2010–11 Miami Heat season

The Miami Heat entered the 2010 NBA Free Agency period with nearly $46 million of salary cap space to spare, allowing the team to allocate enough financial resources to gain the ability to retain free agent and franchise player Dwyane Wade, as well as being able to pair him with two other perennial All-Stars and top-ranked NBA players at the time, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. According to Fox Sports Radio's Stephen A. Smith, speaking on his show just days after the NBA draft, the Heat were "highly likely" to sign all three players.[4] As James became an unrestricted free agent at 12:01 am EDT on July 1, 2010, his name circulated heavily during the 2010 Free Agency signing spree as he was courted by the New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat; all of whom in negotiations looking to potentially sign him. On July 7, 2010, Wade and Bosh both agreed to their finalized contractual terms with the Miami Heat. Then next day on July 8, 2010, James held an hour-long special to announce his decision on ESPN to commit to playing with the Heat.[5] Later that evening, the Heat announced the trade of Michael Beasley to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a pair of second round picks and cash considerations.[6] The three are called the SuperFriends by many sportswriters and commentators, most notably those for ESPN, because all three were taken in the top five of the 2003 NBA Draft and because they have become good friends over the years.[7]

On July 8, 2010, it became official that NBA superstars and gold medal-winning Beijing Olympic teammates LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh would be joining Miami. The Heat completed sign-and-trade deals, sending a total of four future first-round and two-second-round picks to the Cavaliers and Raptors for James and Bosh (both signing 6 years and $110.1 million contracts). Dwyane Wade re-signed with the Heat for $107.59 million for six years. All three stars have early termination clauses in their contracts, allowing them to become free agents again in the summer of 2014. The final year on all three deals, for 2015–16, is a player option.[8][9][10] The three made their debut at the 2010 Summer Heat Welcome Party at the American Airlines Arena on July 9, where they were introduced as The Three Kings by Heat play-by-play announcer and event co-host Eric Reid.[11] James predicted a dynasty for the Heat and alluded to multiple championships: "Not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven".[12][13] Howard Beck of The New York Times described the national fan reaction to the party: "Everyone saw something: greatness, arrogance, self-indulgence, boldness, cowardice, pride, friendship, collusion, joy, cynicism, heroes, mercenaries."[14]

By taking less than maximum salaries, Wade, James and Bosh opened the door for the Heat to further continue its roster makeover with the resigning of Udonis Haslem and signing of veteran swingman and teammate of Haslem at the University of Florida, Mike Miller for dual 5-year deals worth a combined $45 million.[15] In order to fill the voids at forward and center, the Heat signed James's former teammate in Cleveland, Zydrunas Ilgauskas to a two-year deal for the veterans minimum at $2.8 million, resigning Joel Anthony, and signing power forward Juwan Howard.[16] In the guard department, the Miami Heat resigned guard Carlos Arroyo and signed former Celtics player Eddie House to a two-year contract for the veteran minimum of $2.8 million.[17] Rookies Dexter Pittman and Da'Sean Butler, along with NBA Summer League standouts Patrick Beverley and Kenny Hasbrouck, also signed contracts.

Members of the 2010–11 Miami Heat team and coaching staff during a timeout.

The Miami Heat began the regular season with much hype going into their first game against the Eastern Conference Champs, the Boston Celtics. Many considered the Miami Heat as the team to break the single season record of 72 regular season victories set by the Chicago Bulls.[18]

On the opening game of the season, broadcast on the TNT Network and featuring the debut of reigning two-time NBA MVP James in a Miami uniform alongside Chris Bosh, the game was the most-watched NBA contest ever on cable television. The game earned a 4.6 rating, delivering 7.4 million total viewers and 5.3 million households, beating the Chicago Bulls vs. Los Angeles Lakers on February 2, 1996.[19]

The Heat lost the opening game 88–80 and got off to a 9–8 start due in large part to inconsistent play and injuries to key role players Mike Miller (thumb) and Udonis Haslem (foot). After losing four out of five games, including a Saturday night loss to the Dallas Mavericks on November 27, the team called a players-only meeting with the intent to get players to communicate with each other. Much of the speculation was that Spoelstra could lose his job and that Heat president Pat Riley would return as coach, especially after a well-publicized incident when James "bumped" into Spoelstra during a timeout.[20]

