WEBVTT - Episode 8: The Finale 0:00:05.240 --> 0:00:08.039 My relationship with him is incredible. D Wade, He's a 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:11.960 brother of mine. He supports everything that we do. You know, 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:14.880 we call him, you know, Wade County Day County like 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:19.080 because he really represents hometown and we. 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:20.800 Love that about him. 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:25.560 Lebron chains another brother that just him and his whole team, 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:29.560 Maverick and Rich Paul, It's the whole Lebron family. We've 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:31.960 always showed me love and I was blessed to do 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:35.280 like commercials with Lebron, and we've done a lot of 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:39.040 great things outside of basketball. Anytime I've seen Chris Bosh 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:42.920 out there, another brother that just with pure lover, always 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:45.839 showed me love and the legend man. We had a 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:47.440 squad that was unstoppable. 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:50.879 The squad DJ Khaled was so proud of. They did 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:54.960 seem unstoppable. Even after a game Lebron James was forced 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:57.920 out of because of the ninety five degree temperature inside 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:01.800 San Antonio's arena, Miammi just went on to win Game 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:04.560 two and were right back in the same position as 0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:07.600 they were the previous season. Welcome back to four years 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:15.400 of Heat. This is episode eight, the finale, as the 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.560 Heat and Spurs prepared for Game three in Miami. There 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:21.840 wasn't a lot that differentiated the twenty fourteen Finals from 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:25.600 the twenty thirteen version. The Spurs started the series with 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:28.880 home court advantage, which was different, but by the time 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:32.760 they'd reached Miami for Game three, they'd lost that, and 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:35.440 there's no way the insertion of Boris Diao into the 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:38.520 starting light up ahead of Thiago Splitter would make that 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:41.880 much of a difference for the Spurs. Even an older 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:44.800 team like Miami can get the necessary boost from their 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:49.000 now seasoned home fans to carry them through. Plus the 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:52.000 allrea of a three peat, an accomplishment that hadn't been 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:55.080 executed since Kobe and Shacks Lakers from two thousand to 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.920 two thousand and two, would provide just the necessary motivation 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:02.000 given how close Miami was to finishing the job. 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:07.920 Welcome to Miami, Game three of the NBA Finals, Let's 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:09.200 go Heat. 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:13.520 Well, those thoughts lasted for about the next twelve minutes 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:16.440 of basketball. Once the series returned to the Heat's house. 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:20.079 This is where the nice guy Spurs would hand out 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:23.000 one of the most sobering defeats of this Heat era, 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:26.880 a different kind of stunning than the MAVs in twenty 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:31.000 eleven The first quarter alone told the story of this series. 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:35.959 In it, the Spurs shot eighty seven percent. I'll say 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:39.760 that again. The Spurs shot eighty seven percent in the 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:43.480 first quarter of an NBA Finals game. They missed two 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:47.040 of their fifteen shots. They missed none of their three pointers. 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.120 The Spurs assisted on nine of their thirteen baskets in 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:52.440 the period, and for good measure on the defensive end, 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.160 blocked two heat shots and grabbed two steals. 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:57.720 Mills, He'll penetrate Moule's pass left corner. 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:00.400 Letard, great ball bo but by the Spurs. 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:01.920 The WHII. 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:04.359 Leonard loads up and knocks down. 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:08.160 A three thirty eight to twenty three Spurs pike fifteen. 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:13.040 Ye great executioner, great execution. 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:16.000 This is a Spurs team that is running the offense 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:16.680 to perfection. 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:21.200 On the heat side, Lebron James nearly matched the Spurs 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:24.280 brilliance in that opening quarter. He missed one of his 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:28.480 six attempts, scoring fourteen points with an assist and no turnovers. 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:32.600 The rest of the heat weren't terrible either. Miami shot 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:36.360 fifty three percent for the period and somehow found themselves 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:40.360 trailing by sixteen after just twelve minutes of play. There 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:42.560 was barely a drop off in the second quarter for 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:46.440 San Antonio. The Spurs shot an NBA Finals record for 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:50.120 a half of nearly seventy six percent and led at 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:54.280 halftime seventy one to fifty. The Diau addition to the 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:57.920 starting lineup made San Antonio's ball movement as crisp as 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:01.600 it had been all season, and at just the perfect time, 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:06.520 they were exercising demons in the most enjoyable way possible. 