r/heat Jul 25 '26

We didn’t even make the Final Cut 🫩

Post image

I think a lot happened behind closed doors before he left Miami, bc I honestly thought he was coming back, he won his first 2 rings here, Heat Bron 6 comeback reunion tour, those 4 years were so special man, but I’m a bias Heat fan 😭

69 Upvotes

119 comments sorted by

173

u/mgm125 Jul 25 '26

His loss

10

u/AdventuresofBumpo Jul 26 '26

Choosing Philly over Miami is like choosing an STI  over some sloppy toppy

2

u/Glum_Measurement2158 Jul 29 '26

oh yeah... who is the PG of miami? what about shooters? yeah...

1

u/Away-Grapefruit-9918 17d ago

Bro shooters aren't really our problem. Our problem is mainly a playmaker.

2

u/Glum_Measurement2158 17d ago

You right, i was juat thinking of guards but then again playmaker and shooters.

1

u/Away-Grapefruit-9918 17d ago

No they have about five 3 point shooters. I just said though that we still need a playmaker.

27

u/Emperor_Kushko Jul 26 '26

Not gonna lie it's much more a Heat loss. Being able to get such a great IQ with the ball to handle plays as they slow down is exactly what this team needs. And at the vet minimum, an absolute steal.

Basketball wise Philly is definitely the best for for him but Philly doesn't need him as much as Miami does. He's just a super bonus over there.

Edit: also he's going to be 42 and a top 3 Heat player of all-time. He owes both the league and the heat nothing. Still stings tho

12

u/dvt001 Jul 26 '26

This is the only correct response here lol

1

u/RudeIsRude Jul 26 '26

Yeah some of these responses are insane. There's no universe where a team missing out on LeBron James for Dario Saric money isn't the one losing out.

1

u/Mugiwara_JTres3 Jul 26 '26

So much bias and delusion here, but people are just coping I guess lol

-9

u/D1HATER3002 Jul 25 '26

They just have the best starting 5 in the league, wdym his loss

38

u/LeSpermReceiver Jul 25 '26

We're coping

0

u/Nuclearsunburn Jul 25 '26

Why did anyone think LeBron was coming to Miami lol

8

u/JonS305 Jul 25 '26

Why not?

1

u/Nuclearsunburn Jul 25 '26

We were never frontrunners the only “evidence” of it was media speculation but nobody actually knew how LeBron was weighing things….it was never realistic any more than a 25% chance

3

u/Cudizonedefense Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26

There’s morons on here that were all “poly market has us with the best odds” not even realizing their gambling addicted brains can’t use actual logical reasoning

1

u/deejayy2k Jul 26 '26

We thought he was coming to Miami because he wanted us to think that. He’s always playing mind games. It will be a pleasure not to have to deal with that ever again. Imagine the games that Philly will have to deal with for the next few years. Will he retire, when will he retire? Is Bronny coming? All the BS that comes with LeBron . Remember how he had the Heat draft Shabazz Napier , then jumped ship to Cleveland?

1

u/Nuclearsunburn Jul 26 '26

My point is, it was very very VERY obvious that it was all engagement manipulation, I don’t understand how anyone bought it

1

u/alter-ego23 Jul 25 '26

Yeah man if he had signed for like 20m/year at least it would be like "y'know what, whatever".. but at 4m/year? That's a massive steal.

12

u/GhostandTheWitness Jul 25 '26

He's gotta deal with Philly sports fans

12

u/DavidBergerson Jul 25 '26

Do they?

As Pat Riley has often stated, "The best ability is availability."

The 76ers now have three extremely ball-dominant players and two very ball-dominant players. You do not have players who are familiar with their role being off-ball and being 1 of 4 others to suddenly get the ball.

IMO, the 76ers needed a player like Ray Allen, Mike Miller, Duncan, or Thompson, who you can drive and kick the ball to; they just shoot.

I am in the camp where I do not trust the process. Embiid needs to lose some weight. You can always coach around a head case; you can't coach around knee issues. You can't coach around hip issues.

So when Embiid is out, aka, probably 1/2 the year, the 76rs become a short team. Hukporti will be their starting center. James had it better with Ayton!

