LeBron James, Dwyane Wade champions overlooked in recent ranking

No team in NBA history has faced more pressure than the Miami Heat did between 2010 and 2014, from LeBron James' arrival to his departure, as the first true Big 3 superteam of the social media age.

Twitter was coming into full bloom by then, and ESPN was so Heat-crazy that it sent a "Miami Heat Index" crew of reporters to cover the squad daily -- not just the basketball, but all the controversies, real and manufactured.

That microscope was not really taken into account as CBS Sports ranked the last 25 NBA champions.

Nor was some of what James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh accomplished.

The Heat clock in on that list at No. 8 (for the 2013 title) and No. 16 (for the 2012 title), and also at No. 24 (for their first title, 2006). We will discuss the 2006 snub later.

But here's what was said about 2013:

The 66 regular-season wins were by far the most the Big Three era in Miami, but the Heat won this ring by the skin of their teeth. They failed to win two consecutive games against Indiana in the conference finals, where they needed seven games to get past young Paul George and company, and then we all know about Ray Allen's corner-3 miracle in the Finals with the Heat mere seconds from elimination.

That said, needing seven games to get past an opponent isn't necessarily an indictment of the dominance of the eventual victor. That Pacers team was very good, and the Spurs were great. Adding Allen to the roster was a big deal, and this was LeBron's fourth and final MVP season. Top to bottom, this was probably the best roster of the Heat's Big Three run.
Brad Botkin

It is true that the playoffs were challenging. But again, the regular season matters. And this team won eight more games than the Warriors or Lakers did in years for which they were ranked third and seventh, respectively. The 66 wins included a 27-game winning streak, and arguably the dominant play of James' career. And as Botkin notes, the Spurs were great -- so great that they came back and beat the Heat comfortably in the NBA Finals the next season.

The Heat seem to be penalized for being pushed in the playoffs, in a way the 2018 Warriors (down 3-2 to Houston in the conference finals and advancing after Chris Paul missed the last two games) were not.

As for 2012, that Heat team admittedly was not as dominant as the next year's iteration -- adding Ray Allen and finding a clear rotation certainly helped. But it overcame the injury to Chris Bosh to rally from 2-1 down against Indiana, as Wade and James took over. It beat the proud Celtics in the conference finals, even after being down 3-2 and on the road. And it handled Oklahoma City in the Finals, when everyone was anointing prime Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook as the next dominant championship duo.

Sixteenth of 25 seems too low.

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