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:09.760 Leonard finish a straw with the right half. 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:13.240 The Heat closed to within seven points in the third 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:16.680 quarter and within ten in the fourth, but the Spurs 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:21.560 always responded with devastating shots and extended runs. In the end, 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:25.520 the Spurs won Game three by nineteen points, taking back 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:29.320 the home court edge and snatching back the mental advantage. 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:33.280 It has just been one of the great offensive starts 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:37.760 in NBA playoff history. Spurs with a huge response here 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:40.800 in Game three and now lead the twenty fourteen NBA 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:44.840 Finals two games to one. Well the resounding road win 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:45.760 here in Miami. 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:50.080 Greg Popovich summed up his team's near perfect performance in 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:51.480 the postgame press conference. 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:54.760 I don't think we'll ever shoot seventy six percent in 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:59.599 a half. Ever, again, it's the NBA Finals. Well, you 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:01.240 can't do be me and ocre out there if you 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:03.719 want to win a game. Everybody's going to play well. 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:07.599 But even that performance wasn't enough to fully convince Boris 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:10.920 Diau that the Spurs had taken control of the series. 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:14.160 We felt that we played great, but we know what 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:16.000 it is and we know the playoffs. It's not because 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:18.880 game three we shooting seventy five and everything goes well, 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:21.120 that Game four is going to be the same because 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:24.000 we saw the service before. Sometimes you win by twenty 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:27.440 in the next game you lose by twenty, so you 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:29.000 still got a you know, state focused. 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:32.400 DL's teammate Matt Bonner would play sparingly in this series, 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:35.440 but he was just as engaged as any of his teammates, 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:38.520 who all still felt the pain of losing those last 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:41.039 two games in American Airlines Arena a year earlier. 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:44.240 We got home court advantage back, and I don't want 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:46.839 to say we were satisfied with that, but you know, 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:49.520 if we went back to San Antonio two to two 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:52.160 with home court advantage, we would have been We're like, 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:54.000 all right, we did what we came here to do, 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:57.760 and I remember Coach Pop read that on us and 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.640 brought everybody in and was in our face like we 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:04.520 didn't come here to get one We came here to 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:08.080 get two wins, you know, So wipe the smiles off 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:11.119 your faces and let's be ready to play Game four. 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:14.159 And then we came out that Game four is really 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:16.200 the game where we ripped their hearts out. 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:19.640 The Spurs had taken the hearts of the Heat and 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:22.480 not even the white hot home crowd could revive them. 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:26.120 San Antonio shot fifty seven percent in Game four, a 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.480 small drop off from the fifty nine in Game three, 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:32.360 and won even more comfortably by twenty one points. 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:36.160 Green Fine split up beautiful feet at Dawl. 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:36.680 In the finish shot. 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:41.320 San Antonio has a double figure lead here in game four. 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:43.839 They've had a double figure lead in each game. Was 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.800 a series. Oh what a beautiful look for Boris d 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:48.640 ol time out. 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:51.279 The time out called by Eric Spolster. 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:53.480 You guys are doing a great job of moving the 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:54.440 ball as usual. 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:56.480 Now we got a lead again. 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:59.720 It doesn't mean to be conservative. It means we don't 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:01.680 need to to make them guard. 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:04.240 And it wasn't just the ball movement that made the 0:07:04.279 --> 0:07:07.960 Spurs offense nearly unguardable this series. It wasn't just that 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:10.720 Danny Green and Patty Mills and manager Nobli were all 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:15.280 hitting their perimeter shots. There was one particular emerging force 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:18.040 that officially tipped the scales in the Spurs direction. 