The Miami Heat proved over the course of the 2021-22 NBA season that they are one of the best teams in the league. Despite dealing with injuries to their starting lineup and having a lot of their team catch COVID earlier in the season, the Heat rebounded very well to earn the number one seed in the Eastern Conference, fighting off Boston and Philadelphia for the same.
Their strong season was widely contributed to the Heat developing a lot of undrafted talent and making a very deep rotation, with players that can step into the lineup at the drop of a hat. Jimmy Butler was still the heart and soul of the team, averaging 21.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.6 steals.
No Miami Heat player, including Butler, could make their way onto the All-NBA teams that were announced yesterday. The Heat became the first number one seed since the 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks to not have any players rewarded on All-NBA for the season.
Playoff teams without an All-NBA player in 2022: New Orleans Pelicans (8th in West), Utah Jazz (5th in West), Miami Heat (1st in East)
Heat are first #1 seed in either conference without an All-NBA performer since 2015 Atlanta Hawks
— Law Murray ❓ (@LawMurrayTheNU) May 25, 2022
This is extremely surprising, considering Coach Erik Spoelstra wasn’t mentioned in the Coach of the Year conversation. So if the Heat had an average coach and an average team all season long, how did they end up as the number one seed?
One of the big reasons for not having a Heat player on the All-NBA team could be games played, as Jimmy Butler played just 57 games out of 82 this season. There’s no guard on the Heat that would have made the team over the 6 players named, and Bam Adebayo wouldn’t have beaten out the other centers named based on their productions.
The Heat did see Tyler Herro be awarded as the Sixth Man of the Year. Considering their offensive struggles in the playoffs with him out injured, maybe everyone knew the X-Factor he could be on this Heat team.
