Winning a championship is the hardest achievement in sports. That may be particularly true in the NBA. Reaching the finals only to fall short can be devastating to a franchise.
This has certainly been the case for the of the , a team with finals experience but a lack of championship experience. The last few seasons have seen them serve as perennial playoff contenders in one fashion or another, but they have fallen short in all instances. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has won a title before, but the current roster has yet to experience the glory of raising the Larry O’Brien Trophy, although they have come close twice.
And those two appearances have doomed the team to mediocrity. 2020 – The First Finals Appearance Under Spoelstra, the Heat have always been relatively competitive. They've only missed the playoffs once in the last seven seasons, when they finished in 10th place (39-43) in 2019, before the Play-In Tournament existed.
However, it is undeniable that the team failed to replicate the success it had during the era. One year after missing the playoffs, the Heat embarked on a miracle run during the COVID-affected season of 2020. Finishing 44-29 but lacking expectations, they embarked on a deep playoff run which saw them sweep the , defeat and the in five games and then knock off the in six games to advance to the NBA Finals.
That is when they lost to their ex-teammate James and the in six games in the NBA Finals. The Heat failed to complete the underdog story, and the na.
