NBA players still believe Heat are a top-5 organization after drama-filled season

The Miami Heat have consistently been one of the best organizations in the NBA, but it has not been smooth sailing for them this season.

Before it even started, the Heat were trapped in quicksand with the Jimmy Butler drama clouding over their head like a summer afternoon in South Florida. They eventually traded Butler to Golden State, but struggled to get off the ground for most of the season with myriad blown leads, finishing with their worst record since 2014-15.

However, according to the recently published anonymous player poll, players still believe the Heat are one of the league’s best organizations.

8 players think Heat is best organization in the NBA:

The Athletic published their annual anonymous player poll on Tuesday, where it spoke to 158 total players–with representatives from all 30 teams–conjuring up votes on myriad questions, including which organization they thought was the best.

Not every player voted for every question. For this specific question, there were 137 voters. According to the poll, eight individuals–or 5.8 percent of the vote–who weren’t on Miami thought it was the best in the NBA.

That was the fifth-most votes for said question–trailing only the Golden State Warriors, who took home 21.9 percent (30 players) of the vote, Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers.

This question was not answered in last year’s poll, which asked 16 questions.

Miami has been mediocre (in the regular season) each of the last three years, though they have made three Eastern Conference Finals appearances and two NBA Finals appearances since the start of 2019-20. Over the last two decades, they have won three NBA Titles, seven Eastern Conference Titles and have the league’s second-most playoff victories.

Not to mention, they have remarkable organizational continuity with multiple individuals who have experienced long-term success. That matters. I can’t say I love how this–or the last few seasons–have transpired, but the foundation for success is there.

Do you think the Heat is a top-5 organization? Let us know in the comments!

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