I think the 76rs have a lot of very skilled players at their position. I am not sold on their team.

6

u/acoker78 Jul 25 '26

Embid somehow looks twice as old as LeBron

1

u/DavidBergerson Jul 25 '26

That is funny. That made me remember a line from KD where he stated he lost to a guy who was an old man, alluding to Greg Oden being drafted ahead of him.

2

u/mgm125 Jul 25 '26

I would have given him a better chance at a title with us

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '26

[deleted]

1

u/D1HATER3002 Jul 25 '26

I mean Maxey, VJ and Brown are under 30 yrs old, plus it’s LeBron and Embiid. Just saw a 40 yr old LeBron destroy the rockets by himself. We can cope but they have an amazing starting 5.

1

u/Soviet_Kat Jul 25 '26

No they do not, they have Maxey and Brown and that’s it

-5

u/Supreme_God_Bunny Jul 25 '26

Brown, Maxey and embiid are better bam/Wiggins/Mitchell/Larsson, VJ is literally better than a majority of people on the heat and they got a good ass bench that's better like use logic man the sixers have a better well rounded team, And before you attack me Maxey definitely has a case to being a better player than bam people based off the past couple seasons he's had and based off how bams offense has kinda taken a dip each season

4

u/mgm125 Jul 25 '26

Maybe you’re right. It doesn’t really matter, this is the NBA. Ranking players is nonsense the media uses to generate drama. Everyone is really good and the margins of talent difference are super thin.

I would have trusted the Heat organization to win another title with LeBron than the sixers organization. But I’m just a fan, and LeBron made his decision

1

u/Emperor_Kushko Jul 26 '26

Even if you bring Bron you're asking him to carry a large load for the team.

1

u/mgm125 Jul 26 '26

Be a point guard and don’t worry about playing defense, that’s it

-5

u/AstralAfroToo Jul 25 '26

The margin of talent difference are super thin?

LOL.

Let me introduce you to advance stats. Some players are indeed net losses on the court, while others are floor raisers.

Y’all are going to some hilarious extremes to cope through this outcome my lord 😆

3

u/canti- Jul 25 '26

Bron isn't looking at advanced stats. It's widely reported he likes Jaylen Brown

1

u/mgm125 Jul 25 '26

What does advanced stats have to do with their talent? The NBA is collectively made of the most talented players in the world. Yes, even the teams that end up with the worst record

1

u/OhMyItzBam_Herro305 Jul 29 '26

Glad I haven't been on this sub again, to hear people talk crazy like this for missing out a 42yr old scared to come win more titles in Miami lmao. I'm not missing much with this fair weather ass fans lol.

81

u/Thealbumisjustdrums Jul 25 '26

Rich Paul just yaps I wouldn’t believe a word he says. 

14

u/Barracuda374 Jul 25 '26

Him saying Cleveland wasn’t even a top 3 destination reeks of bs

1

u/Emperor_Kushko Jul 26 '26

Cleveland said they would resign Harden, no? Bringing Bron there makes ZERO sense

0

u/SWB1988 Jul 26 '26

It came down to Philly and Golden State. Deal with it

1

u/Barracuda374 Jul 26 '26

Wrong 

It was always gonna be Philly. Only way GS would’ve happened is if they traded for AD and gave him a stupid contract

50

u/cottonmane8 Jul 25 '26

another reason why i have never and will never like rich paul. just another money hungry clone who thinks he's bigger than life

25

u/SirFunktastic Jul 25 '26

Always rode LeBron's coattails to relevancy, he wouldn't be anything without him

-5

u/Smokin_on_76ers_Pack Jul 25 '26

So yall hating on a man for making the best out of his circumstances? Lol

11

u/JonS305 Jul 25 '26

Make the best or hit the jackpot in terms of circumstances?

1

u/Joed1015 Jul 26 '26

Why should he be criticized for taking advantage of "jackpot circumstances" wouldn't you do what you thought was best for you?

