714
00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:38,440
Speaker 21: basketball story also.

715
00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:42,560
Speaker 3: That story arc peaked with a Cleveland championship in twenty

716
00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:46,279
Speaker 3: sixteen and Lebron telling the people of that city it

717
00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:46,839
Speaker 3: was for them.

718
00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:48,719
Speaker 22: I don't know why the man above give me it

719
00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:52,560
Speaker 22: the artist role, but there's nothing a man above don't

720
00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:55,680
Speaker 22: put your situations that you can't handle. And I just

721
00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:59,399
Speaker 22: kept that same positive attitude, like instead of saying why

722
00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:02,000
Speaker 22: melet's say and this is what he wanted me to do,

723
00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:07,319
Speaker 22: and uh, Cleveland, this is for.

724
00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:12,880
Speaker 3: You and for Miami. All that remained was time to

725
00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:16,520
Speaker 3: look back at that Heat team's legacy, which way did

726
00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:18,919
Speaker 3: after the twenty fourteen finals.

727
00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:21,920
Speaker 23: Well, it's uh, man, we didn't know what to expect,

728
00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:26,200
Speaker 23: you know when we decided to become teammates years ago.

729
00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:30,719
Speaker 23: You know, we just knew that we felt as individuals

730
00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:34,040
Speaker 23: that we can do it, that we can put our

731
00:39:34,080 --> 00:39:37,640
Speaker 23: egos to the side and and not care about the

732
00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:40,479
Speaker 23: individual part of the game and become a great team

733
00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:44,040
Speaker 23: and become two leaders of that team. It's been a

734
00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:46,040
Speaker 23: hell of a ride in these four years, you know.

735
00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:50,080
Speaker 23: And you know we when we team, when we decided

736
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:51,839
Speaker 23: to play together, we didn't say, okay, let's try for

737
00:39:51,840 --> 00:39:54,560
Speaker 23: four years. You know, we said, let's just play together

738
00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:57,520
Speaker 23: and let's see what happens. And we've been successful in

739
00:39:57,520 --> 00:39:59,960
Speaker 23: the sense of what we what we try to accomplish,

740
00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:01,400
Speaker 23: and as going to the finals and.

741
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:01,799
Speaker 3: We did it.

742
00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:05,200
Speaker 23: We would love it be four for four. It's just

743
00:40:05,239 --> 00:40:07,080
Speaker 23: not It wasn't in the cars for us to be there.

744
00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:11,160
Speaker 23: But you know, we have no other reason not to

745
00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:14,480
Speaker 23: be proud of each other for what we've accomplished on

746
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:16,960
Speaker 23: and off the court for these four years together.

747
00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:20,960
Speaker 3: Tim Reynolds says, despite all the attention on Dwayne Wade,

748
00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:24,600
Speaker 3: Lebron James, and Chris Bosh that the concept of team

749
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:29,040
Speaker 3: around those Miami Heat squads was always the primary focus.

750
00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:32,920
Speaker 2: What you saw was four years of a lot of selflessness.

751
00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:35,359
Speaker 2: And it's so funny that Lebron gets accused of being

752
00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:37,520
Speaker 2: selfish all the time. Like Lebron could have had fifty

753
00:40:37,520 --> 00:40:40,000
Speaker 2: thousand points by now. Lebron could have a scoring record

754
00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:43,160
Speaker 2: long ago if he wanted it. He's an incredibly selfless player,

755
00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:45,840
Speaker 2: and he got other people to sign on. Dwayne turned

756
00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:51,160
Speaker 2: over his franchise to someone that would never happen today.

757
00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:53,759
Speaker 2: Chris went from a one to a three in an

758
00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:57,080
Speaker 2: instant and did so happily to be part of something bigger.

759
00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:01,439
Speaker 2: They were part of something bigger than themselves for four

760
00:41:01,560 --> 00:41:06,319
Speaker 2: years and that's why that and overcoming all the hate,

761
00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:09,359
Speaker 2: all the noise, all the challenge, how twenty nine other

762
00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:11,399
Speaker 2: teams were lined up to beat you every single night.

763
00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:14,720
Speaker 2: They embraced it, and I don't think you'll see something

764
00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:15,360
Speaker 2: like that again.

765
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:18,360
Speaker 3: There's been other Superstar course since that have failed to

766
00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:22,319
Speaker 3: win titles, in part because of ego clashes, but just

767
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:24,719
Speaker 3: the fact that teams were able to follow the path

768
00:41:24,760 --> 00:41:27,359
Speaker 3: of this Heat team an attempt to recreate the run

769
00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:32,239
Speaker 3: for themselves speaks to the legacy left by Miami Here's

770
00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:33,080
Speaker 3: Rachel Nichols.

771
00:41:33,520 --> 00:41:36,759
Speaker 21: People certainly point to that moment as the moment that

772
00:41:36,840 --> 00:41:39,279
Speaker 21: players took control of their own destiny. Now you can

773
00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:41,680
Speaker 21: go back and Nippick and argue, well, hey, Kareem of

774
00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:44,160
Speaker 21: Bill Jabbar wanted to leave Milwaukee. He asked out of

775
00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:46,880
Speaker 21: Milwaukee behind the scenes. But he did it behind the scenes.

776
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:49,279
Speaker 21: Nobody knew that at the time. This was a very

777
00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:52,440
Speaker 21: public case of players controlling their own destiny, doing it

778
00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:55,080
Speaker 21: through free agency, not just waiting for someone else to

779
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:58,680
Speaker 21: trade them. And I think it completely changed the mindset

780
00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:02,040
Speaker 21: in both the public side and most importantly in their

781
00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:06,040
Speaker 21: fellow players' eyes, of hey, this is what we can do.

782
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:09,200
Speaker 21: And I think that even for the teams later on

783
00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:12,480
Speaker 21: that weren't put together that way, I think it made

784
00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:15,000
Speaker 21: players feel like they had more power in the game.

785
00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:17,520
Speaker 21: And there are some ways that has turned in to

786
00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:19,600
Speaker 21: be a problem for the NBA, and there's some ways

787
00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:22,640
Speaker 21: that's turned into be incredible for the NBA. And I

788
00:42:22,680 --> 00:42:25,400
Speaker 21: think that is the legacy of that team for sure.

789
00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:29,280
Speaker 3: While some would argue player empowerment and star player movement

790
00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:31,520
Speaker 3: is a bad thing for the NBA and its fans.

791
00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:35,520
Speaker 3: You could also argue what Lebron did was merely a

792
00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:39,200
Speaker 3: continuation of what the late former commissioner David Stern did

793
00:42:39,239 --> 00:42:42,960
Speaker 3: for the league by highlighting the individuals over the teams.

794
00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:47,560
Speaker 3: Lebron effectively said to basketball fans, you can be a

795
00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:50,600
Speaker 3: fan of me, even if you don't love the jersey

796
00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:54,280
Speaker 3: I'm wearing. Shane Battier didn't love the thought of Lebron

797
00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:58,400
Speaker 3: joining the Heat initially, but his thoughts changed with the times,

798
00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:01,840
Speaker 3: especially after three years playing beside James.

799
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:05,160
Speaker 18: And like, this is not this is not your father's

800
00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:08,319
Speaker 18: you know sports leagues, and I grew up the same

801
00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:10,719
Speaker 18: way in Detroit and cheering for the Tigers and Lions

802
00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:13,520
Speaker 18: and Pistons, And you know, he saw these guys drafted

803
00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:15,400
Speaker 18: and they stayed their retire career. And it's just a

804
00:43:15,400 --> 00:43:18,799
Speaker 18: different era and no better, no worse than what we

805
00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:22,239
Speaker 18: grew up with. But you know it was it is

806
00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:26,600
Speaker 18: amazing to see the joy Lebron is brought to the

807
00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:29,000
Speaker 18: world and game of basketball. And like he was an

808
00:43:29,080 --> 00:43:32,160
Speaker 18: unbelievable teammate and one of my favorite teamates of all time,

809
00:43:32,200 --> 00:43:35,120
Speaker 18: and he could have been really messed up with all

810
00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:38,520
Speaker 18: the attention that he got and expectations. He's actually a

811
00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:42,640
Speaker 18: really good human being and a great teammate and a champion,

812
00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:45,240
Speaker 18: a winner, and so to be part of that journey

813
00:43:45,719 --> 00:43:49,040
Speaker 18: for three years, that's, you know, it's something I'll never

814
00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:52,240
Speaker 18: forget and something I'm super proud of and still proud

815
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:54,919
Speaker 18: to be friends with all those guys and consider them

816
00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:56,719
Speaker 18: some of my favorite teammates of all time.

