Dwayne Wade In 2006 Disproved Gregg Popovich's Championship Theory
The Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs, who played Wednesday, are two of the winningest teams in the NBA over the past few decades.
The Spurs have won five titles since 1999. The Heat have claimed three championships in 2006, 2012 and 2013.
Both organizations are in different stages now, with the Spurs rebuilding and the Heat trying to make the Finals for a second straight year. Longtime Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he is thinking long-term, especially with a team built around phenom Victor Wembanyama.
“Michael Jordan's first title came in his seventh year," Popovich said. "Nikola Jokic just won his first ring and it took him eight years. We have every right to hope that things will go faster for Victor, but you can't skip stages. If it were that easy, you'd have a different champion every year. Our cycle of success has been long, stretching over three decades. At some point, you have to start from scratch. This is where we are today."
What Popovich failed to realize was the Heat did not have to wait seven or eight years for Dwayne Wade to hoist his first Larry O’Brien Trophy. Wade was a championship three years after being drafted in 2003. So he skipped steps.
After winning 25 games in 2002-03, the Heat were a playoff team in Wade's rookie year. They signed Shaquille O'Neal the following year, earning the No. 1 seed in the East before losing to the Detroit Pistons in the conference finals. A year later, they rallied from a 2-0 deficit and defeated the Dallas Mavericks to win the first title in franchise history.
So maybe not all teams need nearly a decade to see success.
Casey Fahrer is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He can be reached at caseyfahrer716@gmail.com.
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