Historical Perspective

[theFRANCHISE]

The two previous teams to go four straight NBA finals were:

LA Lakers (1982-1985) Coach: Pat Riley Notable Players: Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, James Worthy
82 Won NBA Title
83 Lost to 76ers
84 Lost to Celtics
85 Won NBA Title

Boston Celtics (1984-1987) Notable Players: Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish
84 Won NBA Title
85 Lost to Lakers
86 Won NBA Title
87 Lost to Lakers

Miami Heat (2011-2014) Notable Players: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen
11 Lost to Mavericks
12 Won NBA Title
13 Won NBA Title
14 Lost to Spurs

There's some hall of famers mentioned there in the Lakers/Celtics team. Going to 4 straight finals is a big accomplishment. Of course I would have loved for the Heat to win all 4 trips but even some of the all time greats in the history of basketball never accomplished that feat. I have complete faith that Riley will reload.

[HeatNation88]

The two previous teams to go four straight NBA finals were:

LA Lakers (1982-1985) Coach: Pat Riley Notable Players: Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, James Worthy
82 Won NBA Title
83 Lost to 76ers
84 Lost to Celtics
85 Won NBA Title

Boston Celtics (1984-1987) Notable Players: Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish
84 Won NBA Title
85 Lost to Lakers
86 Won NBA Title
87 Lost to Lakers

Miami Heat (2011-2014) Notable Players: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen
11 Lost to Mavericks
12 Won NBA Title
13 Won NBA Title
14 Lost to Spurs

There's some hall of famers mentioned there in the Lakers/Celtics team. Going to 4 straight finals is a big accomplishment. Of course I would have loved for the Heat to win all 4 trips but even some of the all time greats in the history of basketball never accomplished that feat. I have complete faith that Riley will reload.

Crazy how they only could pull off two titles

[theFRANCHISE]

The two previous teams to go four straight NBA finals were:

LA Lakers (1982-1985) Coach: Pat Riley Notable Players: Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, James Worthy
82 Won NBA Title
83 Lost to 76ers
84 Lost to Celtics
85 Won NBA Title

Boston Celtics (1984-1987) Notable Players: Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish
84 Won NBA Title
85 Lost to Lakers
86 Won NBA Title
87 Lost to Lakers

Miami Heat (2011-2014) Notable Players: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen
11 Lost to Mavericks
12 Won NBA Title
13 Won NBA Title
14 Lost to Spurs

There's some hall of famers mentioned there in the Lakers/Celtics team. Going to 4 straight finals is a big accomplishment. Of course I would have loved for the Heat to win all 4 trips but even some of the all time greats in the history of basketball never accomplished that feat. I have complete faith that Riley will reload.

Crazy how they only could pull off two titles

I wonder if Riley got the same bashing that Spolestra is getting now? Can you imagine realgm forums or twitter in the 80's. "Riley is running Kareem into the ground! We need to change our style" lol

[contract]

Boston Celtics (1984-1987) Notable Players: Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish
84 Won NBA Title
85 Lost to Lakers
86 Won NBA Title
87 Lost to Lakers

Dennis Johnson could play a little too.

[contract]

The two previous teams to go four straight NBA finals were:

LA Lakers (1982-1985) Coach: Pat Riley Notable Players: Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, James Worthy
82 Won NBA Title
83 Lost to 76ers
84 Lost to Celtics
85 Won NBA Title

Jamaal Wilkes could play a little too.

[theFRANCHISE]

lol cut me some slack its almost 2am here in LA

[gom]

The two previous teams to go four straight NBA finals were:

LA Lakers (1982-1985) Coach: Pat Riley Notable Players: Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, James Worthy
82 Won NBA Title
83 Lost to 76ers
84 Lost to Celtics
85 Won NBA Title

Boston Celtics (1984-1987) Notable Players: Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish
84 Won NBA Title
85 Lost to Lakers
86 Won NBA Title
87 Lost to Lakers

Miami Heat (2011-2014) Notable Players: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen
11 Lost to Mavericks
12 Won NBA Title
13 Won NBA Title
14 Lost to Spurs

There's some hall of famers mentioned there in the Lakers/Celtics team. Going to 4 straight finals is a big accomplishment. Of course I would have loved for the Heat to win all 4 trips but even some of the all time greats in the history of basketball never accomplished that feat. I have complete faith that Riley will reload.

