Miami Heat: Chasing History

The Miami Heat are just four wins away from capturing a lauded and lofty goal that only a few teams have attained in basketball history; winning three NBA titles in a row.

By defeating the Pacers for the second straight year in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Miami Heat earned their fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals. With their place in history as one of the best teams of all time all but assured, the Heat look to build their resume by adding yet another banner in South Beach.

So what exactly are the Miami Heat chasing? What elite teams are the Heat attempting to position themselves atop basketball’s highest podium- for lack of a better term- the Mount Olympus of the NBA?

In 67 years of the NBA’s existence, only five teams have accomplished the three-peat. The first team to do it was the 1952-54 Minneapolis Lakers, followed by the eight-year reign of the 1959-1966 Boston Celtics. It then took over 30 years for the 1991-93 Chicago Bulls to accomplish the feat before doing it again from 1996-98. Only two years later the Los Angeles Lakers began their three peat that lasted from 2000-02.

Now, the Miami Heat who began their run in 2012 look, to accomplish the three peat in 2014 against the very same team they defeated in the 2013 NBA Finals, the San Antonio Spurs.

When LeBron James joined Miami in 2010 many recall his now infamous “not four, not five, not six…” speech that ultimately made him the No. 1 villain across all NBA cities in the country. Now just four years later, LeBron and Co. are only four games away from capturing history. Suddenly four or five titles do not seem like such a lofty aspiration, but first up is the San Antonio Spurs.

The San Antonio Spurs have had quite the run themselves, being one of the most successful and consistent teams in any sport in the last two decades. Since selecting Tim Duncan with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, the Spurs have made the playoffs every single year. In fact, the Spurs have made the playoffs in 24 of the last 25 NBA seasons.

Tim Duncan’s remarkable consistency and longevity has aided the Spurs to win four NBA titles during his 17 seasons with the team. What may be most impressive is that Duncan won in two different eras; as the “Twin Towers” with David Robinson, and then in the “Big Three” era with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

The Spurs were only 5 seconds away from yet another NBA Championship last year when they nearly defeated the defending champion Miami Heat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Of course by now you know that Ray Allen hit a miraculous three pointer to send the game into overtime, where the Heat subsequently won. In Game 7, the demoralized Spurs fought hard, but were no match for LeBron James killer instinct in the final game of the NBA season.

The Miami Heat are so very close to obtaining one of the most historic monikers in all of sports. Not only are the Heat chasing the great teams from the past, but they are looking to blaze their own trail in becoming the greatest dynasty basketball has ever witnessed.