If Miami wins the Finals

[Jenks]

LeBron will be remembered as he one who lifted a team of past-their-prime all stars and one HOF (Wade) player to several championships.

Chris Bosh just turned 30...

[SnakeBoy]

I don't think it would place the Heat franchise above the Spurs franchise but it would certainly elevate this Heat team to Jordan's Bulls status.

[#2!]

If the refs hadn't botched Game 6 in OKC in 2012 and the Heat hadn't lucked out in Game 6 last year, wouldn't we be talking about the possibility of a Spurs 3-peat right now?

How is it luck that someone hit a shot he'd practiced literally 10s of thousands of times?

[EVAY]

You're right, but that's a big "if". And Miami has nice weather, no state income tax, and Pat Riley. Maybe the Bulls get Melo, though.

this.

[superbigtime]

Unfortunately it does. But it the Spurs have had to work harder for what they have than the Heat, and the Heat don't have the Spurs history and they won't have a lasting legacy like Lakers, Bulls or Spurs. Eastern Conference is a joke. Their playoff match ups are basically scrimmages for when they face a real team from the western conference in the finals. Yeah ain't fair but what can you do. NBA is just so. damn. flawed.

[hitmantb]

Miami would clearly be ahead of the Spurs with 4 les and a 3-peat and beating Spurs twice in the process, even if it is Duncan's twilight years against prime LeBron. LeBron would instantly take a spot on top-5 all time, bouncing Larry Bird off that list. He will have a good chance to beat Magic and a small chance to challenge Jordan/Kareem. I hate the way he got his team but people will forget The Decision and only remember 3-peat + 4MVP + 3-FMVP.

If Miami loses and Duncan wins FMVP, Duncan would be top-5 all time, LeBron can still get top-5 with more rings down the road, but it will be hard to rank him above Duncan if he lost to Duncan twice, once in the twilight of Duncan's career.

So much on the line!

[HI-FI]

I was just thinking that I'm really happy the Spurs are facing the Heat again, because if Miami wins it's a 3-peat for them and the sign of Lebron's dominance on the league, and there's no shame in losing to the top player of an era. Besides, last year's loss has a "bad luck" ring to it. But if Miami beats us twice in a row, that takes luck out of the equation and clearly shows they deserved it.

On the other hand if the Spurs win, it obviously means Tim's 5th, with championships 15 years apart and while not piggy-backing on anybody else, without lopsided trades, the league favors or anything.

absolutely agree with this. I was gonna write the same thing earlier when I realized it.

one thing I appreciate is this year's journey. Last year, media and other trolls acted like the Spurs only got there because of fluke injuries, even though some of us believed they could beat the Thunder. nonetheless, Spurs played too tight last year, maybe all that fluke talk got to their confidence.

This year though, they absolutely belong, proving it by beating the Thunder in iconic fashion. Now they can play with more purpose and confidence.

[DMC]

Team yes, franchise no.

[DrSteffo]

If they win this they are the better team. Bosh is a decent person. Some other Heat players might be but I don't care. Just win baby.

[Uriel]

How is it luck that someone hit a shot he'd practiced literally 10s of thousands of times?

It wasn't just the Ray Allen 3. That shot was the culmination of a series of events that were collectively extremely unlikely.

[703 Spurz]

San Antonio is winning with players they drafted. They've signed role players to mix with Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker. Miami signed James and Bosh and a bunch of other used-to-be-all-stars to round out the roster. If Miami is considered better at anything I'd say they're better at buying players to make the team good. That's their right but I'd be more impressed if they drafted their "Big 3" and had them maintain the best record in the 4 major sports in the U.S. since 1997.