Arguably the greatest offseason miami heat History came in 2010 lebron james When Chris Bosh decided to join forces with Dwayne Wade Form one of the NBA’s first modern Big 3.
The challenge soon became filling the team with capable role players, and one role player they considered was forward Matt Barnes.
In a recent podcast appearance on NFL Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharp’s podcast “Club Shay Shay,” Barnes said he nearly joined James and Miami.
“We were literally talking Pat Riley and D. Wade, and they’re talking about us trying to build something here,” Barnes said. Said“There are his words. [James] Come, come the words of Bosch.It’s just a free way for me and I’m literally having a conversation Pat Riley“
But another big NBA superstar, Kobe Bryant, prevented him from coming to the Heat by catching Burns and recruiting him to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“He’s like Cobb,” Burns said. “We started going back and forth and he asked me what I was doing. And I literally told him I was going back and forth. Now I’m talking to Miami, and he’s like, ‘No, Miami, you want to be the Lakers. And I was like hell, four days later I was with the Lakers.
Along with the Heat, the Lakers were the frontrunners to win the NBA Championship during the 2010-11 season. However, LA fell short as they were swept in the second round of the playoffs. After that, the team gradually collapsed due to old age and injuries.
The Heat, meanwhile, were unable to move forward after a painful but short process. After a painful loss to Dallas in his NBA Finals in 2011 to his Mavericks, he finally broke through in 2012 and his 2013, winning everything and giving James his first two championships in his ring. gave
It was a missed opportunity for Barnes, but he said he didn’t trade those two titles for the opportunity to play for the Black Mamba.
The 6-foot-7 forward was known as a strong defender who didn’t back down when provoked or threatened. At the time, the Heat had players like Shane Battier and Mike Miller and had plenty of layers at the position, but Barnes could have given another option with a tougher customer, the 3. .
After two years with the Lakers, Burns was able to stay in Southern California by joining the Clippers, who were beginning to build an exciting contender centered around Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Then, midway through his 2016-17 season, Barnes was fired by the Sacramento Kings and luckily Golden State got him picked up by the Warriors.
It was there that he finally won the world title.