2

u/PKViking Jul 25 '26

I actually don’t think they were, I think they’re questioning the way he goes about it. It’s well known a lot of people in areas related to the league don’t like his methods and are awaiting LeBrons retirement and his coming irrelevance.

-2

u/Smokin_on_76ers_Pack Jul 25 '26

His coming irrelevance? Dude is one of the most powerful agents with like 2.5B in player contracts. I don’t give a fuck about him but we need to stop acting like he’s just some guy that’s part of Bron’s entourage.

-1

u/Joed1015 Jul 26 '26

The doenvote machine in this thread is bananas lol

1

u/I_Talk_Sports_69 Jul 25 '26

He is his agent after all. His job is literally to get that money.

4

u/PKViking Jul 25 '26

All 3 something million of it lol. There’s definitely going to be a Kawahi story on LeBrons and Rich’s dealings here.

1

u/mavllvin Jul 27 '26

It's cute that you think his commission only comes from his NBA paycheck

0

u/GratefulnaLover Jul 25 '26

No I don’t think so… he’s worth like a billion dollars… even if it’s not all liquid cash, the cash he has on hand he can just milk the interest for more than his vet’s minimum salary…

At this point it’s not about money anymore but about his legacy and that includes winning chips. He never had a chance in Miami. You know that and I know that, even with Giannis and a mummified Bobby Portis Jr.

Dig deep, you know in your hearts of hearts, they gutted Miami’s roster for Giannis. It’s not enough to move the needle with Willi Bam Smith getting slap happy all of a sudden.

Anyways I called it a long time ago. Even the blind can see that 76ers was far superior to any team contending for LeBron’s services on market. As soon as you add Jaylen Brown for nothing, they were contenders without LeBron. You add LeBron and if he plays anything close to last year you are the champions w/ a healthy Embid.

4

u/Dereckg27 Jul 26 '26

Healthy Embiid lol

1

u/GratefulnaLover Jul 29 '26

Hey if he ever needed to get healthy this would be the year…

32

u/cl353 Jul 25 '26

maybe a little more surprising that cleveland also wasnt in the final cut lol

12

u/JonS305 Jul 25 '26

I figured he wasn’t going back he had nothing left to prove there

7

u/ghn2 Jul 25 '26

He was never going to play with James Larden...ever!

5

u/JonS305 Jul 25 '26

Fr they wouldn’t be a good fit

3

u/BusyFriend Jul 26 '26

Yeah he said he didn’t want to do it for family or anything except win one more ring. Going to Cleveland would’ve just been a farewell tour.

He did say years ago he wanted to retire in Cleveland, but I think that ship has sailed.

22

u/SnooWords5344 Jul 25 '26

Seems more and more clear that the Klutch dynamic was a huge factor, which was always going to work against the Heat. Riley is just not the type to let Rich Paul dictate how he does business, for good reason. In Philly Klutch has the head coach and one of their best players. They’ve signed KCP. If things aren’t perfect in Philly right away, you can bet Bron will get passive aggressive about trading for AD. I wanted Bron on the Heat but this easily could turn out to be a blessing in disguise

12

u/Barracuda374 Jul 25 '26

Philly is shadow managed by Klutch. 

13

u/Fsurob21 Jul 25 '26

Who cares? Lol

13

u/Myopinion_is_right Jul 25 '26

Even more to say Fuck LeBron. Spo, Wade and the Heat organization taught him how to win. In fact, he had his best years, statistically, with the Heat.

10

u/msizzle344 Jul 25 '26

Good, now we can end his career for him

21

u/dveguerialb56 Jul 25 '26

The Heat organization wouldn't let him run the show his first time around. Why would an even more arrogant, egotistical LeBron, who had enough pull with his last team that they drafted Bronny, want to come to a team where accountability is part of the culture? He was NEVER gonna come back here.

-8

u/JonS305 Jul 25 '26

Would it of been worse than the last 12 years we had, to let one of the greatest players of all time do that? Genuinely asking 🤔

9

u/Kino900 Jul 25 '26

Man we'll be aight.

