Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heat’s best small forward ever is obvious 10. Mike Miller 9. Bruce Bowen
MIAMI — Spoiler alert: There is no spoiler alert.
When it comes to Miami Heat small forwards over the franchise’s first 30 seasons, just as when it comes to lining up the best of the best at the position in the NBA over the past 15 seasons, there is only one answer.
The debate starts and stops immediately at small forward, with LeBron James, the forward who led the Heat to foul consecutive NBA Finals from 2011 to 2014, with championships in Heat colors in ‘12 and ‘13.
Yet while James stands firmly at the head of his class, there has been a rich tradition of success at the position over the Heat’s first 30 seasons, players who helped elevate the Heat prior to James’ arrival, creating hope for similar success in the wake of his 2014 departure back to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The depth at the position, with apologies, leaves players such as Keith Askins, Billy Owens, Billy Thompson, James Posey and Michael Beasley shy of making our Top 10 cutoff.
Throughout this 30th-anniversary season, the South Florida Sun Sentinel will look back at three decades of the Heat, at the men and the moments that have made this an exhausting, exhilarating and enduring ride.
Today we look at the franchise’s Top 10 small forwards.
Sometimes, as has become a theme on these lists, it can be as simple as a single moment. For Miller, whose infectious impact in the locker room was as tangible as his effort on the court, that moment came in Game 5 of the 2012 NBA Finals, when the Heat clinched the franchise’s second title on a night Miller converted seven 3-pointers, the most ever in a championship series by a reserve. A year later, his 3-pointer while wearing only one shoe helped the Heat force the Game 7 that would deliver another title.
The greater glory was achieved during the championship run with the Spurs, but there already was All Defensive recognition during his tenure with the Heat in the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons, providing a 3-and-D threat that spiced those compelling playoff series against the Knicks. He stands among those who have gotten away over the franchise’s 30 seasons.
8. Willie Burton
Burton holds dual places in the Heat record books, earning second-team All Rookie in 1991 and later, when he moved on from the team, scoring 53 points against the Heat for the 76ers in 1994, which remains the most in the regular season against the Heat. The Heat’s lineage of what Erik Spoelstra terms “ignitable” players started with Burton, an all-or-nothing thrill show during the franchise’s initial years capable of impressive scoring binges.
7. Caron Butler
Part of Pat Riley’s second rebuild of the franchise, amid the lean years following the playoff losses to the Knicks and Alonzo Mourning’s kidney illness, Butler arrived as a stabilizing force in the first round of the 2002 NBA draft, his play solid enough to create pause before he was included in the 2004 offseason trade with the Lakers for Shaquille O’Neal. And even then, he routinely returned to South Florida to root on his former teammates.
6. Lamar Odom
Like Caron Butler, Odom’s contribution was both significant and fleeting. Signed in the 2003 offseason after a previous Heat offer sheet to the Clippers for Elton Brand was matched, Butler helped lead a revival to the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2004 before he was dealt that summer to the Lakers as part of the Shaquille O’Neal trade.
5. Antoine Walker
The statistical success already had been accomplished during his tenure with the Celtics, but his 2005 offseason acquisition from Boston as part of a massive three-team trade that also included the Grizzlies, allowed Walker to emerge as a championshipwinning starting small forward by season’s end. His “tippy-toe” 3-point attempts were abundant, harrowing, but often decisive. NBA success would prove fleeting after a two-season Heat tenure.
4. Shane Battier
The classic case of the right player at the right time during a three-season Heat tenure that ended in 2013-14. With the Heat coming off a disappointing 2011 NBA Finals loss to the Mavericks, Batter was added the following offseason to provide veteran stability. He did just that, along with stifling defense and timely 3-pointers, with the Heat winning their Big Three championships in Battier’s first two seasons, advancing to the NBA Finals in all three.
3. Jamal Mashburn
Had there not been the 2010 addition of LeBron James, an argument could be made that Mashburn would have gone down as the most versatile small forward in the Heat’s three decades, an adept point forward who was as comfortable attacking the rim as launching feathery jumpers. He helped stabilize the Heat during those late-’90s playoff runs to Knicks showdowns, arguably unfairly cast as a scapegoat for those losses with his 2004 offseason trade to the Hornets.
2. Glen Rice
With apologies to Rony Seikaly, Rice arrived as the Heat’s first star, the franchise’s first-ever lottery pick, as the No. 4 selection in the 1989 draft. His ability to stretch defenses with his 3-point shooting not only opened the Heat’s eyes to his possibilities, but also the Hornets’, utilized as the linchpin to the 1995 franchise-altering trade for Alonzo Mourning.
1. LeBron James
He arrived on a smokefilled stage at American-Airlines Arena during 2010 free agency, advancing to the NBA Finals in each of his fleeting four seasons with the franchise, with championships in 2012 and ‘13. An argument could be made — amid Erik Spoelstra’s position-less approach specifically crafted for James — that he also stands as the franchise’s best-ever center, power forward, shooting guard and point guard.