After the players-only meeting, the team pulled together a 12-game win streak (10 of them by double digits) and limited the opposition under 100 points in all those games. During the winning streak, James led the Heat to defeat his former team by scoring 38 points (tying a Heat record for points in a quarter with 24 in the third) in a game that drew nearly 7.1 million viewers and earned a 25.4 rating in Miami. ESPN 3D aired its first NBA game in the third dimension on December 17, 2010, when the Heat defeated the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.,[21][22][23] The Heat set a franchise record for wins in December with 15 and set an NBA record for consecutive road victories in a calendar month with 10 (including the Christmas Day match-up with the reigning two-time champs, Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers which the team won 96–80).[24]

During a postgame chat with Sun Sports' Jason Jackson on January 3, 2011, LeBron James joked "I see we sell out 99.1 percent on the road, so we call ourselves the Heatles off the Beatles, so every time we take our show on the road we bring a great crowd", giving the Heat's famed trio the unofficial nickname.[25]

On January 27, 2011, via fan voting, LeBron James (forward) and Dwyane Wade (guard) were selected to be starters for the Eastern Conference at the All-Star Game, becoming the second pair of teammates to be selected as All-Star starters in franchise history (Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade; 2006 and 2007). A few days later, forward Chris Bosh was selected as a reserve, marking the first time in Heat history the team had sent three players to the All-Star game in a single season.

Like the 2005–06 championship season, the Heat were criticized for being unable to beat the top-caliber teams of the NBA. This criticism though would just grow more and more as the regular season was beginning to wind down. Despite being tied 2–2 with their division rival, the Orlando Magic, sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers 2–0, and beating both the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder once, they lost the season series to the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics 3–1, were swept by the Chicago Bulls 3–0 and lost both times to the Dallas Mavericks, who continued their regular season dominance against Miami for their 16th straight victory dating back to the 2004–05 season.

Teammates Dwyane Wade (3) and LeBron James (6) during a game

In order to improve for the playoffs, the Heat signed guard Mike Bibby, who agreed to forfeit the $6.2 million he was owed by the Washington Wizards for the next season so that he could become a free agent and sign a league minimum contract with a contender. In the process, the Heat released Carlos Arroyo. In Bibby's first game on March 3, the Heat were leading the Magic by 24 points in the third quarter before the Heat were outscored 40–9 and lost 99–96.[26] The following night against the Spurs, who held the NBA's best record (51–11), the Heat lost 125–95, their most lopsided loss of the year and their fourth loss in five games.[27] In their next game against the Bulls, the Heat had a 12-point lead in the first half, but ended up losing 87–86 after two failed shots by James and Wade in the last 6 seconds of the game. It was the Heat's 12th and 13th consecutive missed shots with a chance to tie or lead a game in the final 10 seconds of regulation or overtime. James had missed four in the four-game losing streak. It was the Heat's fourth straight loss, and the fourth time since February 24 they had lost after a double-digit lead.[28] The Heat were 2–5 since the All-Star break, 5–13 in games decided by five or fewer points and 14–18 against teams with winning records.[29] After the game, there were reports of players crying in the locker room afterwards.[30] On March 10, the Heat beat the Lakers, 94–88, and ended their five-game losing streak while also ending the Lakers' eight-game winning streak.[31][32]

On March 27, Wade, James, and Bosh became the second trio in NBA history to have at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in the same non-overtime game (a home win against the Houston Rockets), matching Oscar Robertson, Wayne Embry and Jack Twyman for the Cincinnati Royals in a loss to the Philadelphia Warriors on February 2, 1961. Additionally, it was the first time that a team's trio recorded 20 points and 10 rebounds in consecutive games since Sidney Wicks, Lloyd Neal and John Johnson accomplished the feat with the Portland Trail Blazers in March 1975. It was also the first time in Heat franchise history that three players scored 30 points in the same game.[33]

