Some around the NBA reportedly believe the Miami Heat’s trip to the 2020 NBA Finals was a “fluke” due to the unprecedented nature of the NBA bubble in Orlando, Fla.
Heat sharpshooter Duncan Robinson recently admitted that players on the team have taken exception to the disrespect and will be using it as motivation this upcoming season.
“Robinson confirmed that Heat players have a ‘chip’ because of the perception apparently held by some NBA people — and cited on an ESPN podcast — that the Heat’s run to the Finals was ‘kind of a fluke’ and that playing in a bubble ‘set up perfectly for us to be successful,'” Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald wrote.
Robinson, 26, isn’t the first Heat player to speak out on the comments.
As a matter of fact, Heat icon Udonis Haslem slammed critics for the hate the franchise received.
The Heat crushed the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference on their way to the 2020 NBA Finals.
Most impressively, the Heat knocked out two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the league’s top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the second round.
Although the Heat lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals, they gave the duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis the most trouble in the 2020 postseason. No Western Conference opponent was able to snatch more than one game from the Lakers.
The depleted Heat won two games in the Finals against the Lakers.