Crazy how they only could pull off two titles

I wonder if Riley got the same bashing that Spolestra is getting now? Can you imagine realgm forums or twitter in the 80's. "Riley is running Kareem into the ground! We need to change our style" lol

Hey, I actually rooted for the Lakers back in the time - I was living in California. Riley was the coach about 10 years. And, guess what, he brought in new players all the time. He developed them. Every hear of AC Green? Byron Scott? Fun fact: Byron Scott and I are the same age.

If you go back and look at the minutes the starters played, you will see he used his bench pretty well. But... Riley did get a lot of heat when he lost. That much at least was the same.

Also, basketball was almost completely a different game - much less physical.

But don't let facts get in the way.

Ok, just saw the "cut me some slack" post.

[theFRANCHISE]

of course I remember AC, B Scott, Rambis etc. I was born in 81 so my earliest memories of the Lakers are the back 2 back 87&88 teams. I was too young to know the media side of the NBA tho, I'm not sure how everyone perceived riley or his style of play. I have faith riley will restock the heat bench and keep the core guys.

[gom]

That's actually impressive that you remember basketball that far back. I remember a lot of things from the 1960s (when I was 6-7 years old) but not sports - maybe it wasn't widely televised back then? In the 70s, I remember going to watch the Lakers against Golden State in Oakland a few times. There was a UHF station that showed Golden State games. We wrote letters to the newspaper complaining about things and they would only publish a few lines of them.

It was different.

So, Riley was actually a Laker player first and Kareem's teammate. I cannot remember him playing. I mean, not at all. I guess that's weird.

[dancing2thabeet]

So we going 5 (or more) straight finals.

[LeChosen One]

Winning 3/4 would of set us apart.. Such a shame

[DefenseWins]

The Heat's run is more magnified than it is now because of the internet and social media.

Reality is, it's **** hard to win all your trips to the Finals especially consecutively.

This team if it stays intact is a dynasty in the making, granted we keep adding pieces.

In the last what... 30 years the only people to three peat were Jordan and Kobe/Shaq, while under Phil Jackson. Lakers made it 3 times but lost there first time, but it was still under Phil Jackson. What I mean is, it's something so rare to achieve and because you don't achieve it doesn't mean you suck. It just didn't fall through. Making it 4 times is incredible.

We actually have a chance to make a huge impact in this DECADE. This Big 3 era started in 2010, and so far we have made it to the Finals every year. If we win a few more rings, we own the 2010-2020 era. Looking at the big picture, we will be special. GRANTED LeBron stays and we keep adding pieces. It will always start and end with LeBron if he stays.

[GreenHat]

Four finals in a row is impressive BUT... the East has been terrible during that time. We've beaten like two elite teams in those four years in the Eastern playoffs.

[theFRANCHISE]

Four finals in a row is impressive BUT... the East has been terrible during that time. We've beaten like two elite teams in those four years in the Eastern playoffs.

Don't make me post who the 80s lakers played during the 80s lol it's pretty similar to the east the heat have played

[heatlespeatles]

Four finals in a row is impressive BUT... the East has been terrible during that time. We've beaten like two elite teams in those four years in the Eastern playoffs.

We won while being weak at two most important positions. I'll never discount what we did

[HEATVols865]

The Heat's run is more magnified than it is now because of the internet and social media.

Reality is, it's **** hard to win all your trips to the Finals especially consecutively.

This team if it stays intact is a dynasty in the making, granted we keep adding pieces.