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:19.880 Mills not that time. 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:22.760 Leonard on the follow slam Kawhi Leonard. 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:25.440 Wow, he came out of nowhere and have it at home. 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:29.680 Kawhi Leonard, in his third season, was becoming an offensive 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:33.040 force matching what was already a defensive Player of the 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:36.920 Year caliber defense. There's an easy to find clip from 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.240 the twenty thirteen finals of Lebron James turning to the 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:43.720 scorers table as Leonard was re entering Game five and 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:48.760 responding with a noticeable WinCE. According to Bonner, that was 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:51.120 pretty much every player's reaction to seeing Kawhi. 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:54.720 I felt like Kawhi had everybody's number defensively, To be 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:58.480 honest with you, like, I remember my first time playing 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:01.000 against Kawhi when he was just to skinny rookie. 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:04.720 It was the lockout year, so like everybody just came 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:08.120 in in December. There was no like off season team 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:11.040 workouts or training camp or anything really I was like, 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.560 all right, get you got a few days to get ready, 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:15.760 and then we're going to start playing all these games 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:18.240 back to back to backs, the whole nine. 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:21.040 And I remember, like normally I see like a skinny 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:25.160 rookie come in, I'm gonna try to beast him. And 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:27.280 I remember I got the ball and I'd just like, 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:31.160 I'm just going to drive right through Kawhi and I 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:33.520 drove into his chest and it was like driving into 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:34.240 a brick wall. 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:37.160 And I remember the first hit. 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:40.720 I got knocked back and thinking like wait, what, how 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:44.319 is that physically possible? And then the second time, I'm like, 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:47.080 I'm gonna do it again. I go and he already 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:49.000 had the ball from me and was going in the 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:51.840 other direction. He just ripped me with his giant hands. 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:55.120 It was right, So like immediately I'm like, all right, 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:57.720 this guy, this is a different type of cat right here. 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:00.320 I would not want to have him guarding me. So 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:03.080 I'm sure Lebron or anybody else in the league would 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:05.319 have that same attitude inside. 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:08.640 Chummers third man to the rim Anderson w from. 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:11.360 Behind by Leonard Kawhi. 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:17.400 That series offensively grew up because he was able to 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:21.960 just go get buckets on offense you mentioned, Yeah, we 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:25.080 did rely on the beautiful game and ball movement, but 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:29.480 we had possessions where if that's all we had, would 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:33.240 have been dead possessions. But Kawhi could get the ball 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:37.120 in a position and just go make something happen and score, 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:40.320 go into the basket, or he got confidence in his 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:43.600 three point shot, especially from the corners or his little 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:49.520 pull up jumpers. It really clicked for him offensively. And yeah, 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:53.520 I mean playing team basketball on offense and point five 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:56.880 in the beautiful game and all that's great, but at 0:09:56.920 --> 0:10:00.800 certain points in the playoffs, the game is slower, it's physical. 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:03.360 You need guys that can just go get you a bucket, 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:06.200 and Kawhi was that for us, became that for us 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:10.800 in that series letters drive finish. 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:15.000 In games one and two, Leonard didn't even crack double figures, 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:18.120 scoring nine points in each of them, but in game 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:21.720 three he led the Spurs with twenty nine and somehow 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:25.679 was more dominant in Game four with twenty points, fourteen rebounds, 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:29.079 three assists, three steals and three block shots. 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:30.800 You know you made some shots. 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:32.280 You played your z. 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:36.360 There couldn't be more FRAUDI of Game five in San 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:40.400 Antonio would feel very much like Lebron's first title, but 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:44.920 in reverse. The same way the Thunder effectively conceded to Miami. 