Ranking the 8 teams LeBron James took to the NBA Finals

2. 2013 Miami Heat

LeBron James’ second title with the Miami Heat was probably James’ best Finals’ squad heading into the 2016-2017 campaign.

The 2013 version of the Heat was the peak of professional basketball in Miami. James had squashed the demons of never having won a championship the season before, and looked to take over the world for back-to-back titles with teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

The thing that makes this Heat team so special is the opponent Miami took down en route to the title: the San Anontio Spurs.

Remember, these were the “beautiful” basketball Spurts who went on to win the title the next season, exposing the flaws and age in the “Big 3” of Miami.

James and company overcame a 3-2 series deficit to overtake the Spurts, but didn’t look like it was going to happen.

The Heat trailed by as many 13 points in Game 6, and league officials had started to prepare for the Spurs’ championship celebration. But after an unforgettable comeback,  Ray Allen, hit one of the biggest 3-pointers in Finals history to tie the game, and later force a Game 7.

That Spurs squad gave the nation its first up close look at Kawhi Leonard. It also featured Tony Parker, Manu Ginbobli and Tim Duncan, who had a lot more in the tank than people realized.

For the Heat, Miami got big contributions from Wade, Bosh, Allen, as well as role players Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Chris “The Birdman” Andersen, Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole.

This is as good as it got for LeBron and the Heat. Miami cruised to 66 regular-season wins and got to the Finals without having a series last more than six games. The next season, Wade and Bosh showed as the Spurs pacing utterly confused Miami en route to a five-game series victory.