Which brings us to the Miami Heat, a team so confident in its culture that in 2023 it literally started wearing a jersey with the words "Heat Culture" embroidered on the chest. For three decades or so, Heat Culture was nearly impenetrable. The Pat Riley era has included more trips to the NBA Finals (seven) than lottery finishes (six).

The Cleveland Cavaliers whooped the Miami Heat so bad on Tuesday that I thought LeBron James was trying to take his talents to South Beach again. Game 4 in Miami was bad. Really bad. Ernie Johnson said this might've been the worst game he's ever seen and it's hard to disagree with him.

In the end, cold, hard realities caught up to the Heat, their season ending with Monday night’s thrashing at the hands of the Cavaliers at Kaseya Center.