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:48.120 By Game five and twenty twelve, the Heat had nothing 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:51.200 left for the Spurs in this one. Lebron summoned his 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:54.679 powers for a thirty one ten to five line, but 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:57.520 Bosh and Wade could only combine for twenty four points, 0:10:57.800 --> 0:11:01.080 while no other Heat player hit double figure. The Spurs 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:05.600 would celebrate their fifth championship in franchise history, beating Miami 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:08.320 in five games behind Leonard as the finals MVP. 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:13.160 The San Antonio Spurs are the world champions. 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:18.800 The Spurs of capture their fifth and THEA championship. 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:23.080 Oh oh my god, Oh my god. 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:25.479 That's that's what it's about. 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:28.080 Baby, right, yes worthy. 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:33.520 Multiple time champions Greg Popovich, Tony Parker, and Tim Duncan 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:38.080 discussed how meaningful this title was after the heartbreak of 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:40.360 losing to Miami the previous season. 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:43.080 As every championship is different, and all the other ones 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:46.319 were special and the groups were great, but this had 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:48.720 to be the sweetest just because of what we endured 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:49.280 last year. 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:53.320 That's the sweetest championship is my favorite one out of 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:56.560 my four. Because of what happened last year and has 0:11:56.600 --> 0:12:01.640 been seven years. We celebrating like as first, our first win. 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:04.439 This one was more special than any others, the journey 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:06.680 that we've been through in the last two years, everything 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:10.160 together because of the time between the championships. I appreciate 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.240 every game more. I appreciate every accomplishment knowing that it 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:14.920 might be the last time I do it. You put 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:16.839 all those things together, and it makes this one that 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:17.880 much more special for me. 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:22.200 Afterward, while the Spurs were rejoicing with their home fans, 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:25.400 the Heat players were coming to grips with what felt 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:30.079 like an ending. It certainly was a conclusion for Shane Battier, Well, 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:30.640 I retired. 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:33.320 I knew I was retiring, you know. So that was 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:37.719 my last game, and I knew I knew probably going 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:41.120 into that into training camp that year. This was probably 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:43.160 my last game. I probably should have retired after his 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:46.880 sixth series in game seven years before. Looking back at it, 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:49.800 I probably sho k off just walked off, But I said, 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:53.320 I'm on one more year, you know, and like I 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:55.640 wasn't on the grind anymore. My kids are getting older. 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:58.400 I get to the gym, I say, I still like 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:00.360 being here today, you know, I still want to play 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:02.880 the game, and so like, when you're not willing to 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:06.160 make that grind anymore and make those sacrifices, you're cheating 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:09.079 the game. And you could cheat the game, you shouldn't 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:11.280 be playing. And that was sort of like, not only 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:14.920 my perspective, but I think all of all of us. 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:19.319 We cheated the championship path in protocol and we still 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:23.200 almost want it, which is funny. But we lose that 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:25.280 game five in San Antonio and there was no one 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.440 who was mad at that. We all just kind of 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:33.160 like collectively sighed and said, man, that was an amazing run, 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.200 and we all sort of felt that it was over. 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.640 Looking back, the entire four year run felt like a 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:41.640 constant test of the Heat culture that members of the 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:46.200 organization constantly speak about. The team that embraces conflict and 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:50.560 ignores outside opinions and plays harder and smarter defensively just 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:55.160 couldn't maintain that necessary edge for any longer. The never 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:59.880 ending pressure finally drained a team that was spectacularly defiant 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:03.959 for four seasons. Here's the dean of Heat culture, you, 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:04.800 Donnis Haslam. 