The 2011 Heat finished with a 58–24 record, third best in team history and a second overall seed, behind the Chicago Bulls, who had the NBA's best record. Additionally, the Heat finished 5th in the NBA in attendance with 810,930 behind Mavericks, Cavaliers, Trail Blazers, and Bulls in that order (100.9% capacity). The Heat faced the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs and eliminated them in five games. In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the Heat defeated their rival Boston Celtics in five games, winning a dramatic overtime Game 4 in Boston and a come-from-behind Game 5 victory at home to finish the series. In the Eastern Conference finals, the Heat faced the Chicago Bulls. After being blown out by 21 points by the Bulls in Game 1, the Heat took home-court by defeating Chicago in Game 2, and winning their home Games 3 and 4, the latter of which came in overtime. In Game 5 in Chicago, the Heat made a historic comeback; after being down 77–65 with 3:14 left, the Heat went on an 18–3 run to win, 83–80, capped by a key four-point play from Dwyane Wade and clutch shooting from LeBron James.[34] The Heat advanced to the 2011 NBA Finals to face the Dallas Mavericks, who had defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Oklahoma City Thunder. The series was a rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals, in which Dallas won the first two games and then lost four straight to Miami. The Heat won Game 1 in Miami, 92–84, but in Game 2, the Heat were leading the Mavericks by 15 points with 6:20 left in the fourth quarter before the Heat were outscored 22–5 and lost, 95–93. The Heat won Game 3 in Dallas 88–86 with the game-winning basket scored by Chris Bosh. The Mavericks won Game 4, 86–83, holding LeBron James to a career playoff-low 8 points. The Mavericks won Game 5 and took a 3–2 series lead with a 112–103 victory. That was the first time since March 6 that the Heat had lost two consecutive games, including the regular season, playoffs, and the NBA Finals. In Game 6, Dallas defeated Miami, 105–95, to win the 2011 NBA Finals in six games, 4–2. James's 17.8 points per game in the Finals was the largest drop off in points from a regular season to an NBA Finals (down 8.9 points from 26.7) in NBA history.[35] As James only averaged three points in the fourth quarters in the series, and he received the brunt of the criticism for the team's loss to Dallas as a result of his lackluster performance.[36]

• As of March 2011.
• Source: Hoops World.com[37]

  Lead team

• Stats as of match played on April 13, 2011 (82 matches played)[38]
• * Stats with the Heat.

  Lead team

• Stats as of match played on June 12, 2011 (21 matches played).

• On December 13, 2010 Dwyane Wade was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (December 6 – 12).[39]
• On December 27, 2010 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (December 20 – 26).[40]
• On January 3, 2011 Dwyane Wade was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (December 27 – January 2).[41]
• On January 3, 2011 LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were named Eastern Conference's Co-Players of the Month (December).[42]
• On January 3, 2011 Erik Spoelstra was named Eastern Conference's Coach of the Month (December).[43]
• On January 10, 2011 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (January 3 – 9).[44]
• On January 31, 2011 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (January 24 – 30).[45]
• On February 4, 2011 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Month (January).[46]
• On February 7, 2011 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (January 31 – February 6).[47]
• On March 14, 2011 Dwyane Wade was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (March 7 – 13).[48]
• On March 21, 2011 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week (March 14 – 20).[49]
• On April 15, 2011 LeBron James was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Month (April).[50]

• LeBron James was voted to his 7th consecutive NBA All-Star Game as a starter (7th consecutive time as a starter).[51]
• Dwyane Wade was voted to his 7th consecutive NBA All-Star Game as a starter (6th consecutive time as a starter).[51]
• Chris Bosh was selected to his 6th consecutive NBA All-Star Game (4th consecutive time as a reserve).[52]
• James Jones won the 2011 NBA All-Star Three-point Shootout.[53]

• On May 9, 2011 LeBron James was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team.[54]
• On May 10, 2011 Pat Riley was named NBA Co-Executive of the Year.[55]
• On May 12, 2011 LeBron James was named to the All-NBA First Team.[56]
• On May 12, 2011 Dwyane Wade was named to the All-NBA Second Team.[56]

• On December 23, 2010 LeBron James became the youngest player to have reached 16,000 career points.[57]
• On March 18, 2011 LeBron James became the youngest player to have reached 17,000 career points.[58]
• On March 27, 2011 Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade became the first trio in franchise history to each score 30 or more points and 10 or more rebounds in a single game, against the Houston Rockets.[59]

• On December 18, 2010 Chris Bosh reached 5,000th career rebounds.[60]
• On December 18, 2010 Juwan Howard reached his 16,000th career points.[60]
• On December 23, 2010 LeBron James became the youngest player to have reached 16,000 career points.[57]
• On January 7, 2011 LeBron James reached 500th career blocks.[61]
• On January 13, 2011 Dwyane Wade reached 500th career blocks.
• On March 18, 2011 LeBron James became the youngest player to have reached 17,000 career points.[58]
• On March 27, 2011 Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade became only the second trio in NBA history to each score 30 or more points and 10 or more rebounds in a single non-overtime game, against the Houston Rockets.[59]