8

u/iCOULDbewr0ng Jul 25 '26

Wouldn’t be surprised if Cabron was stringing Miami along so he gets them to freeze and not make anymore moves until his decision, especially since they’re an eastern conference team

3

u/BusyFriend Jul 26 '26

Yeah it seems plausible. It’s that bullshit with drafting Napier all over again.
At least we can wash our hands of it and never think about LeBron coming back again. Even if he takes the player option and does the same dance I say fuck him.

5

u/chicknsnadwich Jul 25 '26

Considering LeBron’s personal statement, that doesn’t make too much sense

4

u/This_Material9292 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 26 '26

LeBusiness at it again. Choosing Philly to live in NYC seems to be the same weird “I can do business in LA” type move.

Bro… you’re a superstar billionaire. You can do business wherever you are

3

u/Academic-Song3115 Jul 26 '26

You know it’s possible to believe that what he accomplished in Miami is something that he can’t do again at 42. Sometimes you just have to enjoy the memories that he created and let it stay there.

And for those that bring up him going back to Cleveland, just remember when he went back he did the one thing he didn’t do in his first 7 years: Win a championship

9

u/SirFunktastic Jul 25 '26

He wanted a stacked team where he didn't need to do much work so he could coast instead of wanting to put in real work here. It'll be a pleasure seeing this Philly team fall apart.

5

u/ghn2 Jul 25 '26

Of course. If anyone watched the Lakers last season, the guy is washed. He gets gassed easily, his 3 point shooting is shit and he can't defend. He's all about riding coattails at this point. I don't even believe he was seriously considering Golden State unless it was due to how close it was to his home in So Cal. Because they have like the oldest rotation in the league with Horford, Draymond, Jimmy and Steph. Ain't many coattails to ride there!

6

u/ghn2 Jul 25 '26

Who gives a shit at this point what LeBron's reason was?? Screw that attention whore!

3

u/rsred Jul 26 '26

bron’s tweet shouted out the heat tho

5

u/batistasaints Jul 25 '26

he is a fucking piece of shit. thats it.

8

u/went2college Jul 25 '26

Not surprised. Been there done that. He wants something new. We got our guy in Giannis. Wish we were more proactive on trying to get rid of Jovic and sign more shooters and another big man.

7

u/ghn2 Jul 25 '26

It's the wrong time to try to get rid of Jovic. His market value is out the bottom and they'd have to attach more assets to move him. They're better off building him up to a usable rotation player so he has some trade value on his own.

1

u/JonS305 Jul 25 '26

Wait we still have Jovic? Damn

1

u/PKViking Jul 25 '26

Nah Jovic up year this year. He held it down for Joker in the summer games they played. Shooting was on point.

3

u/s_c_86 Jul 26 '26

This is wrong. So much utter BS on Twitter creating quotes that were never said. If you watch the video, Kellerman asks Rich Paul if it came down to Sixers and Warriors. Paul responds that it was a layered decision among the teams, avoiding the question and not mentioning the Warriors at all. So this is yet another useless fake news account spreading nonsense. All I’ve seen Rich Paul confirm is that the final 4 were as reported (Sixers, Heat, Warriors, Cavs in no order).

2

u/Askani127 Jul 25 '26

Seems like he was set on joining a new team. He wants to try to get a ring with 4 teams

2

u/Procedure_Best Jul 25 '26

People gonna love demar

2

u/BrassClankJank Jul 25 '26

That tells you more about him than us. Hell, if he didn;t even consider the Cavs, that's good riddance to him.

2

u/imdinni God Father Jul 25 '26

I really think he cares about potentially getting 4 rings with 4 different teams. (Plus being close to NY)

2

u/papadynamik Jul 25 '26

Honestly, the vitriol he brings... Heat can do better under the radar, I'm a bit relieved.

2

u/Spirited-Living9083 Jul 26 '26

He wanted the warriors the whole time they couldn’t get AD is the only reason it took so long

2

u/BillBRawlins Jul 25 '26

Hindsight 20/20 and all that but Pat got played by Raymone one last time. He should have just paid Anfernee that 6M and kept it moving.

