Since the 2011 NBA Finals, Lebron James has become a brutally honest person rather his opinion pertains to himself, a teammate, anything involving the league, or anything outside of it.
This time his honest comment of the day comes as he speaks on the talent around him, saying he doesn’t have the most talented team in the NBA.
"“We’re talented, but we’re not that talented,” James said. “We have a really, really good team. We have some very talented guys. We’re not the most talented team, I don’t think, in the NBA. There’s a lot of other talented teams. We have some very, very high-IQ basketball players. And I think IQ is more important than talent.”James wouldn’t say which teams he thinks are more talented.via Lebron James doesn’t think Heat NBA’s best team | Sporting News"
Miami Heat fans might not want to heart this, but Lebron James is right.
Of the four teams left, the Miami Heat likely ranks third behind the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, with the Indiana Pacers having the least amount of talent.
Compared to last season, the Heat’s role players are a year older, with their play displaying that. This includes Ray Allen, Shane Battier, Rashard Lewis, and Udonis Haslem, all players who have struggled to make a consistent impact for the Heat as they coasted through the regular season.
Miami also did little in the offseason to improve the overall talent of the franchise, banking on two possibles in Greg Oden and Michael Beasley. Neither of the two players have panned out, playing zero minutes in the playoffs. Add in the fact that they chose to amnesty Mike Miller, a wing they could desperately use right now, instead of Joel Anthony, and one could make the argument that the Heat aren’t as good as they were last year.
Yet they’re still favorites to walk away NBA champions in 2014 for some people. That’s because they have the best player in the planet in Lebron James and a rejuvenated star in Dwyane Wade. And this is what we expect to put the Heat over the top if they do win another championship. Of course there will be games, like tonight, where a role player’s impact is the story of the game, but Wade and James mainly orchestrate all that happens. Defense. Offense. The in-betweens. It all rides on their shoulders.
If they make it to the Finals, this will be the Heat’s hardest opponent yet due to their decline in talent. We’ll see if it’s the deciding factor when it comes down to it.