In the last what... 30 years the only people to three peat were Jordan and Kobe/Shaq, while under Phil Jackson. Lakers made it 3 times but lost there first time, but it was still under Phil Jackson. What I mean is, it's something so rare to achieve and because you don't achieve it doesn't mean you suck. It just didn't fall through. Making it 4 times is incredible.

We actually have a chance to make a huge impact in this DECADE. This Big 3 era started in 2010, and so far we have made it to the Finals every year. If we win a few more rings, we own the 2010-2020 era. Looking at the big picture, we will be special. GRANTED LeBron stays and we keep adding pieces. It will always start and end with LeBron if he stays.

ESPN had an interview up with Bosh where he said how much pressure they were under to win and how it was not fun this past season...interesting to say the least


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums mobile app

[Alex Trevelyan]

ESPN had an interview up with Bosh where he said how much pressure they were under to win and how it was not fun this past season...interesting to say the least


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums mobile app

It often wasn't fun to watch them play this past season. Just like children and women have an incredible faculty for reading body language, sub-communication; fans can do the same with their team. This team was mailing it in and you could sense it. Some of it was purely exhaustion. LeBron playing too many minutes. Older players being pushed places their bodies could no longer go. Losing to bad teams. When the Heat had a bead on HCA in the East at the end of the season, they just didn't care, they lost to teams that had no business being on the same court. They lost to these teams when something significant was on the line. That was indicative of a bigger issue.

4 straight Finals is a monumental task, even in a depleted Eastern Conference. The Spurs never won back to back championships. They had never even been to back to back Finals until the last 2 years. Their pattern was to win one, then just run out of gas, then fill up the tank again and make another run. They'd get bounced out in the semis every year after winning, then come back again after a tweak and win another one, wash, rinse, repeat. The Showtime Lakers went 5-4 in Finals appearances. Dr. J's Sixers were 1-3 (and those teams were loaded), Bird's Celtics were 3-2, so in the modern NBA, post-merger, post-expansion, with the exception of the Bulls, there hasn't been a team, no matter how talented and well-coached, that didn't have significant ups and downs in the post-season.

[EscapoTHB]

Yeah I thought this season was really lacking in that special magic. We never really had much of a stretch where we played fun to watch basketball. I think Spo will evolve again this offseason and adjust some things defensively so we can be more consistent on that end, without taxing our perimeter players so much.

We weren't a top ten defensive team this year, and that was why we lost in the finals. Couldn't stop anything.

I think we could absolutely come back next year just adding young players, and some key mid-level players and be a whole different team next year.

I also think if Lebron doesn't back down from this challenge, it will be the making of him. A lot of people are saying the Heat are done. But if he comes back next year and the Heat are great again--he'll win another MVP--and another title--and his legend will grow.

If he leaves he's going to catch a lot of flack, and it will be more more of a stress on him personally on and off the court, than just staying put.

Trust Pat Riley IMO. Riley has made three different champions in two different cities. He's got this. Dude knows how to retool for a title as well as anyone.

And if Lebron wants inspiration for returning another year--just look at the spurs. they could have all retired and left--but they came back--same group--but hungrier and better. And look what happened. No reason the Heat can't do that.

Think about Mario, this playoffs has to have been hugely embarrassing for him. I bet he comes back next year a new player. Just like Patty Mills. Smarter, hungrier. And probably on a cheaper contract.

Maybe Wade comes back with a 3 point shot, and loses weight? Maybe he becomes a sixth man of the year?

Bosh just keeps getting better every year. Maybe he's even more of a knock down 3 point shooter next year?

There's room for improvement for the whole team.

Lebron IMO needs to get back to where he was defensively. And offensively, he needs to commit more to playing out of the post.

[GetMoney]

perspective is cool, it's just disappointing that we got destroyed so wholly this year

so much so that it's easy to make the argument that we were only there because the east sucked

[Sign5]

Four finals in a row is impressive BUT... the East has been terrible during that time. We've beaten like two elite teams in those four years in the Eastern playoffs.

Not you too. Did you not see the competition of the old Celtics/Lakers teams?