Former Heat guard Eddie House was a member of the Miami Heat roster that fell to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals. House slammed LeBron James for saying the Heat lost that series because of a lack of complementary role-players around the big three.
"If we gonna point the finger, we'll point the finger at the fourth-quarter collapse every game that we had. It was 1-1 Game 2, we were up, we collapsed in the fourth quarter. They tied it up. We win Game 3. We go up 2-1 [and] we didn't win another game. If we're gonna play the blame game, I wasn't out on the court."
James' comments about the 2011 Heat came on an episode of his 'Mind the Game' podcast with J.J. Redick.
"Yeah, we had Rio, we had Udonis... But you know we didn't have enough as far as enough complimentary guys to actually make it all work, and we still made it to the Finals."
While LeBron took accountability for the loss in the larger conversation he had with Redick, there isn't a way to justify what he said here. The Heat probably didn't have the perfect collection of role-players, but the greatness of LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh was what they were relying on to win.
James objectively disappeared during the series, averaging 17.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 6.8 assists and having his only single-digit scoring performance of the last 15 years in Game 4 of that series.
Stephen A. Smith Demolished LeBron For These Claims
Stephen A. Smith went off on LeBron after he made these comments, reminding LeBron that the Heat lost because he wasn't the polished winner we saw him develop into in the subsequent years.
"LeBron James, that is some straight bulls**t. You've gotta be kidding me. I know that you didn't just say that with the cameras rolling. That's bullsh*t. Somebody's gotta say it. You didn't lose to the Mavericks because of your roster. You lost because of you. Because you weren't who you are. The LeBron James who ultimately learned how to become a champion... You were not that dude in 2011."
The criticism of the role-players especially irked Stephen A, who was not happy with them being saddled with the blame for the Finals but not getting the credit for everything the Heat achieved that year.
"The roster didn't stop you from averaging 25 throughout the season, getting to the Finals, and being up 2-1 in the Finals even when Dirk Nowitzki was scoring. What stopped you was that you were nowhere to be found in the fourth quarter."
Everyone in the NBA world unanimously agrees that the 2011 Finals will live on in infamy for LeBron, as it is the biggest example of him failing to deliver when his team needed him most. His other Finals losses were despite his contributions but this is the only Finals loss that was because of his lack of contribution.
He'll never be able to shake this loss, even though most of the basketball world recognizes him as one of the two greatest players in the history of the game. But if 2011 was a win and led to a Heat three-peat with James having five titles right now instead of four, his case for GOAT would look a lot more compelling.
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