LeBron James claimed on a podcast that the 2011 Heat 'didn't have enough complementary guys' in their Finals loss. Eddie House, a role player on that team, had a pointed response Monday.
The 2010-11 Miami Heat are remembered as one of the most disappointing teams in NBA history. Perennial All-Stars LeBron James and Chris Bosh signed up to play in South Beach with future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade the offseason before, creating 'The Big Three.
' But Miami came up short of winning the NBA Finals losing to the underdog Dallas Mavericks in six games. Why didn't they finish the job? James recently opined on the 'Mind the Game Pod with LeBron James and J.J. Reddick' that the Heat 'didn't have enough complementary guys' that season with the exceptions of point guard Mario Chalmers and forward Udonis Haslem. On Tuesday's edition of FS1's 'The Carton Show,' Eddie House, one of the role players behind James, Wade and Bosh with the Heat that season, responded to that take. 'If we gonna point the finger, we'll point the finger at the fourth-quarter collapse every game that we had,' House said. '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 we didn't win another game. If we're gonna play the blame game, I wasn't out on the court.' Outside of Chalmers and Haslem, Joel Anthony, Mike Bibby, James Jones and Mike Miller were among the players who got considerable playing time for the Heat in the postseason that year. But Wade, James and Bosh shouldered the load, averaging a combined 66.8 of Miami's 92.8 points per game in the postseason. Across 56 regular-season games, House averaged 6.5 points per game while shooting 39.9 percent from the field but an impressive 38.9 percent from three-point range. He appeared in just seven games in the playoffs, averaging 6.9 minutes per contest. It was House's last season in the NBA. The Heat were one of nine teams he played for across his 11-year career. James' shot selection or lack thereof came into question in the NBA Finals, as he never attempted 20 shots in any of the six games and attempted just 15 shots in an elimination Game 6 at home. There were also prolonged stretches where James appeared passive with the ball in his hands. James finished the 2010-11 postseason averaging just 23.7 points per game, which is still the second-lowest mark of his career. The Heat then blew a 15-point lead to the Mavericks in Game 2 of the NBA Finals with roughly seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and later dropped three consecutive games to lose the series after taking a 2-1 lead. Of course, the Heat went on to win back-to-back NBA championships prior to James, a now-19-time All-NBA honoree, returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2014 offseason; Miami appeared in the NBA Finals in each of his four seasons with the Heat. Regardless of how House and James feel about their time together in Miami, it kicked off one of the most bizarre, successful and memorable four-year runs in NBA history.
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