The Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat could be protagonists in the NBA for several years to come given how good their core is and the talented stars they have. This might be more likely for the Lakers, who have two of the 10 best players in the world on the roster but the Heat have shown they can build a competitive team, too.
They clashed in the 2020 NBA Finals, with the Californians beating an inexperienced Heat that could take the series to six games but couldn’t do more against LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Curiously, the coincidences between these teams are really big and they’ve been there for almost two decades. Hoops Plug recently shared a post showing some similar seasons between the Lakers and Heat during the 2000s and 2010s and some of them are really curious.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CNirVnDFJNq
It all started with Shaquille O’Neal, who played for both franchises. After leaving the Lakers in 2004 amid controversies with Kobe Bryant, O’Neal landed in South Beach, looking to provide some quality to the Heat. With Shaq, both teams won titles, the Lakers won three from 2000 until 2002 and the Heat won their first-ever NBA championship in 2006.
Two years after each title, O’Neal leaves these teams and both Lakers and Heat become lottery teams after his departure.
A couple of years after that, they had the same fate in the postseason. In 2006 and 2007, the Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round, losing in seven and five games, respectively. The Heat would go through the same in 2009 and 2010, losing in seven and five games, too.
One year after their first-round exit, they would reach the Finals but lost their series in six games. The Lakers did it in 2008 against the Boston Celtics and the Heat couldn’t get past Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks in 2011.
The following season, they would win the Finals against two teams that were led by young players, with the purple and gold defeating Dwight Howard and his Orlando Magic in 5 games while Miami beat the young Oklahoma City Thunder led by Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden.
They would beat two former title squads with a lot of talent on the roster the next year, with L.A. taking revenge on the Boston Celtics in the 2010 NBA Finals while the Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs in one of the most memorable Finals in recent history. In both series, the winners went down 3-2, won Game 6, and then finished the job in Game 7.
It took 10 years for the Lakers to win their last championship and if things keep happening this way, the Heat could be the 2023 NBA champions. That would be really incredible to watch after all the coincidences we saw here. These two could relive the 2020 NBA Finals but the competition is a lot harder for them this season. Still, they are seen as candidates to reach the Finals and maybe keep increasing the list of coincidences between them.
**Credit for idea: Hoops Plug**