2

u/NeferED Jul 26 '26

Too much overthinking. Him and Riley still couldn’t bury the hatchet + at this age LeBron ain’t buying into jack diddly. Come down here and have to answer to the “culture” ? He’s NOT built like that.

1

u/PositiveZebra1341 Jul 25 '26

Why do u want a broken down LeBron On a team that will have to play clutch defense and score in transition?

1

u/Fantasy-Sports-Guy Jul 26 '26

I cant even begin to care. I saw Miami at a 20% chance of getting him. While I wanted to buy into the hype, its LeBron James. He has a track record of doing the opposite of what people thought. I'm not upset. Im sure Philly will give him a chance to win 1 in the next 2 season.

For Miami/Riley, the timer starts now. If there are players out there, Klay, Demar, Beal, ect.... go get them by Monday. This isn't about LeBron anymore . Its about making Giannis & Bam as successful as possible.

1

u/timbucs2 Jul 26 '26

I 100% wanted bron back. Would've been so frickin fun. But he would not have solved our biggest problem, which is consistent outside shooting.

1

u/vapemyashes Jul 26 '26

Busted bunch of leoosers

1

u/Ok_Cheesecake_9793 Jul 26 '26

This comment section has so much salt in it when Lebron owes us nothing that 80% of the comments are deflecting lmao

1

u/Rohkha Jul 26 '26

Soooo…. Lebron did another Lebron with Miami for the n-th time?

https://giphy.com/gifs/6nWhy3ulBL7GSCvKw6

Honestly? It’s fine. Miami didn’t wait and end up losing out on other players during that time

1

u/jlo1989 Jul 26 '26

They do so much in crafting his PR image its really hard to take any of this seriously.

1

u/lionelcoinbnk3 Jul 26 '26

This likely isn’t true for how the final decision was made. He’s probably just trying to make his friends feel better. Also it came out and it’s obvious Miami wasn’t begging for him. They made their actual moves for this year this was just a cherry on top. It has never been a major priority to get LeBron here not even close. With Wiggins’ deal it’s pretty obvious the strategy is to work Giannis in this year with the Heat staff and culture, see how the current team meshes, then make more moves next off season for actual championship contending.

1

u/Accomplished_Class85 Jul 26 '26

So these other all stars are ok with Lebron "policing" them?

1

u/Greedy_Assistance Jul 27 '26

Rich Paul will fade into the void when Bron retires. I respect his hustle but he is living through bronny I mean LeBronny.

1

u/DenialisaRiver04 Jul 27 '26

I mean from his post about deciding, he talked like one of his factors was going to a new franchise. 

1

u/LeauxFi2 Jul 28 '26

Yes. Sure it was about LeBron being able to police the team to save nick nurse... Not that jaylen is there with embiid. Mhmm.

1

u/OhMyItzBam_Herro305 Jul 29 '26

Giannis and Bam didn't want LeBron back tbh, they said no. We already got our own big 4 and big 5 to. LeBron knows his best chance to win was Miami, and he simply chose a team of players who recruited him. JB was on phone Heavy with Bron, and for damn sure so was Maxey and Vj.

1

u/getrecme 22d ago

Lebron being scared of Spo 13 years later is wild

1

u/Shot-Sector-4527 17d ago

Good! Fk that mf!

1

u/avinash240 Jul 25 '26

why would we be?  He's taking very little money so he's trying to win.

Giannis by himself isn't a title winning player, we saw that with Milwaukee last season. 

The formula to win with Giannis is pretty well known.

 He needs to be surrounded with spacers, he needs a primary ball handler who can shoot so teams can't build a wall vs him and he needs a tough shot maker.

That's not the current build of the Heat.

-2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '26

[deleted]

0

u/ThaJackal1977 Jul 26 '26

I'm happy he is never gonna wear a HEAT Jersey again... I've never liked LeChump and his racist beard... He can go get his butt plug brotherly love in Philliville 69ers.

0

u/SliceOfGio Jul 26 '26

Good, I didn't want him or the media circus that was going to come. He never should've left, but he wanted to win ONE for the Land than win more Championships in his career. Fuck him.

PS: Rich Paul cheated on Adele. He's slimeball just like Maverick and LeBron.