The NBA Finals head to Miami with the series tied at 1-1 after the Heat took Game 2 in Denver to draw level; watch Game 3 of the NBA Finals live on Sky Sports Main Event from 1.30am BST on Thursday
Tuesday 6 June 2023 14:30, UK
The Miami Heat's famed culture leads back to team president Pat Riley's shared philosophy and vision.
The 78-year-old is widely credited as the backbone of the franchise, and as the years have passed, he has given the same answer when asked for the reasons behind their success.
Answer 1: "It's a shared philosophy with the goal of being great."
Answer 2: "It's our shared goals, shared vision, shared thoughts."
The first answer was from 2000. The second answer came in 2020. The thinking barely deviated.
Times change. Rosters change. But Riley and the culture - a buzzword for the Heat, a punchline for some who disparage what the Heat have done - stay pretty much the same.
Out of the last 52 NBA Finals, Riley has been part of 19 of them as either a player, coach or executive. That means, give or take, Riley finds his way to the finals about every three years.
Erik Spoelstra is the coach and makes the decisions, but it's Riley - the team president seeking his 10th championship - who is still at the helm of the Heat ship.
"They've created a culture. It's their way. It works," Denver veteran Jeff Green said.
"They established something that's been beneficial to them, that's gotten them to places over and over and over that a lot of teams haven't".
"Much respect to them. Much respect to Spo, how he gives his guys confidence to go out there and produce no matter who's on the floor, and obviously Pat is Pat. You've got to give respect where respect is due."
Every team, every business, every organization has a culture. Few revere the term as closely as the Heat.
Under Riley, it has been their trademark. No, really - the Heat are trying to trademark "Culture," applying to do so in late May with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The Heat application lists a bunch of potential uses, and even makes mention of the possibility of using the word on jerseys. On Thursday, however, they'll have to put the words aside and turn Riley's vision into inception.
