As a new NBA fan its great to hear John and Ben talk about the NBA. Since I've only really been watching since they got into the bubble I don't have the fan supporting media figured out yet. I watch a little inside the NBA and a few things from the Ringer on youtube and twitter, thanks @netw3rk!
But Ben is totally right, whats amazing about this Miami team is that there are no bad players. Every win you see a different dude stepping up and leading the team in scoring. Sometimes its Jimmy Bulter, the other night it was Tyler Hero and last night it was Bam Adebayo.
It reminds me a lot of Malcom Gladwell's amazing Revisionist History Podcast where he talks about strong and weak link sports. He classifies basketball at a strong link sport where the team is only as good as its weakest players while a sport like soccer is a weak link sport where the team is only as strong as its weakest player. Normally I think thats true but Miami is trying to play weak link basketball and it seems to be working.
Its also a good philosophy to consider when looking at my favorite new show, Ted Lasso. The basic premise of the show is that a soccer teams owner is a stereotypical rich asshole who cheats on his wife repeatedly until she leaves him. She gets the team in the divorce and sets on a mission to destroy "the one thing he truly loves". So she hires Ted an American who has no soccer/football experience and his only coaching experience is a Division 2 american football team.
What she doesnt count on is that Ted understands that soccer is a weak link sport and he sees right away that the biggest problem with the team is that Jamie is showboating like he's Michael Jordon. He's an amazing player but thats just not how you win soccer games and more importantly thats not how you build a team.
And thats whats so exciting about these upcoming finals. Is basketball a strong link sport and Lebron James and Anthony Davis will lead the Lakers into success or will the well rounded Heat overcome the odds. Truth is the lakers area also a pretty well rounded team with a great bench AND great stars so its a bit of an unfair fight but will still be fun to watch.