What kind of take is this? They were in ashes because Pat Riley kept the payroll at the bare minimum and took on absolutely zero long term salary all so he could do what he did in 2010. Wade was playing with the scrubbiest of scrubs because Pat Riley set it up that way. Like, he was intentionally put on terrible teams because only terrible players would sign for the short term garbage Riley was offering.
And still, 43 wins, and 47 wins. The 47 wins is one of the more impressive regular season numbers I've ever seen. That Miami heat team was so, so, so, so, soooooooo bad.
As an aside, this is yet another reason Wade deserved to be paid more than what he's worth currently. Not only because he took paycuts, but because during his best two seasons as pro, when he was legitimately casting doubt as to whether or not LeBron was the best player in the league, his GM was actually trying to lose. And Wade didn't let it happen. He was too good.
In an alternate universe, where the players don't collude and Riley actually tries to put real talent around Wade while he was at the height of his powers, he and LeBron, the two best players in the league at that time, could have duked it out in the Eastern Conference Finals.
And always remember, during those two seasons where Wade got those cocksucker teams to the playoffs? He had higher usage rates than LeBron has ever had. One of those years was over a 36 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). That's the definition of carrying a team to the playoffs. All him and no one else.
Anyway, it's pretty freaking silly to claim LeBron's 4 years in Miami mean more than Wade's 13 or whatever its been. He holds all of the franchise records. He was a part of every Heat championship and so on.
EDIT: Just to really talk about those two Miami teams in 08 and 09, we're talking about a situation where a debate can be had on who the second best player on the team was between Michael Beasley, Jermaine O'Neal, and Udonis Haslam. Woof.
