Heat Suffer Humiliation as the Cost of Their Lack of Humility

When the Miami Heat was at its best this season, rooting for it was simply an embarrassment of riches.

When it was at its worst, as it was at the end of Games 4, 5 and 6 of these NBA Finals, there were no "riches".

Only shame.

Remember these following words, because it cannot be emphasized enough.

There is no larger testament to how this Miami Heat team is composed, whether it be a reflection of its psyche or its personnel, than how it reacts to the devastating end of this season.

As a team, they should shoulder the loss in union. Seek comfort among each other as much as their families, as the rest of the world will be too busy throwing dirt on them. 

Yet one gets the sense that Miami's big three will mourn separately, particularly LeBron James.

In hindsight, one can safely say the peak of his season came when he first announced his "decision" to join Miami, before he was greeted with "the reaction".

In that short amount of time, LeBron was still a hero to many. He had all the hope that the next chapter of his life would reinvigorate the remainder of his career. He was about to revolutionize the game of basketball in the same unprecedented nature that every decision he's made has rippled over.

And, he was about to send the city of Cleveland spiralling into the lowest point that could ever be imagined.

Nearly a year later, karma has seemingly intervened and the roles have been reversed.

Now James is the one at the lowest point of his career, while the Cleveland Cavaliers are only a week away from re-invigorating their franchise in the NBA draft with the first and fourth pick.

Meanwhile, the Miami Heat will be faced to deal with all the questions it so desperately wanted to persevere from in the infancy stages of the season. 

Why can't Miami close games?

Who is the team's closer?

Is the "big three" the wrong three?

Why does the team seem to lack urgency?

As these questions develop, the murmurs and whispers of early season struggle will beckon in full volume in the aftermath of the Heat's disappearing act in the fourth quarter of games in the NBA Finals.

Should Miami trade either James or Wade?

Should Miami measure its season from the standpoint that it overcame so much to get as far as it did, or should it question whether having to overcome so much was worth it in lieu of where it ended?

As it stands now, the Miami Heat is the laughingstock of the NBA.

Not because it didn't silence critics with its swarming defense, hard work and tenacity throughout the majority of the playoffs.

Rather, it's because it publicly set the bar at the highest point possible, providing audiences worldwide with the illusion that anything less was irrelevant. .

Ultimately, its welcoming rally would foreshadow the tone of the remainder of their season.

And as the chapter to this season ends, the Heat can appreciate the similarity in how it began.

With itself as its worst enemy.