A viral tweet stirred a debate.
Early Tuesday morning, Basketball Forever posted a tweet quoting Tyler Herro saying that the Miami Heat would’ve won the championship if they were healthy. He pointed out that Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry and himself were all injured during Miami’s 2022 playoff run.
Tyler Herro says Miami would’ve won the title if healthy:
“I think we win it all, honestly. It wasn’t just me who was injured. Kyle was playing hurt, Jimmy was injured. So if we’re healthy, I think we win it.”
(via BF’s Christian Grantham) pic.twitter.com/sxwY1hbmff
— Basketball Forever (@Bballforeverfb) August 2, 2022
The tweet kicked off a debate that seemingly every fan base goes through. After the 2020 Finals, Pat Riley caused a stir when he used the word “asterisk” in describing injuries to Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic. Three years ago, Dwyane Wade said he’d have six rings if he had better knees.
Some pointed out that the three teams Miami faced also dealt with injuries — the Atlanta Hawks (Clint Capela), Philadelphia 76ers (Joel Embiid) and Boston Celtics (Rob Williams).
You can’t say Miami beats Boston at full health and then get mad at Hawks and Sixers fans for saying their team would’ve won at full health earlier in the playoffs. Both parties sound like sore losers. Injuries are part of the game
— Austin (@ChefTrillie_) August 2, 2022
It’s a safe bet that the Heat beat the Hawks even with a healthy Capela. And I’d say Miami wins over the Sixers if Embiid played in Games 1 and 2 of that series.
There’s no doubt Kyle Lowry’s hamstring injury limited the 2019 NBA champion to a shell of his former self. P.J. Tucker battled injuries during the series against Boston; he didn’t play in the second half of Game 7. And Herro was hurt in the Eastern Conference Finals — but didn’t play well before his injury.
But if the Heat had gotten past the Celtics, they still would’ve needed to face the Golden State Warriors in the Finals. Taking aside the injuries to Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, the Warriors have dominated the NBA since 2015.
How far do you think the Heat would’ve gone if healthy?
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