The San Antonio Spurs dominated the 2014 NBA Finals in near-unprecedented fashion and still the Miami Heat continue their reign as the hot topic of conversation.
And believe it or not, it doesn’t stem from a collection of hear-wrenching, “What ifs?” that remain unanswered.
Casting aside the Big Three-centered contractual drama for now, San Antonio was by all conceivable measures the better team. In no way did LeBron James blow the series because the series was never his to blow in the first place.
The Spurs were NBA champions before the Finals even began. There wasn’t anything the Heat could have done to dictate otherwise.
The two-time reigning title-holders lost by an average of 18 points. Never once did they score in triple digits, let alone cross the 90-point plateau in Games 4 and 5.
All the extensive conjecture about Miami entering the realm of basketball lore via modern-day three-peat was appropriate, relevant and expected. It was indeed a delightful and inescapable storyline.
Unfortunately, it also drowned out the most relevant narrative.
Gregg Popovich and Co. were as vengefully motivated as any squad in the history of the Association.
Just over five seconds away from securing their fourth Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2013, the Spurs instead watched Ray Allen hit a dagger three as champagne began being served. Upon settling into a 48-hour pool of impending hardwood doom, they lived, breathed and embraced pure and unadulterated revenge for the next 350 days.
Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Danny Green and the rest of the culpable Spurs knew they dropped a series they never should have lost. They and their undaunted head coach would utilize every one of those 350 as a stepping-stone toward gaining access into the 2014 Finals.
Notwithstanding a broken air conditioner and LeBron-less Heat squad, San Antonio put Miami away handily in Game 1. Duncan and the gang then needed only four games and 10 days to execute their complete dismantling of the defending champs.
Save for a couple missed free throws in Game 2, their demolition schedule would have otherwise required just three and seven, respectively.
The Darlings of South Beach fell convincingly and any such coulda-woulda-shoulda-what-if mentality need not apply.
An already hobbled Dwyane Wade exhausted his backup supply of winning energy and was lost after the first two games. Chris Bosh appeared lost at select times in every game, while Mario Chalmers and the Miami bench were essentially rendered obsolete after the opening tip.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra, in other words, can’t second-guess himself because there isn’t anything to second-guess. Outside of LeBron, the Heat were a tired, older and inferior version of their 2013 selves.
The Spurs, for their part, were an empowered, youthful and superior reconstruction of their heartbroken predecessors. Their playoff roster legitimately went 10-deep and the youngest constituent—22-year-old Kawhi Leonard—won Finals MVP.
As for the guy who many believe should have won that award in the regular-season, there aren’t any what ifs worth contemplating.
LeBron’s friends, family and, most importantly, best shot at winning a third NBA title, all reside in the state of Florida. Wade isn’t going anywhere and Bosh loves these two guys too much to do so either.
So, Miami, enough with the what ifs.
Forget the past—live, breathe and embody the policy of, "What’s next?"
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