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:07.680 Yeah, No, it was a lot on us mentally physically 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:10.600 and emotionally for those you know, those years playing the 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:14.520 most basketball, playing the longest seasons. You know, I think 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:16.520 we just didn't know how to handle it, you know, 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:18.600 as a unit, you know what I'm saying. I think, 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:21.240 you know, people just think it's just coming together playing basketball, 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:23.160 winning games, And now that's part of what. We didn't 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:25.520 handle the mental part of it very well, you know 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:28.280 what I'm saying. The times that, you know, we should 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:30.440 have took a mental break and got our minds off 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:33.360 it and just you know, refreshed and refilled, you know 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:35.960 what I'm saying. And I think towards the end, we 0:14:36.040 --> 0:14:38.160 just started all pouring from an empty cup, you know 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:38.640 what I mean. 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:39.520 And you can't do that. 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:54.240 As Haslam stated, the Heat at this point, after four 0:14:54.320 --> 0:14:58.040 long seasons, didn't appear to have the necessary fight to 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:00.840 match the Spurs in the two thousand and four team finals. 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:04.000 So what did that mean for the future of this 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:08.160 team and this core? From the start, the Heats Big 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:11.600 three bonded to create a shield against the outside noise. 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:16.120 According to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, those three 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:20.360 emerged successful from so many heated battles it was difficult 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:22.800 to imagine summoning that same energy again. 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:25.280 Dwayne seemed tired, well, bronzeemed tired. I think they were 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:30.520 all just tired. There were no breaks. It was four years, 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:35.200 four finals, media tours, all the responsibilities, all the obligations, 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:37.320 all the stuff they got Theirs into, you know, commercially, 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:40.000 as far as endorsements and all that. But there was 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.440 never a break. And I think a lot of it 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:45.520 was just fatigue. I think the message had wrung. How okay, 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:48.880 we came together, we proved everybody wrong, we won it twice. 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.440 What's left to do? Like they ran out of villains, 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:55.880 Like it was originally the media and the noise, and 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:58.200 then it was losing the Dallas and then you know, 0:15:58.200 --> 0:15:59.440 how are we going to get past this? How were 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:01.360 we going to get past that? Once they got past everything, 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:02.640 they ran out of things to hate. 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:05.560 They were also starting to run out of their reliable 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:09.400 supporting cast. It wasn't just Battier, who played his last 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:12.840 game that night in San Antonio. Brian Windhorst of ESPN 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:16.000 noted just how much this team was relying on veterans 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:19.480 to that point, making the prospect of several more years 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:22.400 of deep playoff runs difficult to envision. 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:27.479 When the series ended, two players essentially announced their retirement 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:30.280 in the locker room, and this has never happened before. 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:32.640 Shan Battier said I'm done, and Ray Allen said I'm 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:36.480 probably done. And then Rashard Lewis, who started games in 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.280 that finals, he ended up having to retire too. So 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:42.600 they were basically only playing six or seven guys in 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:45.120 that finals, and three of them were playing the last 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:46.040 games of their career. 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:49.160 What we didn't know at that time was Game five 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:52.360 in San Antonio would also be the last playoff game 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:56.920 of Bosh's career. The following season, in February of twenty fifteen, 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:01.080 Bosh was diagnosed with the pulmonary embolism, which is when 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:03.440 a blood clot gets dislodged from another part of the 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:06.760 body and travels to the lungs. He wouldn't play again 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:11.760 that season, and in February of twenty sixteen, another blood 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:15.480 clot was found, this time in Bosh's calf. He was 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:19.920 eventually diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis, a condition that would 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:23.040 force him to retire from the game. His last NBA 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.800 appearance ever was a regular season game on February ninth, 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:32.240 twenty sixteen, also against the Spurs on the same American 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:35.399 Airlines Arena floor, where he grabbed an all timer of 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:38.080 an offensive rebound and kicked it out to a back 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:41.760 pedaling Ray Allen to adjust the course of NBA history. 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:46.520 James Catchers puts up at three, We'll go recount, flash 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:51.520 back out to Alan history toilet tie game with five 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:52.640 seconds reverting. 