The two time defending champion Miami Heat have gone to the NBA Finals three times, meeting three different opponents along the way, which can partly explain why four-time champion LeBron James doesn't consider any other NBA team as their rivals.
Speaking before their game against the Indiana Pacers on December 10, James hinted that the Paul George-led team is not their rival even if they have met in the playoffs the past two years including a memorable 2013 East Finals that stretched to seven games.
"What is a rivalry these days?" James told MiamiHerald.com when asked if the Heat and Pacers shared a rivalry. "What's a rivalry? A rivalry is Celtics and Lakers. They met like four out of five years. ... Bulls-Pistons. Those are rivalries, man. We've played these guys two straight years in the playoffs, and guys automatically make it a rivalry. It's not a rivalry."
The reigning league MVP took it a step further, declaring there are no rivalries existing in the NBA. "There is no real rivalry in the NBA these days. You don't see the competition enough or play the competition a lot. It's two really, really good teams that [are] striving to win a championship, but rivalries ... there are no more rivalries. There isn't. It's the truth. No rivalries."
He said rivalries exist in other leagues but not in the NBA. "Cowboys-Redskins is a rivalry. Ohio State-Michigan is a rivalry. Duke-North Carolina is a rivalry. Bears-Packers is a rivalry."
The Pacers defeated the Heat, 90-84, in that game that served as a rematch between the two teams that met in the East Finals.
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