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NBA Power Rankings: Top 5 NBA franchises since the year 2000

By Luke Duffy

Kobe Bryant (L) of the Los Angeles Lakers holds the Larry O'Brian trophy as teammate Shaquille O'Neal (L) hold the MVP trophy after winning the NBA Championship against Indiana Pacers 19 June, 2000, after game six of the NBA Finals at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The Lakers won the game 116-111 to take the NBA title 4-2 in the best-of-seven series. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
Kobe Bryant (L) of the Los Angeles Lakers holds the Larry O'Brian trophy as teammate Shaquille O'Neal (L) hold the MVP trophy after winning the NBA Championship against Indiana Pacers 19 June, 2000, after game six of the NBA Finals at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The Lakers won the game 116-111 to take the NBA title 4-2 in the best-of-seven series. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images) /
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NBA Power Rankings: Top 5 NBA franchises since the year 2000
Dwyane Wade (L), LeBron James (C) and Chris Bosh (R) of the Miami Heat celebrate winning Game 7 of the NBA Finals at the American Airlines Arena June 20, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The Miami Heat, led by NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James, won the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year by defeating the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 in game seven of the championship series, NBA Power Rankings: Top 5 NBA franchises since the year 2000, NBA Power Rankings: Top 5 NBA franchises since the year 2000. AFP PHOTO / Brendan SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) /

NBA Power Rankings: Top 5 NBA franchises since the year 2000: 4. Miami Heat

The Miami Heat have been like a more successful version of the Rockets since 2000. Like the Rockets, they too had two successful periods that were split between two decades. The first saw them trade for Shaquille O’Neal to pair with a young Dwyane Wade (excellent drafting there) in 2004, before going on to win a championship with both of them as centerpieces in 2006.

There were some quiet years, but with Wade and the genius of Pat Riley (who built the mythical “Heat Culture), they still remained relevant. Everything changed in 2010 when they added LeBron James and Chris Bosh to their roster, and alongside Wade, they went to four straight finals.

On reflection, only winning two out of those four titles seems low, although it did allow Dirk Nowitzki to deservedly steal one before calling it a career with the Dallas Mavericks. James was the regular season MVP in the two years they won championships (Harden managed only one throughout his time in Houston), and this period of Heat history is undoubtedly their best.

It all came crashing down quite suddenly when LeBron returned home to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the demise was accelerated by Bosh’s heart issues that forced him onto early retirement. Wade left, then came back again to retire in the right way, and it speaks volumes that despite all of this, the Heat once again found themselves in the finals as recently as 2020.

If anything getting back to the deciding round, led by Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, put the Heat in the conversation to be the third-best franchise since 2000. The allure of South Beach, plus what Godfather Riley has created, means that the Heat will always find a way back to relevancy. Even the great Kevin Durant could end up there soon enough.