When the Miami Heat put superstars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the same squad in the summer of 2010, many expected, including the players themselves, that success was not far behind. With the firepower their collection of talent had, they assumed it would only be a matter of time before they were hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy.
Building team chemistry and finding a winning formula on the court was more challenging than anticipated. Ultimately, it took the hard lesson of a crushing defeat in the NBA Finals and an additional year of growth and experience to bring the team into alignment.
Making sacrifices was easier said than done
According to Wade, he and his fellow superstars knew what it would take for their collaboration to work: sacrifice. However, executing that premise was a lot easier said than done; while everyone was saying the right things about wanting to make things work on the hard court, their 9-6 record after the first 15 games of the season spoke volumes about the challenges they faced in truly coming together as a cohesive unit.
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“I mean, it was — it was so tough. It’s so easy to say words. I think we all know that. It’s easy to say something like,’ I’m all in, coach.’ Okay, what does ‘all in’ mean? Are you really all in? Do you understand what it’s going to take?” Wade shared on “Pardon My Take.”
After contending against one another since being selected in the draft class of 2023, “Flash” said there were still hints of competition between him and his new teammates.
“I think when I look at that first year, we think about — we all coming from competing versus each other to be the very best in this game. We were still competing versus each other even though we were teammates,” the Hall of Famer explained. “Not in a bad way, just like, ‘Alright Bron, you done scored six straight, now I’m about to score six straight. Alright D, you done did that — Chris B like let me get in the mix.’ So we still had that competitiveness amongst each other, trying to learn how to play together and be teammates, right?”
A bitter loss that paved the way for their redemption
Despite the obstacles they encountered in their first season together, the Miami Heat still advanced to the 2011 NBA Finals to face Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. They appeared poised to claim the championship with a 2-1 series lead. However, a dramatic collapse saw them lose the series 4-2, falling short of their ultimate goal.
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“After we lost in the Finals — that’s humbling. We all got some humble pie very quickly. And we realized if this was going to work, then we had to do this a little different. So you saw in that second year, you saw us come back a totally different team, with a totally different mindset,” the former Marquette star remarked.
“That we actually started believing the stuff that we said we were going to do. But it takes time. This doesn’t just happen when you snap your fingers and say, ‘I want it to happen.’ It took a little time for us. It took us one year to lose and to get humbled in front of the world,” he continued.
With a clearer understanding of their roles within the Heat’s hierarchy, the “Big 3” entered their second season prepared to embrace their responsibilities and deliver. According to D-Wade, it quickly became evident that their sacrifices were yielding results.
“We came back in year two, and we started actually believing the things that we said — the mottos that we would say, the things that we would say to the media, the things we would say to each other. We started believing it. Because you start seeing sacrifice amongst guys,” the three-time champion noted.
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“We weren’t sacrificing at first. We were hooping, and we were very good at it. But it takes sacrifice, especially to have that much talent and to be able to have all that work together. You got to give up shots. You got to give up your body. You got to give up minutes. You got to do all these things that you don’t want to do. And it’s easy to say it — and it’s harder to do,” he added.
When Wade stepped back from his alpha role to let Bron take the lead, everything fell into place. “King James” earned the league MVP award, and more importantly, the Miami Heat clinched the 2012 NBA championship with a decisive 4-1 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals.