LeBron James‘ decision to take his talents to South Beach in 2010 sent shockwaves across the basketball community. The power dynamics had changed, with the Heat emerging as the undisputed frontrunner for the championship and potential dynasty.
When the Miami Heat Big 3 came together, the hype was massive, with expectations soaring to new heights. Fans and media expected them to conquer the league, and there were some quite optimistic projections for their success.
Jeff Van Gundy was one of the believers in the Heta Big 3. He went so far that he predicted the Heat could register 72 or more wins and potentially dethrone the Chicago Bulls as the greatest regular-season team of all time.
This take tiggered Karl Malone, who was a first-hand witness to the dominance of the Michael Jordan-led Bulls and met him in the Finals in 1997 and 1998.
“Must have had some red wine that night, a lot of it,” joked the Hall of Famer “I would say this: With the guys they got, they’re (Heat) going to be a hell of a team.”
A disappointing first season
In their first year together, the Head had a bumpy ride while trying to adjust to the new packing order in the team. Dealing with the adjustments and rotations did take a toll and as the league’s most hyped team everybody wanted a piece of them. Nowhere close to 72 wins, they finished as the second seed in the East, with a 58-24 record.
Nonetheless, the Heat managed to make the Finals, facing the Dallas Mavericks. The odds were heavily in favor of Erik Spolestra and his crew. However, despite the 2-1 lead, Miami lost the series and ended the season with a huge disappointment.
Heading into the summer, the Heat and LBJ needed to do some soul searching and make adjustments if they were to achieve their joint goal. They came out ready and played one of the best seasons the league has ever seen, but even that was not enough to take down the Bulls’ record.
Bron on the Heat failure
Heat came out blazing in the 2012-13 season with their two stars, LeBron and Dwyane Wade, wowing no to settle for jumpers. They played physical basketball and dominated their opponents night in and night out.
However, their underachievement was constantly mentioned, and the media could not forget them, especially LBJ, for failing on the biggest stage. The Heat chose not to dwell on the loss and used it as a motivation, which they did en route to beating the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals and claimed their first title.
“We will use some things we did well last year to get better and some of the failures we had last year to get better,” LBJ explained.
Undoubtedly, the Heat had all the ingredients of a championship team which they proved going back-yo-back. Still, Van Gundy’s prediction was overambitious, and Malone made it clear he never saw Miami as a real threat to the Bulls record.