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:55.479 It was a sudden end to a career that was 0:17:55.560 --> 0:18:00.600 somehow still blossoming. Bosh was becoming the proto type NBA 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:04.440 big man, having just reached thirty years old in twenty fourteen. 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:09.160 Instead of seeing what he could truly become, we could 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:12.000 only look back to that four year run of finals 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:15.280 to truly assess his value. Here's Haslam. 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:18.040 Chris Bosh was the key to that bro. A lot 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:19.840 of people don't understand that, you know what I'm saying. 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:23.879 As great as Dwayne was, it is the greatest lebron 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:27.639 is and none of it works without Chris. None of 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:28.800 it works without Chris. 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:29.480 You know. 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:31.639 He was probably the guy that sacrificed the most but 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:34.960 played the biggest role for us, if that makes sense. 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:37.400 So I was just thankful for the four years spent 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:42.960 the opportunities, the growth, the evolution, the success, the tears 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:45.600 of joy, the tears of pain. I was just thankful 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:46.840 for the entire experience. 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:47.080 Man. 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:50.080 Ain't no hard feelings, no no hate, no no, no, 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:51.959 none of that. I was happy, man. And to this 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:55.360 day we still maintain those relationships because nobody felt the way. 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:57.720 You know what I'm saying. Everybody understood that we had 0:18:57.760 --> 0:18:58.760 a great four year run. 0:18:58.800 --> 0:18:58.960 Man. 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:04.680 Everybody benefited, Perhaps no single individual benefited more than Lebron James. 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:08.280 He'd hit more than a few career benchmarks. From twenty 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:11.560 ten to fourteen. He'd won his first two titles and 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:16.359 finals MVPs. He'd won two more regular season MVPs, matching 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:19.800 Wilt Chamberlain's total of four and only leaving Bill Russell, 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:23.480 Michael Jordan, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar having more. He'd have 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:27.200 his two most efficient seasons, sharpening his all around game 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:29.880 with a set of post skills he didn't have upon arrival. 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:33.439 Stan Van Gundy coached against Lebron in all three of 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:37.080 his stops, but said Miami brought out the best defensive 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:41.760 version of James. Lebron twice finished second in Defensive Player 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:44.040 of the Year voting once in two thousand and nine 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:47.520 with Cleveland, losing the award to Orlando's Dwight Howard, and 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:51.439 once with the Heat in twenty thirteen, losing to Memphis's 0:19:51.440 --> 0:19:55.639 Mark Gasol. Here's stan Van Gundy on James's defensive development, 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:56.520 and the thing. 0:19:56.359 --> 0:20:00.440 I will say in Miami is Lebron was always he's 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:05.119 I thought a good defender, and certainly under Mike Brown 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:09.120 in Cleveland he was good. But then he got there 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:12.639 and like you said, he didn't have a huge, huge 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:16.600 offensive role, or he did, but not outsized where he 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:21.480 had to do everything. And you know, he got with 0:20:21.600 --> 0:20:24.080 other good defenders in a good system, and he was 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:28.960 overwhelming defensively. I mean I thought there were if it 0:20:28.960 --> 0:20:32.439 weren't for Dwight at that time. I mean he had 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:34.360 you know, he had years where he could have been 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:38.800 defensive Player of the Year. Material. That's the biggest thing 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:43.720 I saw from him in Miami was his defensive dominance. 0:20:43.720 --> 0:20:45.920 And we'd already seen it in Cleveland a little bit, 0:20:46.080 --> 0:20:50.000 but he carried a bigger offensive load there so was 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:53.679 probably not able to devote as much to it. 0:20:54.160 --> 0:20:57.399 James had all the tools by twenty fourteen, and a 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:00.960 decent amount of hardware too. It's why the loss to 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:04.120 the Spurs could have been a bit mystifying for him. 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:07.199 How could this Heat team lose in five games so 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:11.040 easily when he remains the most destructive player on the planet. 0:21:11.960 --> 0:21:15.639 Did the Heat planned properly enough to maintain championship level 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:19.040 play as he and Bosh enter their thirties, or did 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:22.560 the Spurs just bring James to the realization that it 0:21:22.640 --> 0:21:26.240 was time to reassess it all. Jackie McMullin believed the 0:21:26.240 --> 0:21:29.920 Spurs forced James to look beyond Miami sooner than expected, 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:32.440 as the league got a glimpse of the future. 0:21:32.760 --> 0:21:35.400 There's no doubt in my mind that that series made 0:21:35.480 --> 0:21:39.439 him realize, Yep, we can't beat Nope, we're done. I 0:21:39.480 --> 0:21:42.640 believe that with all my heart, and I go back 0:21:42.720 --> 0:21:46.320 and look on that series. The stan Antonio Spurs in 0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:49.600