817
00:43:57,200 --> 00:43:59,839
Speaker 3: But were they one of the greatest teams of all time?

818
00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:03,080
Speaker 3: They never ended up setting the record for wins in

819
00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:06,439
Speaker 3: a season. They came up seven games short of winning

820
00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:10,760
Speaker 3: the most consecutively. They even stopped their championship count after

821
00:44:11,239 --> 00:44:15,480
Speaker 3: not two But just having James, Wade and Bosh on

822
00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:20,160
Speaker 3: one roster is enough to lump that team into the conversation.

823
00:44:21,160 --> 00:44:25,160
Speaker 3: Mario Chalmers is surprisingly objective on this subject.

824
00:44:25,440 --> 00:44:28,040
Speaker 14: My biggest thing about these questions it depends the era.

825
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:31,440
Speaker 14: If I say, if you take it back to eighties

826
00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:34,919
Speaker 14: nineties areas, I don't think we're one of the top

827
00:44:34,960 --> 00:44:37,680
Speaker 14: teams just because we don't have that physical presence like

828
00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:41,040
Speaker 14: the Kams and David Robinson's the Shacks and all that.

829
00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:43,800
Speaker 14: But if you come to our air the two thousands

830
00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:45,640
Speaker 14: and all that where we shoot in the most threes

831
00:44:45,719 --> 00:44:46,320
Speaker 14: was movement.

832
00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:49,799
Speaker 2: Everybody's playing a high picked roll. Everybody shoot, and I

833
00:44:49,800 --> 00:44:51,120
Speaker 2: think we'll be in the top three.

834
00:44:51,200 --> 00:44:54,360
Speaker 14: I think out there with the Bulls and the Lakers

835
00:44:54,400 --> 00:44:55,319
Speaker 14: and teams like that.

836
00:44:55,719 --> 00:44:58,520
Speaker 3: The epilogue of this four year Heat run is actually

837
00:44:58,560 --> 00:45:02,440
Speaker 3: still being written. Lebron James hasn't retired as of June

838
00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:05,680
Speaker 3: twenty twenty three, ten years after his second title in

839
00:45:05,719 --> 00:45:09,480
Speaker 3: Miami and with single titles with the Cavaliers and Lakers.

840
00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:12,200
Speaker 3: We still don't know if he'll finish with more Heat

841
00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:16,200
Speaker 3: championships than with any other franchise, and the lasting effect

842
00:45:16,239 --> 00:45:19,680
Speaker 3: for the Heat seems to be continuing, as Miami has

843
00:45:19,719 --> 00:45:22,880
Speaker 3: taken two more trips to the finals since then, most

844
00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:25,560
Speaker 3: recently getting there as an eight seed in twenty twenty

845
00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:28,880
Speaker 3: three before losing in five games to the Denver Nuggets.

846
00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:31,960
Speaker 3: And they did it around a player in Jimmy Butler

847
00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:35,960
Speaker 3: that Wade helped convince to come to Miami. You could

848
00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:39,400
Speaker 3: even say the Miami Heat have established themselves as the

849
00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:42,720
Speaker 3: premier organization in the NBA over the last twenty years,

850
00:45:43,480 --> 00:45:46,600
Speaker 3: since the year Lebron was drafted first, Bosh fourth, and

851
00:45:46,719 --> 00:45:48,359
Speaker 3: Wade fifth with.

852
00:45:48,360 --> 00:45:52,480
Speaker 15: The first pick in the two thousand and three NBA Draft.

853
00:45:53,360 --> 00:46:01,480
Speaker 15: The Cleveland Cavaliers select Lebron James with the fourth pick

854
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:06,200
Speaker 15: in the two thousand and three NBA Draft. The Toronto

855
00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:12,160
Speaker 15: Raptors select Chris Bosh from Georgia Tech University with the

856
00:46:12,239 --> 00:46:15,440
Speaker 15: fifth pick in the two thousand and three NBA Draft,

857
00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:20,719
Speaker 15: the Miami Heat select Dwayne Wade from Marquette University.

