LeBron James Hanging With The Heat Will Make Fans Wonder What Could Have Been

 

One year removed from a 33-49 season that culminated in winning the draft lottery, the Cleveland Cavaliers fell just short of a their first ever championship. And one year removed from making a historic fourth consecutive NBA Finals appearance, the Miami Heat went 37-45 and missed out on the playoffs altogether.

What conveys the ultimate influence of LeBron James better than that?

But say this for the Cavaliers: At least they mostly lived up to expectations before injuries and an all-time great team finally wore them down. The same isn’t true of the Heat, though it certainly bears mentioning that their 2014-15 could have finished much differently if Chris Bosh hadn’t been diagnosed with blood clots – just hours after Pat Riley swung a deadline trade for Goran Dragic, too.

But even assuming full health, Miami’s hopes of winning the East for a fifth-straight year would have been slim. But with James still in tow alongside Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and and the ascendant Hassan Whiteside? Erik Spoelstra might have really had something with that quartet leading the way.

The King’s Heat, after all, most fell victim to diminished collective athleticism and a lack of rim-protection – plus sublime execution, of course – in their 2014 Finals loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Imagine a world, though, where the Big Three had agreed to re-sign in South Beach on short-term contracts that July, followed by Whiteside’s emergence as arguably basketball’s most pleasant surprise just a few short months later.

Wouldn’t Miami, with a more conservative defensive scheme that kept its old legs fresher during the regular season, have been overwhelming favorites in the Eastern Conference? That goes without saying. But would this theoretical team have been an outright title favorite? That’s much harder to say given the quality of the eventual champion Golden State Warriors.

What isn’t, however, is that James hanging out with his old teammates and the their squad’s combustible new big man is making Heat fans wonder what could have been. And, obviously, we’re curious, too.

[Via Hassan Whiteside]

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