“That is some straight bullsh*t”: Stephen A.Smith berates LeBron James amid 2011 Miami Heat roster complaints
During a recent episode of his podcast, LeBron James touched on his time with the Miami Heat. After making some comments about the team's roster back then, one analyst quickly clapped back at the 20-time All-Star.
On his podcast, Stephen A. Smith gave his thoughts on some of LeBron's recent comments. He agreed that the Heat don't have much cap space to work with after signing three stars. However Stephen A. shifted the focus to the four-time MVP's play, not the supporting cast.
"LeBron James, that is some straight bulls***," Stephen A. said. "You got to be kidding me."
"He makes valid points, he's not wrong about the roster. My point is what the he** does that have to do with you LeBron?"
Stephen A. is primarily referring to how LeBron James performed against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals.
In their first year together, LeBron, Dywane Wade and Chris Bosh got the Heat all the way to the championship round. However, they were unable to take down a Dallas Mavericks team led by Dirk Nowitzki as the lone All-Star.
LeBron's struggles in that series have been well documented over the years. Across six games, he averaged 17.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists.
What did LeBron James say about the Miami Heat's roster in 2011?
In the latest episode of "Mind the Game" with JJ Redick, LeBron touched on the roster makeup of the 2011 Miami Heat. What he brought up was how the supporting cast was built around the newly formed big three.
LeBron brought up that because of the high salaries, the front office had to sign all minimum guys to fill out the roster. Due to these retrains, Miami wasn't able to get all the complementary pieces they might have wanted.
"My first year in Miami, yeah we had a big three and everyone said it's a super team," LeBron said. "But we had to build our team around all minimum guys. Which was still okay, but we didn't fill out the complementary guys enough."
Aside from the big three, some key members of the supporting cast included Mario Chalmers, Udonis Haslem, Mike Bibby and Eddie House. The Heat also brought in former All-Star Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who played alongside LeBron on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Despite how LeBron James felt about the supporting cast, the Heat still performed well that season. They won 58 games during the regular season and had the NBA's third best offense.
Following their loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the finals, the Heat upgraded the supporting cast. Some of the players brought in include Shane Battier and Ray Allen. Miami would go on to make the finals the next three years, winning twice.