858
00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:26,120
Speaker 3: The Heat have made nine conference finals since then, been

859
00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:31,440
Speaker 3: to seven NBA Finals, won three championships, have the reputation

860
00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:35,160
Speaker 3: of being a winning franchise, are among the most attractive

861
00:46:35,200 --> 00:46:39,840
Speaker 3: free agent destinations, and have a coach that's widely considered

862
00:46:40,080 --> 00:46:41,280
Speaker 3: the best in the league.

863
00:46:41,640 --> 00:46:43,960
Speaker 12: So as a Game seven, they stand eye to eye

864
00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:48,839
Speaker 12: with history and they did not blink. The Heat are

865
00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:52,080
Speaker 12: going to the NBA Finals.

866
00:46:53,040 --> 00:46:54,960
Speaker 22: That's a proud moment for our franchise.

867
00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:58,480
Speaker 19: It gives me great pleasure to present the twenty twenty

868
00:46:58,520 --> 00:47:01,759
Speaker 19: three Eastern Conference Championship JOPHI to your Miami Heat.

869
00:47:02,120 --> 00:47:05,160
Speaker 3: I remember covering the Heat's first championship for the Miami

870
00:47:05,160 --> 00:47:08,160
Speaker 3: Herald in two thousand and six and thinking how big

871
00:47:08,200 --> 00:47:11,279
Speaker 3: of a deal it was that the franchise that frustrated

872
00:47:11,280 --> 00:47:14,319
Speaker 3: me and my friends so badly growing up because they

873
00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:17,200
Speaker 3: couldn't get past the Knicks or couldn't matter as much

874
00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:21,960
Speaker 3: as the Bulls had finally broken through, And then twenty

875
00:47:22,040 --> 00:47:25,719
Speaker 3: ten came. Those next four years made the Heat into

876
00:47:25,760 --> 00:47:30,080
Speaker 3: a national brand and made winning titles in Miami realistic

877
00:47:30,160 --> 00:47:34,520
Speaker 3: expectations for the next decade. It's by far the longest

878
00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:37,919
Speaker 3: stretch of real success for a South Florida professional team

879
00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:43,160
Speaker 3: in fifty years, and it started with one very important decision.

880
00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:48,080
Speaker 3: The Miami Heat from twenty ten to twenty fourteen changed

881
00:47:48,120 --> 00:47:53,279
Speaker 3: the organization, changed the NBA, and changed the city of

882
00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:58,720
Speaker 3: Miami forever, even though it lasted only four years. Even

883
00:47:58,760 --> 00:48:01,839
Speaker 3: though that ended up not being the most decorated team

884
00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:07,240
Speaker 3: of that decade, still Miami wouldn't trade those four years

885
00:48:07,680 --> 00:48:10,520
Speaker 3: for anything. Just to ask DJ Khalig.

886
00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:11,920
Speaker 1: I wasn't upset at all.

887
00:48:12,560 --> 00:48:13,480
Speaker 9: All we do is win.

888
00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:15,719
Speaker 1: You gotta remember we won.

889
00:48:16,200 --> 00:48:17,040
Speaker 9: We're winners.

890
00:48:17,080 --> 00:48:20,399
Speaker 1: We have banners like there's nothing no one can ever

891
00:48:20,560 --> 00:48:25,520
Speaker 1: say to us ever in light. Listen, just know we're

892
00:48:25,520 --> 00:48:27,840
Speaker 1: the biggest in the game. I told you from Miami.

893
00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:30,200
Speaker 9: We different. We don't see nobody.

894
00:48:30,520 --> 00:48:31,680
Speaker 2: Like we don't.

895
00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:34,720
Speaker 1: It's nothing you could say, it's.

896
00:48:34,600 --> 00:48:42,879
Speaker 3: Nothing you could do. Were the biggest four years of heat.

897
00:48:42,880 --> 00:48:45,320
Speaker 3: It's a production of iHeartRadio and the NBA