LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers after seven years of service to join the Miami Heat in 2010. James formed a Big 3 with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
To this day, it’s one of the most infamous incidents in NBA history. LeBron became the villain for the entire league, and it was truly a dark year in his career. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recently revealed that the King didn’t like the sports company’s coverage of him either.
“There was animosity from LeBron,” Windhorst told Brandon Contes of Awful Announcing. “He was not crazy about it. He didn’t like the way ESPN handled the fallout from ‘The Decision.’ He felt like he got left alone on an island there. And he really didn’t like the idea of ESPN creating a team of people just to cover the Heat, which was kind of revolutionary at the time, and I was the lead guy on. It was pretty salty the first year.”
Windhorst then revealed what was the most frustrating thing about getting on the wrong side of LeBron James.
“I was branded as a sycophant for going,” Windhorst added. “I was down here in Miami where I am right now for the Finals and LeBron was not giving me the time of day.”
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Windhorst expected to get all the insider information about James and the Heat, but the move backfired. Either way, he has put that time behind him and is currently one of the most renowned figures at ESPN.
As for James, he managed to lead the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals in his first year. The Heat ended up losing against the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, as James had arguably the worst playoff series of his career, including an 8-point meltdown in Game 4.
The Heat blew a 2-1 lead, and James averaged just 17.8 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 6.8 APG while shooting 47.8% from the field and 32.1% from downtown.
Fortunately, LeBron somewhat redeemed himself by leading the Heat to back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013.
Dirk Nowitzki Hated LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, And The Miami Heat
The 2010-11 Miami Heat were expected to easily dominate Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. But after taking a 2-1 lead in the series, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade started disrespecting Dirk.
JJ Barea was part of the 2011 championship-winning Mavericks team. Barea revealed how Nowitzki never admitted but hated the Big 3 of James, Wade, and Bosh.
“He hated Miami,” Barea said. “He hated LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. He’s never gonna say that but he couldn’t stand them. He got ready for it and that year, he doesn’t talk much, he leads by example.”
He added: “That year, in timeouts before games and halftime, he would talk. He would talk loud, and point fingers, he was on one. He was special, he had a different mindset that year.”
Nowitzki let his game do the talking in the 2011 NBA Finals. The German superstar averaged 26.0 PPG, 9.7 RPG, and 2.0 APG in the series while taking home the NBA Finals MVP award as well.
