ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst revealed that Miami Heat Not winning the Executive of the Year award after signing Chris Bosh and LeBron James to form the Big 3 is one of the “pettiest things” he’s ever seen in the NBA.
“One of the most petty things I’ve ever seen in my 20 years of covering the NBA is that the Heat didn’t win Executive of the Year the year they signed Bosh and LeBron,” Windhorst said. “Technically, they tied with [Chicago] The Bulls were voted for Executive of the Year that year. But the Bulls actually got more votes because John Paxson and Gar Forman got votes. And if they combined those votes, the Bulls got more votes. I’m not sure why they split the vote, probably because it would have been embarrassing.
While Miami may not have been the only one to be credited with luring two of the game’s biggest stars of the era to South Beach, the Heat ended up winning plenty of trophies during the time that James, Bosh and Dwyane Wade shared the court in Miami.
The Heat not only reached the NBA Finals for four consecutive seasons, but they also won two NBA titles in the 2011-12 season and the 2012-13 campaign. James’ arrival helped the Heat take over and win their second and third titles with Wade on the roster, cementing the Heat point guard as one of the greatest players in franchise history.
During the 2010–11 season (just after James and Bosh signed), the Bulls finished with the best record in the NBA, winning 62 games behind an MVP season from Derrick Rose.
Unfortunately, a knee injury ended up derailing Rose’s career shortly after that season, and the Bulls never reached an NBA Finals with the core they had built around him.
The Heat didn’t have James for very long, as he returned to the The Cleveland Cavaliers after four seasons in Miami, but they had plenty of success during his tenure, winning at least 65.9 percent of their regular season games each season.
It seems – based on Windhorst’s comments – that the rest of the league wasn’t exactly thrilled that Miami built a Big 3, thus changing the landscape of the NBA going forward.
James’ decision to join the Heat may have helped inspire other star players to switch teams, such as when Kevin Durant joined the Golden State Warriors after the 2015-16 season.
Overall, Miami would probably rather have two NBA titles than an Executive of the Year award to brag about as a franchise.
